Pan's Labyrinth

[tellner]

We just saw Pan's Labyrinth which started its national distribution this week.

For once I agree with the critics. It's brilliant. My wife is one of the toughest people I know. She was crying uncontrollably by the end. The mixture of dark fantasy, terrifying reality, imagery, acting and special effects was nearly perfect. It will tear your goddam heart out. You will not like it. But you will love it.

 

[Cruentus]

huh. Is it like a "sad at the end" type movie, or wha? I will probably go and see it; it just looks too weird for me to not go and see it!

 

[tellner]

It's harsh and sad and wonderful almost all the way through. By about fifteen minutes into the film you have a sense of where it's going. It's definitely got that wild, dream-logic that good fairy tales - not Disneyesque abominations but real fairy tales - have. The way the fantastic scenes mirror the real-world ones is very powerful. And it hits you from some very unexpected directions.

 

[Carol]

Haven't seen it myself but a fellow in my gaming group went to see it. He said he was expecting a fantasy story not a war story and thought the violence was too gratuitouou so...he didn't like it at all. Not sure if I will go see it.

 

[tellner]

The violence wasn't gratuitous given the situation - an army post in Fascist Spain set up to exterminate the Republican resistance. It's pretty accurate. That's what they were like. This is when Franco was attempting genocide against the Basques among other atrocities. The violence isn't pornographic, it's appalling. It isn't titallating. It's repellent. It's meant to sicken and frighten rather than excite. You don't have a lantern-jawed Hero finally beating up the Villain. What you have mostly is terrified victims, a few desperate starving resisters and some extremely brutal soldiers.

It's also not "pure" fantasy. The heroine doesn't step through the looking glass into an entirely fantastic world. It's not magical realism where people shrug their shoulders when it snows apricots and say "That happens this time of year." The fantastic echoes the real, and the two are mixed together very well. It's all ambiguous by design. There isn't a lot of satisfying "And they all lived happily ever after" or cute singing animals. It's more like Grimm or the Brown Fairy Book than the fairy tales most of us got as children.

 

[Cruentus]

Having looked through the website, I would have to say that this looks bad-***. I want to see this for sure, now.

http://www.panslabyrinth.com/

 

[jazkiljok]

The violence wasn't gratuitous given the situation - an army post in Fascist Spain set up to exterminate the Republican resistance. It's pretty accurate. That's what they were like. This is when Franco was attempting genocide against the Basques among other atrocities. The violence isn't pornographic, it's appalling. It isn't titallating. It's repellent. It's meant to sicken and frighten rather than excite. You don't have a lantern-jawed Hero finally beating up the Villain. What you have mostly is terrified victims, a few desperate starving resisters and some extremely brutal soldiers.

It's also not "pure" fantasy. The heroine doesn't step through the looking glass into an entirely fantastic world. It's not magical realism where people shrug their shoulders when it snows apricots and say "That happens this time of year." The fantastic echoes the real, and the two are mixed together very well. It's all ambiguous by design. There isn't a lot of satisfying "And they all lived happily ever after" or cute singing animals. It's more like Grimm or the Brown Fairy Book than the fairy tales most of us got as children.

that's a good review. it's a powerful, beautiful and depressing movie. definitely go see and be amazed and appalled at the vision of this world del toro's created-- i read that the lead child's character was suppose to be even younger, but there was no young actress powerful enough as the girl he found to play the role- so he pushed her age up a little.

 

[Carol]

The violence wasn't gratuitous given the situation - an army post in Fascist Spain set up to exterminate the Republican resistance. It's pretty accurate. That's what they were like. This is when Franco was attempting genocide against the Basques among other atrocities. The violence isn't pornographic, it's appalling. It isn't titallating. It's repellent. It's meant to sicken and frighten rather than excite. You don't have a lantern-jawed Hero finally beating up the Villain. What you have mostly is terrified victims, a few desperate starving resisters and some extremely brutal soldiers.

It's also not "pure" fantasy. The heroine doesn't step through the looking glass into an entirely fantastic world. It's not magical realism where people shrug their shoulders when it snows apricots and say "That happens this time of year." The fantastic echoes the real, and the two are mixed together very well. It's all ambiguous by design. There isn't a lot of satisfying "And they all lived happily ever after" or cute singing animals. It's more like Grimm or the Brown Fairy Book than the fairy tales most of us got as children.

Thanks for the input! My friend's reaction was "migod how many close-ups of gunshots to the head does he need to make his point?" After reading a bit more about the movie I'm more interested in seeing it.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Wow. I probably wouldn't have given this movie a second thought, but now it's become a must see. Thanks for the review.

 

[matt.m]

I now want to see it. It does sound good.

 

[tellner]

I just remembered a quote from C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader that sort of applies to this and other good fantasy:

"Fly! Fly! About with your ship and fly! Row, row, row for your lives away from this accursed shore."

"Compose yourself," said Reepicheep, "and tell us what the danger is. We are not used to flying."

The stranger started horribly at the voice of the Mouse, which he had not noticed before.

"Nevertheless you will fly from here," he gasped. "This is the Island where Dreams come true."

"That's the island I've been looking for this long time," said one of the sailors. "I reckoned I'd find I was married to Nancy if we landed here."

"And I'd find Tom alive again," said another.

"Fools!" said the man, stamping his foot with rage. "That is the sort of toalk that brought me here, and I'd better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear what I say?" This is where dreams - dreams, do you understand - come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams."

There was about half a minute's silence and then, with a great clatter of armour, the whole crew were tumbling down the main hatch as quick as they could and flinging themselves on the oars to raw as they had never rowed before;

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

I have been an avid reader of Jung and his cohorts, with an eye towards the dreadful/blissful in imagery and myth. I visited the website link from this thread, and hope to catch the film this afternoon at matinee'.

In Shadow, truth.

D.

 

[MA-Caver]

If the opportunity arises then I'll catch the flick... otherwise I'll still walk in there without a clue as to what this film is about. On the website they offer synopsis and "about the film" ... both are tedious readings and so convoluted that it made reading them difficult ... even for my reading level. Whomever wrote them should start all over again in school and learn how to make a clear and BRIEF description of what viewers are going to see.

By the way this thread should be moved to entertainment... no?

 

[Cruentus]

Just wanted to say that I saw the movie yesterday.

Awesome. It was kind of sad, but holy smokes, it was SOO well done and compelling. I do recommend it highly!

 

[tellner]

That's why it won't make the money or get the awards it so richly deserves. Americans have no taste for tragedy

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

Well, watched it. Disappointed. After reading it up on the web, I was expecting a myth-rich tale with brilliantly interwoven lines to the "present-tense" fascist/marxist war in Spain, circa WW2. Nah.

And I've been a fan of Euro-film for a bit, now. This film was neither profound nor deep. Tragic, yes. A presentation of the tragedy of criminals in war, yes. Profound, no.

D.

 

[Cruentus]

Wow. I completely disagree. But it seems like the kind of movie that either one is going to love it or hate it.

 

[evenflow1121]

Well, watched it. Disappointed. After reading it up on the web, I was expecting a myth-rich tale with brilliantly interwoven lines to the "present-tense" fascist/marxist war in Spain, circa WW2. Nah.

And I've been a fan of Euro-film for a bit, now. This film was neither profound nor deep. Tragic, yes. A presentation of the tragedy of criminals in war, yes. Profound, no.

D.

I agree, after watching it with my girl friend, and aside from its brilliant effects, the only thing I got out of this movie was how tragic life can be for some that they have to escape to a made up fictional world to escape reality, like that poor little girl. Aside from that, I was not too impressed with the movie.

 

[Cruentus]

Modern Tragedies are definatily not for everyone.

What I liked about it was that it was the ordinariness of the characters. It is how incredibly uncompelling this tragedy is that is interesting to me. Each character had a pretty glaring flaw of some sort. There is no real "hero" in this, or gripping story of a young woman and her mother overcoming adversary. It is just a story of people trying to do what is right in wartime, where many don't come out on top, and where the young girl and her mother are trapped in the middle. I liked how the fantasy world crosses over into the real world, leaving that question if it was all fantasy or if there was some element of "reality;" also leaving questions as to what role the subjective mind plays in forming ones reality and meaning in ones life.

I likes it. But I agree that it isn't for everyone, and that many people probably won't like it...

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

Modern Tragedies are definatily not for everyone.

What I liked about it was that it was the ordinariness of the characters. It is how incredibly uncompelling this tragedy is that is interesting to me. Each character had a pretty glaring flaw of some sort. There is no real "hero" in this, or gripping story of a young woman and her mother overcoming adversary. It is just a story of people trying to do what is right in wartime, where many don't come out on top, and where the young girl and her mother are trapped in the middle. I liked how the fantasy world crosses over into the real world, leaving that question if it was all fantasy or if there was some element of "reality;" also leaving questions as to what role the subjective mind plays in forming ones reality and meaning in ones life.

I likes it. But I agree that it isn't for everyone, and that many people probably won't like it...

These were among the redeeming qualities of the film, but should have been explored more deeply. Where did the mandrake root really come from? Mercedes sees the chalk outline on the wall, while the wee lass is skulking about in her step-fathers room, and we never saw her get there? Mama starts having some pains as the root burns...why?

Intimation can be artistic, or handled poorly so as so evade or avoid connection, and lack meaning. The rough ingredients were there, I just don't think they were capitalized on well.

Our expectation of a thing happening can improve the load on probability of that thing happening. There was some neat potential in the story; I just don't think it got developed. One never felt the presence of Myth in the air; just dalliances of an overwhelmed mind.

D.