Pan's Labyrinth Movies that are truly scary are a rarity. In The Night of the Hunter when Harry Powell, played by Robert Mitchum, begins chasing the two children after he has already knocked off the mom, played by Shelley Winters, you can feel a lump in your throat. Pan's Labyrinth is not a horror film, it is a fantasy film, but it one truly scary adult fantasy film. As in that film, Pan's Labyrinth has a truly memorable bad guy, played by Sergi López. This is one guy you do not want to get on the bad side of. This is movie that is not for the kiddos.
The movie is set in 1944 Spain when the Fascist are in power. It is a very harsh place. A young girl name Ofelia, played by Ivana Baquero, who creates her own fantasy world to escape this reality. Ivana Baquero is completely convincing in her part, in fact it is an amazing performance. The film masterfully blends the two worlds, and it is sometime hard to tell where one starts and the others ends. The plot is actually more complicated than this, but telling you more will spoil the film and if you have already seen the film, then you know what is going to happen anyway, don't you. This film does what all films should do. It makes us care about the characters, which is why the film is so scary in places. This film does not pull its punches in any way. People can get hurt. This is almost the opposite of what I think of as a Hollywood movie, where every ending is a happy ending. And most importantly the film tells a story.
It is a very beautiful and well thought-out movie. There are a lot of special effects throughout the movie. The special effects do not draw attention to themselves, but instead they flow naturally from the story. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was also special for this same reason, which helps the story flow more evenly. Pan's Labyrinth is also a very imaginative creative film, where even the minor characters have been fully fleshed out for us. The music, composed by Javier Navarrete, fits perfectly with the mood of the movie and perfectly complements the action. He is the same composer who did the score for The Devil's Backbone. The Devil's Backbone, a ghost story,was also directed by Guillermo del Toro, who directed Pan's Labyrinth. Both of the movies have a lot in common, and you might even want to track The Devil's Backbone before seeing Pan's Labyrinth.
This is a movie that is WELL worth the ticket price being asked. Go track down a theater where Pan's Labyrinth is playing, and go see this movie.
Go ahead, no stopping to see what is in the fridge, go on&...I am watching you.
You can write James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com |
