Pan's Labyrinth [DVD]

Ofelia (Baquero) loves reading fairytales and during the 1944 Spanish war, she is asked by a faun to complete 3 tasks which will make her a princess.Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) uses his visionary genius to bring a dark and dramatic fairytale to life in this Oscar winning picture.Filled with surprises, dramas and a dark twists upon fairytales, Pan's Labyrinth is both different and unique in its own genre and fills a viewer's watching requirements with stunning entertainment throughout.The general surprise of seeing a fairytale told in such a dark and dramatic way is what makes the film so appealing. How many fairytales are realistic? How many are dark and reflect the true nature of their time? All run on the same format and offer no new thrills, but Pan's Labyrinth is unique and brilliant in achieving that diverse effect.Toro's direction, plot and the costume design all come together superbly to achieve a dark and dismal reflection on Ofelia's life, and believe the plaudits, because this is one of the finest and imaginative films you will ever see. Toro is lining up to become the next Tim Burton with the use of dark materials and gothic imagery.The writing is equally impressive with plenty of twists and turns and a strong focus upon each character's personal issues. There was slight confusion regarding the beginning in relation to the ending on the first watch, but it is well worth watching again.The plot is driven by fantasy and escapism, with Ofelia desperate to escape the war and set things right. Baquero is excellent as central character Ofelia and will set your hearts racing with a brilliant young performance.Each character is interesting, from the stubborn and violent Captain Vidal to the silent and professional Mercedes, the film portrays realism through the realistic characters and their lives. The writing and dialogue keeps the audience hooked as Toro delivers twist after twist in a highly dramatic plot.The use of fantasy was a necessity and was pulled off tremendously well, through the use of unbelievable creatures. From a gigantic frog to a blind hellish creature, Toro gives viewers a variety and an image that will be cemented into anyone's memory forever after watching. The settings help achieve the graphic and dark imagination behind the creatures, none more so than the labyrinth.Pan's Labyrinth simply achieves everything that a good film should need to, great direction, plot and characters.9/10

I bought this many years ago on DVD but never watched it for some odd reason. Back then I was not as adept at reading subtitles as I am now due to reduced hearing, and the people who saw it warned me at the time that it was a dark and sometimes cruel movie, and that I may not have liked it.It is now many years later and I have finally watched it, and to be frank it was completely different to what I expected. It certainly is dark and the cold hearted Captain is just as I expected, after all he is a soldier, and a brave and fearless one too from what I can see. He is also an unfeeling human being, and apart from his ego has very little redeeming qualities. His pregnant wife would have had a miserable time with him. The side characters really go in and out and flesh out the story, especially Mercedes who really plays a pivotal role.And then there is Ofelia around which the movie revolves. A reader and explorer by nature, she gets caught up in the middle of a place where she does not want to be, and where only bad things seem to happen. Her inquisitiveness finds finds her the first piece of the puzzle that will lead her to what we suspect would be a sad and lonely end, but which turns out...... I won't drop any spoilers because that would ruin the surprise. Suffice to say it was an enjoyable movie and I was not disappointed at all, it really lived up to the hype that I had heard about. To me the visuals almost had a strange feel about them, and at times the movie feels more like those old pre-war movies that my parents used to watch. As for the Spanish, I am fortunate that because of my subtitle skills I can get to enjoy many movies in other languages while reading the English translations, and this one I enjoyed thoroughly. It is certainly not a children's movie, if anything it is more of a cult classic now, and one that will shine over the often mindless drivel so beloved of movie makers. Well worth watching, but I regret not having experienced it so many years ago,

Del Toro at his finest - great film and product