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Pan's Labyrinth: The Blue Ink Alchemy Review
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1   POSTED: 17 May 2012 11:33

I'm really not sure where to begin with this. If I were still doing IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! I may just lead with a few moments of silence. Powerful films have a way of taking the breath, the very words right out of me. Make no mistake: Pan's Labyrinth is one of those films.

Courtesy Estudio Picasso

The year is 1944, and Spain is under new management by the fascist Francisco Franco. At a forward post established against guerrillas fighting the new regime, Captain Vidal has summoned his wife and step-daughter to stay with him. His wife, Carmen, is close to giving birth to his son, while the girl, Ofelia, would rather keep her nose in her fairy tale books. En route to the post, Ofelia happens across a strange insect that transforms before her eyes and leads her to a secluded labyrinth where a faun tells her she may be a legendary princess. To prove herself worthy of her birthright, she must accomplish a series of tasks, in the midst of this bloody civil war, with the lives of all she knows and holds dear hanging in the balance.

Writer-director Guillermo del Toro is no stranger to dark fantasy. He brought us Blade II (one of the good ones) and both Hellboy films. By 'dark', I don't mean the sort of dark fantasy where there's lots of naked women and cursing and gratuitous buckets of blood. No, I mean thematically dark. Truly dark. The sort of dark that has kids curling up tight in their beds with their sheets pulled up to just under their eyes, because they're scared witless by what's in the shadows but don't dare look away. You could even call it 'edgy', as it lives on the very edge between fantasy and horror. Pan's Labyrinth is unafraid to glance, just for a moment here and a heartbeat there, into the deep shadows of the realms of the unknown and the very real darkness in human nature.

Courtesy Estudio Picasso
Absolutely stunning visuals.

You can't tell a story like this without good characters, and in film you need good actors to make them come alive. In the hands of a less adept director, Captain Vidal would come across as a caricature of the fascist movement, a Nazi in all but name, not so much a man as he is a punching bag leering at us to hit him harder. Thankfully, the character is written with complexity and depth, even if he's a rather vile human being, and Sergi López gives a fantastic performance. As for Ofelia, del Toro was so impressed by Ivana Baquero that he aged up her part so the young actress could play it. She, too, is complex and deep, as well as fallible.

Here are two human beings who come at life from entirely different angles, even in some cases wanting the same thing for completely disparate reasons, and their conviction is what drives this story forward and holds us mesmerized by it. The visuals and the construction of del Toro's fantasy world don't hurt, either. Culled from all sorts of fairy and folk tales, the world Ofelia alone can see, touch, and enter is brought to breathtaking life, with del Toro mainstay Doug Jones playing the parts of the Faun and the Pale Man. As wondrous as it is, there's also a primal and untamed nature to it, as as attractive as it might be to a young girl, one wonders if it's any less dangerous than the cold, jackbooted reality through which her stepfather reigns as nominal master.

Courtesy Estudio Picasso
My skin crawls just looking at the guy.

The tendency is to write something like "I can't say enough about this" but I really feel, in this case, I can't say any more about it. You should really just watch it, if you haven't already. Despite its fairy tale trappings, it's an exceedingly mature and heart-wrenchingly vital tale, far removed from what most would consider kid-friendly. Don't be put off by the choice del Toro made to shoot it in Spanish; the truths of this film and the lives of its characters transcend things like spoken language. It is one of the most deeply affecting films I've seen in a very long time. I really cannot recommend Pan's Labyrinth highly enough.

 
2   POSTED: 17 May 2012 19:12

Good review, Pans is definitely one of Del Toros Finest pieces. As you said above, there isn't much to say other then you must see it.

I like your definition of Dark as a theme. Its something that people need to get to grips with as all those faux-dark titles out there pushing gratuitous nudity and graphic violence into the mainstream eye and calling it Dark.

 
3   POSTED: 18 May 2012 14:20

I'm gonna be the peculiar duck here and say I didn't really like this movie. There's always a disconnect when I'm watching del Toro's movies and I couldn't really explain why. The visuals are stark and impressive - except when he overdoes it like in Hellboy 2 - but something about the way he directs the actors, or how he paces the scenes never sits right with me.

Ragsnstitches:
I like your definition of Dark as a theme. Its something that people need to get to grips with as all those faux-dark titles out there pushing gratuitous nudity and graphic violence into the mainstream eye and calling it Dark.

Pan's Labyrinth has quite a bit of gratuitous violence though. The scene were that guy gets his face caved in with a bottle. Or when one rebel gets his leg amputated and you're shown the initial saw action before the camera cuts away. And then there's the scene were you see the completely torn up hand of the rebel getting tortured.

It doesn't really leave anything to the imagination.

 
4   POSTED: 18 May 2012 18:57

Casual Shinji:
I'm gonna be the peculiar duck here and say I didn't really like this movie. There's always a disconnect when I'm watching del Toro's movies and I couldn't really explain why. The visuals are stark and impressive - except when he overdoes it like in Hellboy 2 - but something about the way he directs the actors, or how he paces the scenes never sits right with me.

Ragsnstitches:
I like your definition of Dark as a theme. Its something that people need to get to grips with as all those faux-dark titles out there pushing gratuitous nudity and graphic violence into the mainstream eye and calling it Dark.

Pan's Labyrinth has quite a bit of gratuitous violence though. The scene were that guy gets his face caved in with a bottle. Or when one rebel gets his leg amputated and you're shown the initial saw action before the camera cuts away. And then there's the scene were you see the completely torn up hand of the rebel getting tortured.

It doesn't really leave anything to the imagination.

Yes, I didn't say it didn't have violence though, did I? I think you read too much into what I left unsaid.

Dark is an atmosphere, a thematic element, not just a visual gimmick. When violence is used in a dark film it's used in a way that deliberately pushes a point (this guy is brutal, this guy is in agony) and to indicate to the viewer the state of things in the story. It's also hard to justify, generally cruel and never in a satisfying manner for the viewer (at least not without consequence to the executioner, like in a dark revenge film). You will also note that a typical dark film will show a lot of reaction shots, or other cinematic devices, of the suffering caused and will really push the point home that a life has ended or been traumatised.

Take the typical use of violence in straight Action movies as an example, violence is used to differentiate the protagonist from all the other violent maniacs on screen (by methods and purpose) and also to give a primal thrill to the audience when the bad guy get's shot/pummeled/sliced by the lead badass.

Take the film Saw as another example, a very unsettling gore fest that aims to be uncompromising when it comes to violence. The use of violence is very similar if not more extreme then its use in Pans. It has all the ingredients for a dark film too, but it doesn't carry them into the Themes or Atmosphere of the film. The violence and the discomfort it causes for the viewer is essentially the only atmosphere present but for most of the films the characters being subjected to it are never given a second thought and are even made in a way that we feel less sympathy for(apart from the protagonist). Also, the last few frames of every violent scene are usually just the gore explosions... no aftermath. Dark films don't dance around these aspects of violence.

Ultimately, Dark films are meant to be subtle with a few especially sharp points scattered throughout. They are also more flexible with there emotional spectrum then some other genres.

 
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