Extras:
Director's Commentary, Introduction by the director, Guardian interview
at the National Film Theatre, Featurettes, Director's Notebook, Storyboard
and notebook video prologue, Storyboard/thumbnail comparisons, Trailers,
Galleries
Director:
Guillermo Del Toro
Producers:
Alvaro Augustin, Alfonso Cuaron, Bertha Navarro, Guillermo Del Toro and Frida Torresblanco
Screenplay:
Guillermo Del Toro
Music:
Javier Navarrete
Cast:
Ofelia: Ivana Baquiero
Captain Vidal: Sergi Lopez
The Faun/The Pale Man: Doug Jones
Carmen: Ariadna Gil
Mercedes: Maribel Verdu
Doctor Ferreiro: Alex Angulo
Pedro: Roger Casamajor
Serrano: Cesar Vea
Spain, 1944. A young girl, who's obsessed with fairy tales, travels with her
pregnant mother to her fascist stepfather's country home, where she encounters
real magic...
Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has a career many filmmakers are envious
of. He's an auteur who has found international success with Spanish-language
films (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone), but also has a notable Hollywood career
(Mimic, Blade II, Hellboy). He may not be a household name yet, but that's
beginning to change...
Pan's Labyrinth (or El labertino del fauno) is another of Del Toro's signature
fantasies, again concerning a child with parental problems who encounters the
supernatural, set to a civil war backdrop. It's a concept with obvious
similarities to Del Toro's own The Devil's Backbone (both films even open
with an injured child.)
Ivana Baquiero plays Ofelia, a sweet girl living in post-civil war Spain.
Ofelia's mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) is heavily pregnant, so the pair
are staying with Ofelia's stepfather, sinister fascist Captain Vidal (Sergi
Lopez). It's not long before Ofelia encounters a stick insect/fairy that
leads her to a crumbling underground labyrinth. There she meets a faun (Doug
Jones) who tells her she is the reincarnation of a lost princess who can
return to her kingdom if she completes three tasks...
The great skill of Pan's Labyrinth is how Del Toro balances the brutal
realities of war and the magical world Ofelia "escapes" to. It may surprise
some, but the film is more interested in Spain than its magical labyrinth.
Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez) is the film's real face of horror, not the
"Pale Man" (an albino with eyes in the palms of his hands).
The balance between the two worlds is achieved deftly, although some people
could be disappointed with the relative sparcity of the supernatural. However,
Ofelia's plight in rural Spain is actually more involving than her occassional
trips to the underworld.
Pan's Labyrinth is a fairy tale at heart; albeit a very dark and twisted one.
Mind you, children's literature has always been freaky, with absent parents,
talking animals, child-eating witches, nasty stepsisters, etc. The film is a
mix of Miyazaki's Spirited Away and a darker version of C.S Lewis' Narnia
saga. The inclusion of an unborn child and evil step-parent also has parallels
to countless tales from the Brothers Grimm.
The cast are brilliant, particularly Ivana Baquiero in the lead role, who
brings a wonderful naturalness to Ofelia. Sergi Lopez gives a fantastic
performance as Captain Vidal, commanding every scene he's in. Finally, Doug
Jones (who worked with Del Toro on Hellboy) is great as the Faun and the Pale
Man, using his slender frame and expressive mannerisms to wondrous effect. He
should also be applauded for his faultless Spanish, which he learned
phonetically.
While not quite the masterpiece some are hailing it, Pan's Labyrinth is
certainly very entertaining and intellligent work. It's a well-accomplished film,
impeccably acted and containing superb design, make-up and effects. Against
expectations, I found the Spanish drama between Ofelia, Vidal, Carmen and
kindly housemaid Mercedes more interesting than the fantasy moments (many of
which are spoiled by the trailer).
Overall, Pan's Labyrinth is deserving of your time, but don't raise your
expectations too high. Del Toro entertains and impresses with his visual
flair, but he doesn't rewrite the fantasy movie genre (he even steals the
chalk-door idea from Beetlejuice).
But he does offers a beguiling mix of genres (war film, coming-of-age drama,
fantasy adventure and horror) that merge into a potent whole.
The 1.85:1 widescreen image is generally crisp and sumptuous, although some
of the blacks seem to have too much blue tinge.
The Spanish language DD5.1 soundmix is suitably atmospheric, but lacks real
bite. The dialogue and mid-range is fine, but the directional effects are
sometimes absent.
This particular DVD of Pan's Labyrinth was part of the Guillermo Del Toro
box-set that also contains Cronos and The Devil's Backbone, so it included no
extra features. However it did come in a very nice fold-out sleeve with
suitably slick designs and a nice information booklet.
The 2-disc DVD boxset on its own contains the following extras:
Director's Commentary, Introduction by the director, Guardian interview
at the National Film Theatre, Featurettes, Director's Notebook, Storyboard
and notebook video prologue, Storyboard/thumbnail comparisons, Trailers,
Galleries
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
