Pans Labyrinth is a film of breathtaking emotional thematic visual depth. Of all the movies I’ve seen this year Pans Labyrinth is by far the most utterly unforgettable dark disturbing fairy tale. Diving deep into a world of fantasy, Labyrinth delivers an eerie sense of magic. From Writer and director Guillermo Del Torro comes the Spanish fairy tale Pans Labyrinth.
The story begins with ofelia finds an ancient pagan idol that awakens a fairy. The fairy takes her behind the main building; the labyrinth, which predates before Christianity. Here lies a faun that tells Ofelia that she is the lost princess of the fairy realm. He gives her three tasks to accomplish before she returns home. Brutaland cruel, he personally oversees torture sessions. At one point he graphically beats in a man’s face with a wine bottle. And yet he’s not a two-dimensional monster; actor Sergi Lopez brings an evil charm and frightening reality to the man while del Toro’s script fleshes him out into a full human being. Vidal isn’t being evil just for the sake of being evil – he truly believes in his cause and truly believes that what he’s doing is right. He’s a three-dimensional monster, a man whose blind obedience to a terrible ideology allows him to indulge many of his worst impulses.
Ofelia is just as much of a believer as Vidal. She believes completely and thoroughly in the world of fairies, and she believes in what the satyr tells her, despite the fact that he’s a fairly creepy looking monster with hooves for feet and big horns on his head. But Ofelia is not like her step-father in that she’s not blindly obedient to the faun; she doesn’t just do as she’s told. In the end it’s that trait which gives her salvation. This faun turns out to be a enemy in this fairy tale. The ending is one that you would never expect. I must admit this is going to be one of my favorite films of the New Year.
This film delivers a spine-chilling plot with a fantastic cast. I would recommend this film to all for it being such a fairy tale that we all long for at heart. Pan’s Labyrinth is a Alice in wonderland with a creepy twist to it that doesn’t disappoint.
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