Pan's Labyrinth

[vegeta rocker]

So, has anyone here seen this movie?

I liked it very much, i thought it did a good job of telling both a realistic and fantasy driven story.

The soundtrack was haunting and i though Doug Jones was great.

So any comments, did anyone dislike it?

I will probably go more in depth about it when i see if anyone on here has seen it.

[James]

[font=arial]I really want to see Pan's Labyrinth - I almost went yesterday but it didn't end up happening.

The movie is playing in Cinema Europa down here where I am (Cinema Europa is basically for foreign films). Is this movie subtitled? Given its apparent scale, I was kind of surprised that it would be shown as an independent film. [/font]

[vegeta rocker]

Yeah, it is subtitled.

Its spoken language is Spanish, the subtitling is done pretty well. I really enjoyed the look of the film as well as the story.

If you are into darker fairy tales, like The Matchgirl and The Little Mermaid you will love this movie.

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]I was waiting to see who else saw this film but since this thread is dying faster than I thought I'll step up to the plate. I saw this movie when it was finally released across the States [or at least it first started showing on the 19th here] with my girlfriend. I was surprised at how packed the theater was- it was 80 percent full for a foreign language fantasy film, lol.

I thought it was a fantastic film, very well done. I'm not familiar with any of the actors but they all did a fantastic job, especially the little girl who played Ofelia. The Captain Vidal, Ofelia's mother and Carmen were all wonderfully acted too. Of course, props to the Pan as well but I enjoyed [spoiler]the Pale Man[/spoiler] almost too much. I consider the latter to be one of the best villains I've seen in a movie for a long time, lol.

The cinematography, effects and make up for the fantasy parts of the movie were suburb too. It didn't come off as campy at all, it was a little too realistic at some points with how much violence was shown in this movie, lol. The violence wasn't a negative point to me but I have to admit I had to look away during most of the scene involving [spoiler]Vidal putting his cheek back together and trying to take a drink afterwards[/spoiler].

The plot and the overarching theme seemed to have a duality, there was the more typical morality tale you'd expect from a fairy tale and yet superimposed on it lingering there I thought that it seemed much more was being said. Things about people's desires, reality, grim truths and hope.

The film had a happy ending. I just don't know if people will realize that.[/color]

[Darren]

[QUOTE=DeathKnight][color=crimson]I was waiting to see who else saw this film but since this thread is dying faster than I thought I'll step up to the plate. I saw this movie when it was finally released across the States [or at least it first started showing on the 19th here] with my girlfriend. I was surprised at how packed the theater was- it was 80 percent full for a foreign language fantasy film, lol.

I thought it was a fantastic film, very well done. I'm not familiar with any of the actors but they all did a fantastic job, especially the little girl who played Ofelia. The Captain Vidal, Ofelia's mother and Carmen were all wonderfully acted too. Of course, props to the Pan as well but I enjoyed [spoiler]the Pale Man[/spoiler] almost too much. I consider the latter to be one of the best villains I've seen in a movie for a long time, lol.

The cinematography, effects and make up for the fantasy parts of the movie were suburb too. It didn't come off as campy at all, it was a little too realistic at some points with how much violence was shown in this movie, lol. The violence wasn't a negative point to me but I have to admit I had to look away during most of the scene involving [spoiler]Vidal putting his cheek back together and trying to take a drink afterwards[/spoiler].

The plot and the overarching theme seemed to have a duality, there was the more typical morality tale you'd expect from a fairy tale and yet superimposed on it lingering there I thought that it seemed much more was being said. Things about people's desires, reality, grim truths and hope.

The film had a happy ending. I just don't know if people will realize that.[/color][/QUOTE]

Since you gave props to Pan and the Pale Man, it might interest you to know that it was the same guy who played both of them!

I haven't seen the movie yet, but i really want to. I've only watched the special features that last about 20 minutes. It came on HBO the other day and I was so excited. You'll also want to know (since you said you didn't like the violence that much) all of it was fake! The war scenes were the hardest to film according to the director. They weren't even allowed to use blanks... No sound or anything. That was all added to the film after filming was finished. So were the bullet wounds... There was no make-up effects on those. Just pure computer gold!

And now that I've heard that it was good from people who's seen it, I want to watch it even more!

[vegeta rocker]

I agree with some people questioning the ending, Toro has said before that the ending is open to interpretation in many ways.[spoiler] Since no actions from the real world carried over into the fantasy world, it would be safe to assume that Ofelia died and she was fantasizing as she did.[/spoiler]

I however believe [spoiler]she made it back home.[/spoiler]

If you enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth you should watch The Devils Backbone, it takes place in the same era and Toro has mentioned their connections.

[Cyriel]

[COLOR=Teal][SIZE=1]This movie I absolutely adore. Ofelia is so adorable...^__^ Although I was just wondering, [spoiler]was Ofelia's brother born just for the purpose of testing her then? And why was the baby in the Underworld as well, when he didn't die?[/spoiler] I thought that the sets were gorgeous, especially the [spoiler]fig tree at the end[/spoiler]. Another question: [spoiler]did Ofelia's mother marry the Captain only because she was pregnant, or did she really love him?[/spoiler] [/SIZE][/COLOR]

[eleanor]

[quote name='Cyriel][COLOR=Teal][SIZE=1]This movie I absolutely adore. Ofelia is so adorable...^__^ Although I was just wondering, [spoiler]was Ofelia's brother born just for the purpose of testing her then? And why was the baby in the Underworld as well, when he didn't die?[/spoiler] I thought that the sets were gorgeous, especially the [spoiler]fig tree at the end[/spoiler]. Another question: [spoiler]did Ofelia's mother marry the Captain only because she was pregnant, or did she really love him?[/spoiler] [/SIZE'][/COLOR][/quote]


[color=dimgray][spoiler] The thing about the baby being in the Underworld makes me wonder if Ofelia's ending never really happened. I felt the overarching theme of the entire movie was the idea that fantasy was the only outlet for a young girl like Ofelia, even if it wasn't true. Of course, there's plenty of evidence against that. The captain could see the mandrake, the flower blooming on the fig tree, etc.

It's made pretty obvious that Ofelia's mother married the captain out of desperation. She was clearly unhappy, and her conversation with Ofelia about the harshness of life gave more hints. [/spoiler]

I adored the faun [i]so[/i] much. His character design was too cool for words.

And when I watched the movie I was actually expecting more violence that it had. Not that the movie wasn't violent (it made me cringe plenty of times), I had just heard from people that it was disgustingly violent. I [i]hate[/i] [spoiler]torture scenes, though. Which is probably why I hate anyone who thinks Hostel or the Saw series is cool.[/spoiler][/color]

[Nerdsy]

[QUOTE=Lunox][color=dimgray][spoiler] The thing about the baby being in the Underworld makes me wonder if Ofelia's ending never really happened. I felt the overarching theme of the entire movie was the idea that fantasy was the only outlet for a young girl like Ofelia, even if it wasn't true. Of course, there's plenty of evidence against that. The captain could see the mandrake, the flower blooming on the fig tree, etc.

It's made pretty obvious that Ofelia's mother married the captain out of desperation. She was clearly unhappy, and her conversation with Ofelia about the harshness of life gave more hints. [/spoiler][/color][/QUOTE]

[color=deeppink][spoiler]I hold the opinion that the fantasy world existed. It's hard to argue with it when she walks through walls. Mind you, this in no way means that Ofelia's ending never happened; just because the fantasy world was real doesn't mean she wasn't hallucinating at the end.

Also, I must be blind. I didn't see the baby at the end. Where was he?[/color][/spoiler]

[eleanor]

[QUOTE=Nerdsy][color=deeppink][spoiler]
Also, I must be blind. I didn't see the baby at the end. Where was he?[/color][/spoiler][/QUOTE]

[color=dimgray] [spoiler]I just took the benefit of the doubt, because I only think the baby was there. Not sure, though. P:[/spoiler][/color]

[jen_sa]

I haven't seen it. I do wanna watch it but I can't.

=>Jen

[Sara]

[color=#b0000b][size=1][i]Such[/i] a good film. Absolutely haunting?the lullaby! I have no words for it.

Beautiful movie. The final scene in the labyrinth was almost too much for me.[/size][/color]

[vegeta rocker]

I agree, the Labyrinth scene at the end was almost too much!

The soundtrack is beautiful, i listen to the lullaby all the time.

[Arcadia]

It took a lot of will-power for me to not completely fall apart by the end of the movie. Granted, I'll pretty much cry at anything slightly cinematic these days, but this was really.... wow. [i]Loved[/i] it. I think what I like best about it, though, is how incredibly dark it is - even the fairytale parts of it. It was very Brothers Grimm, I guess, in that it remained true to form - fairytales were meant to scare children into behaving more often or not, and so the darker they were the better. Even Pan was pretty freaking creepy to me (though also very awesome - I love that he sounded like trees).

Fantastic women actors, I have to give them all props. Obviously the little girl was amazing, but the two older women were spectacular as well. I remember seeing the HBO thing, too, and knowing how many limitations they had to begin with really makes you appreciate the work put into the film even more.

[spoiler]As for the fantasy aspect, part of me really wants it to be real, but I don't think it is. I agree that a lot of it seemed to actually be happening - it would be hard to imagine labyrinth walls moving on their own to accomodate you - but the end I thought was more of a personal fantasy than actual reality because her mother and the baby are there (her mother, now with that swanky white wig, is holding him). I think the point, like DeathKnight was getting at, is that when things suck that bad, you need something else to keep you going and make you happy. Damn fascists![/spoiler]