Pan's Labyrinth (15.)
Directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Starring Sergi Lopez, Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil. In Spanish with subtitles. 119 mins
In the way that Graham Greene used to divide his books into serious works and entertainments, Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro splits his time between English language Hollywood projects and his own more personal Spanish language movies, although I’d say he takes them all seriously.
Labyrinth is a return to the Spanish Civil War setting which he previously explored in The Devil’s Backbone (and intends to again in the upcoming 3993.) It’s a curious mix of realistic wartime brutality and supernatural fantasy. Ofelia (Baquero) is a young girl, obsessed with fairy tales, whose mother has delivered her into the clutches of a wicked stepdad, Captain Vidal. The war is just about over and Vidal (played with extreme prejudice by Lopez, best known here for Harry, He’s Here to Help), a colonel in Franco’s army, is trying to round up gangs of Republicans who continue to fight on in the mountains.
As well as dealing with the harsh realities of her new hom,e Ofelia’s young life is complicated by the intervention of fairies and a fawn (Jones) that live in a Labyrinth, telling her that she is the reincarnation of a princess and she needs to complete three tasks before the moon is full to return to her kingdom.
Confused? Mystified? Me too, both by what the film’s aims are and by del Toro’s exulted critical reputation, one which unites high brows and fans boys alike. I find his Hollywood films (Hellboy, Blade II) all flash and no substance but when he adds substance to his vision it become even more jarring. Fans will tell you that his is a beautiful vision of ugliness but for me it’s just an ugly for ugly's sake. You have to suspect that the fantasy elements exist in this film simply to leaven its innate sadism. Early on, he has Vidal stab an innocent farmer repeatedly in the face. It’s an excessive way to spell out to us that he is the villain - all we needed was, “He’s with Franco.”
I should say now that there will be a barrage of reviews coming out telling you that this is a masterpiece and I have to say that his is a unique vision. It’s just that as unique visionaries go, he one of the more ordinary ones.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Starring Sergi Lopez, Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil. In Spanish with subtitles. 119 mins
In the way that Graham Greene used to divide his books into serious works and entertainments, Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro splits his time between English language Hollywood projects and his own more personal Spanish language movies, although I’d say he takes them all seriously.
Labyrinth is a return to the Spanish Civil War setting which he previously explored in The Devil’s Backbone (and intends to again in the upcoming 3993.) It’s a curious mix of realistic wartime brutality and supernatural fantasy. Ofelia (Baquero) is a young girl, obsessed with fairy tales, whose mother has delivered her into the clutches of a wicked stepdad, Captain Vidal. The war is just about over and Vidal (played with extreme prejudice by Lopez, best known here for Harry, He’s Here to Help), a colonel in Franco’s army, is trying to round up gangs of Republicans who continue to fight on in the mountains.
As well as dealing with the harsh realities of her new hom,e Ofelia’s young life is complicated by the intervention of fairies and a fawn (Jones) that live in a Labyrinth, telling her that she is the reincarnation of a princess and she needs to complete three tasks before the moon is full to return to her kingdom.
Confused? Mystified? Me too, both by what the film’s aims are and by del Toro’s exulted critical reputation, one which unites high brows and fans boys alike. I find his Hollywood films (Hellboy, Blade II) all flash and no substance but when he adds substance to his vision it become even more jarring. Fans will tell you that his is a beautiful vision of ugliness but for me it’s just an ugly for ugly's sake. You have to suspect that the fantasy elements exist in this film simply to leaven its innate sadism. Early on, he has Vidal stab an innocent farmer repeatedly in the face. It’s an excessive way to spell out to us that he is the villain - all we needed was, “He’s with Franco.”
I should say now that there will be a barrage of reviews coming out telling you that this is a masterpiece and I have to say that his is a unique vision. It’s just that as unique visionaries go, he one of the more ordinary ones.
