2006 / 120 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

“Pan’s Labyrinth” is NOT a children’s film. Most reviews I’ve seen of this film make mention of this fact, but it still bears repeating. Do not take your children to this film unless you want them to have nightmares so intense that years of therapy will be required to erase them…unless, of course, your child is like my own sister. She could sit through ANYTHING and not be fazed. Seriously. I was five years older than her and there was stuff that freaked me out that didn’t have any effect on her. Then again, it’s entirely possible that I was far too sensitive as a child and, frankly, a complete wuss.

But enough about my sister’s resilience to cinematic torture (seriously, I showed her “The Exorcist”…nothing). “Pan’s Labyrinth” is like the original versions of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, or like the mid-80’s “Wizard of Oz” sequel “Return to Oz” (which is still an unsettling motion picture, no matter how old I get): it may feature a child, but it is a decidedly adult ride. “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a much darker film than even “Return to Oz”; at the very least it’s much gorier. The plot concerns a young girl named Ofelia. Ofelia is a bright, imaginative girl who loves to read fairy tales. Unfortunately for Ofelia, her mother has married a vicious, uncompromising captain for the Spanish army (the highly impressive Sergi Lopez). You see, it is the mid-1940’s and Captain Vidal has been charged with the task of locating and decimating rebel forces in a remote part of Spain. It comes to his attention that there is a spy in his camp, and he is determined to root them out at any cost. He is so dedicated to this task that he insists his new bride and her daughter join him at this remote outpost, so that he can still witness the imminent birth of child (and it had better be a son).

Meanwhile, young and imaginative Ofelia is befriended by a fairy…as well as a hairy, creepy-looking half-goat creature named Pan. Pan informs Ofelia that she is, in fact, a princess. She is the daughter of the king of the Underworld. And she can reclaim her title and rejoin the underground kingdom (thereby escaping the grimness of her reality) by completing three tasks. Unfortunately, these tasks won’t be easy. They will, however, be rather creepy involving enormous toads, forbidden food and a creature with his eyeballs in the middle of his hands.

Of these two worlds, I, like Ofelia, would rather inhabit the world of Pan and the king of the Underworld. Ofelia’s reality is a very harsh place. Her mother is nearly dying from her difficult pregnancy. Her stepfather is a brutal tyrant. The world around her is prone to erupting in violence at any moment. And yet Ofelia’s fantasy world is full of danger and foreboding as well. That, in my opinion, is the most interesting thing about the fantasy world in this film. It’s just as intense as the film’s “real” world. The film reminded me of “Brazil” only with a child in place of Jonathan Pryce’s imaginative office cipher. Ivana Baquero is an amazing young actress, as evidenced by her winning portrayal of Ofelia. I guarantee that her expressive eyes and open face will immediately have you rooting for Ofelia and on the edge of your seat as you await the eventual outcome of her life. Which will win: her fantasy or her reality?
I wasn’t surprised to find that the fantasy sequences (or are they just another form of reality?) were masterfully handled. The director is Guillermo Del Toro, after all, the man behind “Hellboy” and that second “Blade” movie. He has a way with the fantastic. He also has a tendency to take his films underground. “Blade 2” and “Hellboy” both had large sequences taking place in sewer and subway tunnels and Pan’s actual labyrinth isn’t above ground. I challenge Guillermo to make one, just ONE, movie that takes place entirely above the surface of the Earth. At any rate, it was no surprise to find that the more fantastic elements of the film worked so well. What truly surprised me was how gripping the “real” war story in the film was. With its focus shifting from the army encampment to the rebels hiding in the nearby forest, it’s nothing short of riveting. This is not just due to the great performance of Ivana, but also to Sergi Lopez, who creates one of the most cold-hearted, vicious bastards I’ve seen onscreen in a long, long time. Sergi does an excellent job portraying this cold, calculating man. He’s the sort of guy that you love to hate, sure, but he’s also the sort of villain who’s so effective that he actually makes the viewer uncomfortable (like Kathy Bates in “Misery”). The plot concerning him, the rebels and the spies within his outfit is mesmerizing stuff. It’s so good you don’t mind leaving Ofelia and her attempts to enter the Underworld Kingdom for a while.

The film has some very, very dark moments. It will tug at your heart and, just possibly, rip it still-beating from your chest. The violence in this film is intense and brutal. Things don’t always end well in the world of “Pan’s Labyrinth” (in its ending it especially reminded me of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil”) but if it’s a brutal ride it’s also a ride well worth taking. The acting is uniformly excellent. The plotting is meticulous. The film has a dark, lush look to it and the visuals are nothing less than spectacular. I also thought that the fantastic elements were exceptionally creative. The world of Pan is cleverly designed and written. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

It’s a gorgeous, riveting, richly imagined and designed film…just not one for the kids. Hell, it might leave many adults in the audience with nightmares…though I’m sure that my sister could weather it just fine.

[tags]Pan’s Labyrinth, nightmares, Spanish Army, Underworld, Guillermo Del Toro, Movie Review, Dale Nauertz[/tags]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.