Pan's Labyrinth
Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro
The opening shot of a child laying on the ground with blood pouring from her nose, is an early indication that this film is going to be a rough ride.
After witnessing a close up of a cheek bone slit open with a pen knife, a leg amputation, a pregnant lady with blood smeared all over her stomach, and a mans nose smashed deep into his face with the base of a beer bottle, I surprise myself in that my concluding afterthoughts of the film are that of beauty and peace as opposed to war and death.
Set in Franco’s Spain in 1944, Pans Labyrinth follows the story of Ofeila, a young Spanish girl, Carmen, her pregnant mother, and Captain Vidal, her stepfather, as they face their own personal demons. The hasty and often obscene behaviour of The Captian (played brilliantly by Sergi Lopez i Ayats), is mirrored by Ofeila’s own gothic fairytale as she stumbles across a forgotten labyrinth where she is set three tasks by a noble faun.
Pan’s Labyrinth is a fantastically crafted film, filled with genuine optimism and hope in a world so smitten with war and death.
Copyright Daniel Emmerson 2008 all rights reserved
