This film is about a young girl who moves with her mother into a compound in the hills of Spain in the final years of the Spanish Civil War, which many of you may not know lasted well into the 1940's. Her mother has gotten remarried after her first husband, the young girls father, to a stern murderous fascist army captain.
We love a cute kid in a beret.
The young girl, played superbly by Ivana Baquero, escapes from the horrors of the murders and torturing by diving into a netherworld populated by magical creatures that she only can see and talk to. Adding to the girl's problems are the facts that her mother is going through a rough pregnancy and some of the household staff are aiding the resistance.
We don't want to give too much of the plot away but we can say this is a very sad movie on some levels, but unlike most American films the ending remains truthful to the film as a whole. Guillmero del Toro is to be congratulated for making this film as dark as he did and yet also keeping it a hopeful movie.
Spanish cuties Maribel and Ivana.
It's a smashing success in our book. It shines a light on a period in history that is unknown to most of us here in the USA and the story, the actors, and the editing are all first rate. We can not say enough about the young actress Ivana Baquero, she is fantastic in this role. It's hard to imagine Dakota Fanning or a young Lindsay Lohan giving such a multi layered perfromance. Also notable in this film are the lovely doe eyed Maribel Verdu, who if we are not mistaken was the doomed cancer ridden hottie in Y Tu Mama Tambien, as Mercedes and Sergi Lopez as the cold blooded captain.The special effects in this film are stunning. They are just enough to keep you dazzled but they do not take over the picture. The creatures, such as Pan the faun, and the white creature with eyes in his palms are knockouts.
We really dug this film very much and those of you who may have been shying away from this one thinking that it's all special effects or some kind of Goth horror fest, you need to step back, get off your high horse, and watch this film.
A word of warning though, this film is suspenseful and there are some very gory violent scenes, so don't watch it with the kids, unless you want to give the lil' tykes nightmares.
We highly recommend this film and we may end up watching it again in the future. We loved it.
So say us! So say we all!!!
PS: Check out Dr. Monkey's blogroll buddy Boxer Rebellion's blog, he's doing movie reviews now too! And he's got a review of one of Dr. Monkey's favorite films Smoke Signals!
8 comments:
I loved that Pan's Labyrinth; it worked so well on all of its mythological, emotional and historical levels. It's the kind of film that you could watch over and over again and find new subtleties to enjoy and think over. I also blogged about the film a while ago.
And you're correct that Maribel Verdu was the horny hottie from Y Tu Mama...
Evil Spock made a reference to this film a long time ago. Still haven't seen it though.
Did watch Curse of the Golden Flower! Gong Li is incredible in that film. The girl who played Chan was a cutie too.
PJ-I"m so glad we both liked this great movie!
Evil Spock-Gong Li's hotness could power a small city!
I'm eager to see this one. I've had a long-time interest in the Spanish Civil War, particularly the International Brigades.
I actually was co-chair of a group here in Chicago devoted to the Lincoln Brigade (American members of the Lincoln Brigade) and got to be friends with a number of them. I posted a little bit about it here
Johnny-You will like this flick I promise.
First, Monkey thanks for the linkage. Also, I loved, loved, loved this film. I saw it on the big screen and those scenes where she is in the fictional world were so incredible on a big screen. I may have to buy this film one day.
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