Pan's Labyrinth

You can see a trailer for this movie at the official website here.

I'm pretty excited about it. This movie isn't a simple rehashing of old ideas. It seems to be a dark mutation of Peter Pan for adults. It kind of reminds me of gloomy Russian fairytales.

Edit: Writer, director, and producer of this flick is Mexican filmaker Guilleromo Del Toro.

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I'm glad someone linked the trailer; a friend of mine told me about it and her enthusiasm alone made me want to see this. I can't wait to see it =)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I want to see this, but most of the movie doesn't even take place in the fantasy world. It's apparently a 70/30 split, according to a review on IMDB.

So, I wouldn't go in there expecting Labyrinth 2, you'll be disappointed.

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I saw the trailer months ago and I was so excited to see it. Forgotten about it until you brought it up. But I am hearing great reviews about it. And I agree Yamamanama, the creatures do kind of remind you of Clive Barker especially Abarat.

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i'm really excited to go see this. looks like what would be made if Tim Burton and Jim Henson teamed up.

that weird looking creature in the trailer is awesome. on my must see.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I saw it yesterday and was very pleased. The war movie/fairy-tale motives blend together surprisingly well and it's not so in-your-face about the fantasy part's mysteries but leaves room for interpretation. There is also quite a bit of gore, so don't bring any friends who cannot stomach that.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

^ your mention of gore isn't optimistic for me heh....but I think I will give this movie chance. I have enjoyed the directoral work of del Toro before and the trailer looks quite good indeed. I'm just a giant scaredy-cat though, so when I first saw the posters for the movie that had all the creepy looking creatures on them, I thought it'd be some sort of horror film. But from what I have been reading, it's terrific. So...heh. *seesaws*

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Does anyone know if the movie on DVD out in US would be subtitled? I heard its so wonderful and definitely something I'm looking for regarding morbid philsophy of the truth.

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When I read the article on this movie in Fangoria, I was surprised to learn that there was a fair amount of violence/gore in it. For some reason I didn't think it would be that kind of movie...but it doesn't turn me off from it. I knew it wasn't for children.

Also, I'm now interested in going and watching his older film, The Devil's Backbone. I had heard about it before, but never really payed much attention.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I saw this yesterday, and enjoyed it a lot. It was much gorier than I imagined it would be, but it also had a wonderful, mystical quality to it. I did think it was a little too depressing for its own good, particularly with how they edited the ending.

Spoiler:

I don't think they should have shown her dying after she enters the special kingdom; rather, it should have cut straight from the shot of her there to black, and then to the tree reblooming. I think it takes away from the mysticism of her quest (essentially confirming that all she went through was her imagination, and that it can't possibly be real). A little childish, perhaps, but I think the film would've benefited from it.

Other than that, though, I think it was an otherwise excellently conceived and put together film that will at least entertain anyone with any interest in a fantasy film.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'm excited to see this, but it will have to be a DVD rental for me. Mrs. Gratch would be put off by all the violence/gore, and I don't really have any friends that would want to see something like it. Pity.

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Originally Posted by el jacko

Spoiler:

I don't think they should have shown her dying after she enters the special kingdom; rather, it should have cut straight from the shot of her there to black, and then to the tree reblooming. I think it takes away from the mysticism of her quest (essentially confirming that all she went through was her imagination, and that it can't possibly be real). A little childish, perhaps, but I think the film would've benefited from it.

Spoiler:

I don't know, I think that would have taken away from the poignancy of it all. It's absolutely heartbreaking, and goodness knows I wanted it all to be real and for her to live, but it's better the way it is.

Absolutely fantastic movie though. The gore wasn't really that bad either, all the parts that I thought would be horrible (torture scenes, etc) were fine. The worst part was when Vidal beat that kid's nose in with the bottle. Yeesh.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by el jacko

Spoiler:

I don't think they should have shown her dying after she enters the special kingdom; rather, it should have cut straight from the shot of her there to black, and then to the tree reblooming. I think it takes away from the mysticism of her quest (essentially confirming that all she went through was her imagination, and that it can't possibly be real). A little childish, perhaps, but I think the film would've benefited from it.

Spoiler:

Actually when I saw that bit I interpreted it as her physical earth body dying (because that is mortal) whilst her soul returns to the other world. Because remember at the beginning they say that the princess' 'soul' would be born again in some way and return, I took that to mean that her physical form or appearance was negligible as it was her soul that needed to return. And the bit where she is talking to the creature, but the man doesn't see it, could of been simply because he doesn't believe in such things, I wouldn't imagine him to of thought of her as anything other than an 'insane evil' little girl considering how quickly he killed her, so he perceived what he wanted.

So I think it could still go either way.

However it can also be interpreted as just her imagination. Especially as she always had to be alone for most of the things that happened, like the book etc. I was just giving an idea of how it could still be interpreted the other way.

Either way it's an amazing film, I was very impressed and stunned by it. The gory graphic moments were pretty painful to watch but you can always look away, I think thats better than leaving those out for censorship. I think those moments were there to show just how mortal 'earth' is, there seemed to be quite a few mentions of immortality like the story she told.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I saw a screening of Pan last week. Excellent. The ending was happy and sad at the same time. ^^

How ya doing, buddy?

This movie was amazing.

The thing that surprised me the most was how brutal the violence was. Not that it was especially graphic (except for a couple places), but just how gut-wrenchingly real it was. Usually I'm okay with movie violence, but this was... intense.

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I always liked Del Toro's work, even on Relic. Finally he's getting the recognition he deserves. I have mixed feelings about what the hell to think about the plot.

Can someone explain (or at least your point of view)

Spoiler:

IF all was part of her imagination, how can she foretold the blood coming from her mom?.

And also, the mandrake plant, I know it could have been any root she found there, but...why did her mother got better? Coincidence? It was not the medicine that the doctor gave her, since the doctor said that it was a miracle when he was talking to the Captain. And the Captain saw the fricking plant too =/

Even though there are contradictions about being real or not, i personally think it was real. Those "To see them, you have to believe Peter Pan!!!" kinda real.

Since the beggining of the movie it was kinda funny how "Alice in Wonderland" always came to my mind. I was really impressed when Ofelia shows up with the dress that her mom gave her which looks pretty much the same Alice had.

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Spoiler:

There wasn't really a point where I thought it wasn't real actually. It was only after looking in the thread here that I reconsidered. So I pretty much agree with you there Dizzy, and those are really good points. I think the root may of been just something she found but it seems too big of a coincidence, especially when she throws it in the fire and her mother returns back to the bleeding state she had been in not long before the Mandrake root had been placed under her bed. The Captain could probably see the root since Mandrake roots are real things, but he and her mother would of just seen it as a plain (oddly shaped) root and not of been able to see it as alive. Although her mother was in excruciating pain I imagine she might of at least glanced at the root in the fire since it was screaming pretty loudly and writhing as it burned. So she, like the Captain probably couldn't see such things. Its brought up a couple of times in the film, that whole idea of grown-ups losing their belief in fantasy, and thats the whole topic of that Peter Pan spin-off film Hook so I definitely agree with it seeming like a Peter Pan fairy belief thing

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Dizzy

I always liked Del Toro's work, even on Relic. Finally he's getting the recognition he deserves. I have mixed feelings about what the hell to think about the plot.

Can someone explain (or at least your point of view)

Spoiler:

IF all was part of her imagination, how can she foretold the blood coming from her mom?.

And also, the mandrake plant, I know it could have been any root she found there, but...why did her mother got better? Coincidence? It was not the medicine that the doctor gave her, since the doctor said that it was a miracle when he was talking to the Captain. And the Captain saw the fricking plant too =/

Even though there are contradictions about being real or not, i personally think it was real. Those "To see them, you have to believe Peter Pan!!!" kinda real.

Since the beggining of the movie it was kinda funny how "Alice in Wonderland" always came to my mind. I was really impressed when Ofelia shows up with the dress that her mom gave her which looks pretty much the same Alice had.

Spoiler:

I believe the only part of the mystical underworld aspect of the movie that was a part of her imagination was how she took a seat on the throne by the king's side, and more importantly, the whole thing that tells you something's terribly wrong with this happy ending, her mother's side. Her human mother's side. To me, that showed her dying dreams. The underworld scorned her for not spilling her brother's blood, just like she was told would happen.

It's nothing definitive, but to me, it was a tragic ending.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Why didn't see this a while ago? The preview looks awesome and it seems everyone on here loved it. I will have to take a look at it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Spoiler:

Saw this without actually having read anything about it. I was pretty disappointed that the fantasy aspect of it wasn't really a huge factor. But it was still a good watch.

I was also disappointed that it sort of led you to doubt the validity of the fantasy world. Like she was just using it as a sort of escapism technique to avoid dealing with reality (the part where she was talking to her brother in the womb about taking him away with her and making him a prince). However, as the other's have stated, there were coincidences throughout that could not be ignored.

That hand-eye monster thing was pretty bad ass. I thought she ate the grapes on purpose to give him a reason to move instead of just sit there and waste money. Wasn't until a friend pointed out that that was after she was sent to bed with no dinner.

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Originally Posted by Kazyl

Spoiler:

That hand-eye monster thing was pretty bad ass.

And isn't it amazing how this supposedly "innocent" child story type of horror gets under our skin? There's a certain passage in Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" which freaked the crap out of me.

Spoiler:

The one where the Other Mother presents the buttons to her.

I was speaking idiomatically.

This is the first film I have seen in ages where the bad guy can be human and still utterly inhumane. And what was even better was the violent parts looked incredibly painful...none of the anaesthetised 'you can bash my head in and I'm still okay' rubbish. Sergí Lopez should get a load of awards for this.

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Without having known beforehand, I was not at all surprised to see Alfonso Cuaron's name in the credits. Absolutely fantastic film. It's refreshing to see something this innovative and imaginative. It was even better to see the theater was packed. =D

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This movie, I found, was beautifully haunting. It starts out slow enough but gains more than enough momentum to really want you rooting for Ofelia to complete her tasks. I watched this Wednesday night, and then Letters from Iwo Jima the following night, both great movies, but there's a certain quality of PL that sticks in my mind and wraps itself and some key sequences keep looping in my mind. It's like a fairy tale for adults, that doesn't pull any punches on the dread factor, who often forget how scary a "monster under the bed or in the closet" can get when perceived by younger children, as when Ofelia asked Mercedes of what she thought about faries, and the older just relied, yes, I believed in those types of things before, but now, not at all. This movie was gruesome, but not stomach churning. Most of the violence centered around gunshot wounds and a torture scene with the Mexican forces and the rebels. What I loved most about the movie, was despite the protagonist as being a young girl, it was definately aimed at a mature audience, without a doubt. A must see, and also a must buy.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

It must be good if it made you change your sig and avatar! I am looking forward to getting this film when it is released on DVD, unfortunately it was like a game of cat and mouse to find at cinemas over here, so I never got round to seeing it

Jam it back in, in the dark.