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Dan Owen reviews
Optimum Home Entertainment As premiered on
danowen.blogspot.com
- Cert:
- Cat.no: OPTD 0756
- Running time: 119 minutes
- Year: 2006
- Pressing: 2007
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: Spanish
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £17.99
- Extras:Director’s Commentary, Introduction by the director, Guardian interviewat the National Film Theatre, Featurettes, Director’s Notebook, Storyboardand notebook video prologue, Storyboard/thumbnail comparisons, Trailers,Galleries
Director:
- Guillermo Del Toro
Producers:
- Alvaro Augustin, Alfonso Cuaron, Bertha Navarro, Guillermo Del Toro and Frida Torresblanco
Screenplay:
- Guillermo Del Toro
Music:
- Javier Navarrete
Cast:
- Ofelia: Ivana Baquiero
Captain Vidal: Sergi Lopez
The Faun/The Pale Man: Doug Jones
Carmen: Ariadna Gil
Mercedes: Maribel Verdu
Doctor Ferreiro: Alex Angulo
Pedro: Roger Casamajor
Serrano: Cesar Vea
Spain, 1944. A young girl, who’s obsessed with fairy tales, travels with herpregnant mother to her fascist stepfather’s country home, where she encountersreal magic…
Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has a career many filmmakers are enviousof. He’s an auteur who has found international success with Spanish-languagefilms (Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone), but also has a notable Hollywood career(Mimic, Blade II, Hellboy). He may not be a household name yet, but that’sbeginning to change…
Pan’s Labyrinth (or El labertino del fauno) is another of Del Toro’s signaturefantasies, again concerning a child with parental problems who encounters thesupernatural, set to a civil war backdrop. It’s a concept with obvioussimilarities to Del Toro’s own The Devil’s Backbone (both films even openwith an injured child.)
Ivana Baquiero plays Ofelia, a sweet girl living in post-civil war Spain.Ofelia’s mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) is heavily pregnant, so the pairare staying with Ofelia’s stepfather, sinister fascist Captain Vidal (SergiLopez). It’s not long before Ofelia encounters a stick insect/fairy thatleads her to a crumbling underground labyrinth. There she meets a faun (DougJones) who tells her she is the reincarnation of a lost princess who canreturn to her kingdom if she completes three tasks…
The great skill of Pan’s Labyrinth is how Del Toro balances the brutalrealities of war and the magical world Ofelia “escapes” to. It may surprisesome, but the film is more interested in Spain than its magical labyrinth.Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez) is the film’s real face of horror, not the”Pale Man” (an albino with eyes in the palms of his hands).
The balance between the two worlds is achieved deftly, although some peoplecould be disappointed with the relative sparcity of the supernatural. However,Ofelia’s plight in rural Spain is actually more involving than her occassionaltrips to the underworld.
Pan’s Labyrinth is a fairy tale at heart; albeit a very dark and twisted one.Mind you, children’s literature has always been freaky, with absent parents,talking animals, child-eating witches, nasty stepsisters, etc. The film is amix of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and a darker version of C.S Lewis’ Narniasaga. The inclusion of an unborn child and evil step-parent also has parallelsto countless tales from the Brothers Grimm.
The cast are brilliant, particularly Ivana Baquiero in the lead role, whobrings a wonderful naturalness to Ofelia. Sergi Lopez gives a fantasticperformance as Captain Vidal, commanding every scene he’s in. Finally, DougJones (who worked with Del Toro on Hellboy) is great as the Faun and the PaleMan, using his slender frame and expressive mannerisms to wondrous effect. Heshould also be applauded for his faultless Spanish, which he learnedphonetically.
While not quite the masterpiece some are hailing it, Pan’s Labyrinth iscertainly very entertaining and intellligent work. It’s a well-accomplished film,impeccably acted and containing superb design, make-up and effects. Againstexpectations, I found the Spanish drama between Ofelia, Vidal, Carmen andkindly housemaid Mercedes more interesting than the fantasy moments (many ofwhich are spoiled by the trailer).
Overall, Pan’s Labyrinth is deserving of your time, but don’t raise yourexpectations too high. Del Toro entertains and impresses with his visualflair, but he doesn’t rewrite the fantasy movie genre (he even steals thechalk-door idea from Beetlejuice).
But he does offers a beguiling mix of genres (war film, coming-of-age drama,fantasy adventure and horror) that merge into a potent whole.
The 1.85:1 widescreen image is generally crisp and sumptuous, although someof the blacks seem to have too much blue tinge.
The Spanish language DD5.1 soundmix is suitably atmospheric, but lacks realbite. The dialogue and mid-range is fine, but the directional effects aresometimes absent.
This particular DVD of Pan’s Labyrinth was part of the Guillermo Del Torobox-set that also contains Cronos and The Devil’s Backbone, so it included noextra features. However it did come in a very nice fold-out sleeve withsuitably slick designs and a nice information booklet.
The 2-disc DVD boxset on its own contains the following extras:Director’s Commentary, Introduction by the director, Guardian interviewat the National Film Theatre, Featurettes, Director’s Notebook, Storyboardand notebook video prologue, Storyboard/thumbnail comparisons, Trailers,Galleries
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.