With Pan's Labyrinth celebrating its 20th Anniversary, I thought this was a great oppertunity to visit this film on the big screen. I was surprised that this was a very well attended for a 7pm film on a cold Sunday night. Unlike when I saw Casino Royale, I didn't see this film when it came out because it wasn't the sort of film I would like but thankfully my film tastes have improved in the two decades since and I was more than happy to buy a ticket for this film. The film takes place in 1944 where 10 year old Ofelia and her pregnant mother are on their way to live with her new step-father but in an attempt to escape from her new reality, she enters a dreamlike world.
Guillermo del Toro is a master at creating bleak scenarios but still have enough humanity and warmth to make the films accessible. For close to two hours the film flips between the grimness of Captain Vidal and his harsh treatment of anyone that displeases him to the magical craziness of all the creatures and its great that after 20 years, the special effects still hold up. All the sets look amazing and usually filming in woods is quite a boring experience but del Toro makes them interesting.
The performances are all really good. Ivana Baquero is great as Ofelia. She is a rare example of a child actor that is actually good. Nowadays it is fairly common for this to be the case but in 2006 it was still a rare thing. You feel sorry for her because she is being forced to call a horrible man father even though her real father died in the war and she loses her mother. It is nice that Ofelia gets her nice ending even though she dies in the 'real' world. Sergi Lopez is a great as Captain Vidal. He is totally horrible and every time he is on screen I just found myself really disliking him with great intensity. When Mercedes cuts his cheek, I was cheering but disappointed when it wasn't the end. This is how to write a good strong villain.
Maribel Verdu as Mercedes is the mother figure that Carmen can't be because she is heavily pregnant. She is trying to kill Vidal and so she has some interesting moments in the film. She has some personal motivation to kill Vidal and yet she remains connected to Ofelia. It was lovely performance from Verdu. Despite being a monster, Dave Jones played Pale Man brilliantly. I would have liked more from the Pale Man as it is so iconic and is such a great creation. Thankfully he gets more screen time with Fauno and that is a better performance and it the design is brilliant and has aged perfectly in the last 20 years.
Credit has to go to Guillermo Navarro for the cinematography of this film. The film is a very dark film both literally and metaphorically and despite it being dark I could see what was going on which isn't the case with a lot of dark looking movies made today. The one scene where there is some colour I found myself relieved that we had some colour and its looked stunning as well. Javier Navarrete has made a stunning score for this film and made me want to buy it. The only thing that wasn't great was the idea of screening this in 3D. It added nothing like in all 3D releases and as I am someone who usually wears glasses, it is always annoying to wear two sets of glasses. That gripe aside, Pan's Labyrinth is a beautiful looking film with a great central performance from Ivana Baquero and a story that is well written and directed by Guillermo del Toro.
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