El Laberinto del Fauno

[pasithea]

El Laberinto del Fauno o en ingles, Pan's Labyrinth es un movie fantastico.



It's late so I'll spare you any more hackneyed spanish. In short, this is a really good film. Rather depressing but really really beautiful. It's in a similar tone to The Illusionist and does a grand job of blurring the line between fantasy, delusion, and harsh reality. The film is set against the backdrop of the spanish civil war and the fascist repression just before WWII. If you are familiar with reconstruction era Italian films, this is comparable in tone. Don't go to see it if you aren't ready for some real serious darkness. Also, keep in mind, it's not an american film and thus might not have an american ending.

That said, the film is really quite good in my opinion. The rise of fascism in Spain is something that barely makes a footnote in american history books but it was a time that was devastating to Spain for decades afterwards.

The real thing for me in this film is of course Pan. He is simply gorgeous! I think that, to date, he is one of the most handsome and erotic creatures ever put on film. Of course, one must be wary of fauns.

Anyhow, I liked this film far far better than Neil Gaiman's film a couple of summers ago, though it's a lot more harsh.

The movie is in spanish with english subtitles and probably won't be in theaters very long, but I found it really worth watching.

I'm going to slip off to sleep and hopefully dream of fauns.

Comments

[gerbilsage.livejournal.com]

I have prosoponophobia, so my girlfriend found Mirrormask boring and I found it boring with spurts of horrifying.

- M.

[sapphire-d.livejournal.com]

I just saw the movie last night. Oh my god. Bunny and I were looking at each other going... 'that was beautiful'. I had issues with the fact that they spent a LOT of time trying to make the Captain unlikeable, and not as much time on the world - I was told that fantasy movies are supposed to be like that.

But, yeah. I dreamt of fauns last night.

[wyldekyttin.livejournal.com]

My delight is that isn't CGI, it's old fashioned puppetry and costuming. Yes, there was CGI in the movie, but it was gloss and frosting, not the real meat of it. They also made all the characters human-no one was perfect, or completely noble, they had moments of fear and cowardace and simple stupidity. This is a fairytail I can believe in, though I think if anyone's dumb enough to take kids to it, they deserve those therepy bills-there were points I physically winced away, and I'm pretty calm about violence.

[centauress.livejournal.com]

It's rated R, and they were checking IDs at the door. I'd take a child to it, though... There's alot of fodder for discussion, and crying is okay with me.

[doctorpinkerton.livejournal.com]

I need to see this... tonight, probably. I almost saw this Tuesday, but saw 'Children of Men' instead, while I could. VERY happy that I did... did you?

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't. I'll look it up. Thanks for the tip.

Let me know what you thought of the labyrinth