All I can say is: “Wow”! That’s definitely a fairy tale of the old school!
Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Redwolf
Yes, it was visually stunning, though morally pretty heavy handed in a morbid, European kind of way. Like The Fountain, it was one of those films that was good to see once, but once was enough, I think.
djm
Very dark, and very violent, but stunning, yes, and powerful.
Thank you all for this mini-review. It’s received some good press, and I was wondering if I should put it in my Netflix queue. The thing is, I was afraid it might be…
and
I never had a childhood fear of clown dolls, but the heavy, weird, nightmarish world of dark fairy-tales was not a place I would venture deliberately and I can’t think of a reason to change my pov on that now.
So no. No spot in the queue.
Yeah, probably a good choice there, Emm, by your reasoning.
I like European fairy tales with their redcaps, boggarts and the like. I’m not such a big fan of the more Disney-esque and safer modern fairy tales. Consequently, I loved the movie…but it’s clearly not for everyone.
One of his older movies, The Devil’s Backbone, is great and a more traditional ghost story.
I enjoy his comic book/horror/gory movies too, but they’re not for everyone.
And I loved Pan’s Labyrinth but the ending choked me up. Um, no, sorry, I meant to say I got a piece of popcorn in my eye.
Me too. I had rather expected it to have a bleak ending, and was kept guessing right up until the end. And it was elegantly done, I think. But it’s not a film for everyone.
People who do want to see it, though, should be warned:
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It’s not a movie to watch right before dinner (there are some parts that may put you off your appetite)
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It’s not a movie to watch right before bed, if you’re given to nightmares
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It is not…repeat NOT…a movie for children. Teens may enjoy it, but young children will likely find it frightening and disturbing.
Redwolf
What Red said! (We were having dinner while watching it, and thankfully, the youngest had opted to eat at her computer instead.) It came highly recommended by eldest, and even though she warned us of a particularly brutal scene to avoid, it was upon us before the movie was far along at all, making it quite difficult to turn away from. 
Still, it was well worth watching the movie.
i am kinda mad at the movie and myself. i have had an idea to make a scary movie with a creature with eyes on the palm of its hands, and no eye sockets. 
why couldnt i have made it sonner?
I didn’t either…until I saw Poltergeist at the theatres (why my mother took me is beyond me…I was terrified of scary music on TV for heaven’s sake, and would have nightmares for days after 
). That clown in that movie was one of the scariest things I’d ever seen…and when I got home, I remembered (because I went into my room and SAW it) that I had a clown that looked almost exactly like the one in the movie. Needless to say, that clown went way, way, WAY back in my closet and never came out again. I’m still afraid of that darn clown. Gives me the heebies just thinking about it 
And to keep things on topic here, I too am glad for the reviews. The older portion of the brood wanted to see it, and I wasn’t sure how appropriate it would be for the littler ones. Looks like this one will be a “later night” movie for the adult and almost adults instead. Thanks! 
When I was very young, I was terrified of skeletons. The funny thing (well, funny now…I was scared to death back then!) was that my parents liked to watch “The Red Skelton” show. I was CONVINCED that it was about a “red skeleton,” and had to be in bed, cowering with the covers pulled firmly over my head, before the theme music came on, or I would have hysterics!
Redwolf
I just saw last night as well!
Not your normal take… and NOT FOR CHILDREN.
I was mostly pleased.
I’m hard to please as far as films go.
From all the scuttle I was expecting it to be bloody and violent.
There was of course blood and violence, but not gratuitously so.
The farmer and son scene, probably the only truly horrific one of the film, was perfectly placed.
It was needed to set the tone.
I also found the place and time it was set refreshing to me.
Franco period Spain and its civil war is little discussed here in the U.S.
To some Guernica is just a painting by some abstract artist dude. 
The fact that it’s a Spanish film may have had a little to do with that! 
But yes…it is a refreshing setting.
Like you, I wouldn’t call any of the gore or violence gratuitous. It’s not a children’s film, but it’s not a slasher, gore-for-the-sake-of-gore film either.
One thing I really liked is you were never sure, right up until the very end, whether the faun was going to prove to be what he said he was, or a truly evil creature. It could have had a very bleak ending, which made the way it did end all the more poignant.
One thing that baffles me though is why is the English title “Pan’s Labyrinth” and not “Labyrinth of a Faun” or “The Faun’s Labyrinth?”
Redwolf
Yeah… and you can’t get the Spanish to shut-up about. Moderation I say!
I did like fact they he kept us guessing about the faun.
They are sayters afterall.
Its not “Pan” though to be true.
Wiki has it listed:
…the English title refers to the faun-like Greek god Pan, though del Toro has stated that the faun featured in the film is not actually Pan
I’d say blame it on the marketing execs!
Dell Toro baby… whats a Faun? No one knows… no one cares. Now “PAN” thats got some snap to it baby!
I thought it was a great movie.
The violence was “good” violence in the sense that it advanced the story, and was realistic, non-gratuitous, and non-glorified. It was “good” cinematic violence because it showed how bad real violence is.
I agree. It was necessary to the story, it was hard to take at points, which was why it was necessary to the story.
Hmmm… that made more sense while I was thinking it than it seems to now that I’m reading it. 
IMHO, the only ‘true’ Fairy Tales worth their classification as such are inclusive of the above elements, and more. They aren’t Fairy Tales without them, they are simply wierd stories.
I must see this one, that is for certain.
Yeh, do. It’s not perfect by any means, but a cut above most fantasy/fairy tale movies.
The darkness and violence is part of what makes the difference, and really gives the whole context in which everything else happens. I think the stark brutality is intentional, appropriate and well-judged.
I wouldn’t say suspension of disbelief is achieved, but I wonder if that is partly because a foreign language makes total immersion difficult. And anyway, there is a deliberate choice given to the watcher of whether to believe in the objective reality of the fantasy world (which requires the suspension of disbelief) or to treat it as completely imaginary or pure allegory - in which case the partial failure of SoD is less critical.
The ending is both satisfactory and unsatisfactory at the same time - neither happy nor sad, but both. Personally, I found the happy aspect of the ending unconvincing emotionally (I won’t give it away here).
Interesting film for the genre. I bought the DVD and have watched it a couple of times. Not bad at all.
I gotta get this movie!
I’d also like to see the Punch and Judy show get made into a movie - now there’s something the latex brigade could really get their teeth into!
What an unfortunate term. Still, its one less thing this sod has to worry about.
djm