DVD: Pan's Labyrinth - Guillermo Del Toro

DVD Reviewed by Blaise

Editor's Rating:  

(10 /10)

Starring: Ivana Baquero - Ofelia, Sergi Lopez - Capitan Vidal, Maribel Verdu - Mercedes, Doug Jones - Pan, Ariadna Gil - Carmen Vidal

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The man who brought us the fantastic Hellboy and The Devil’s Backbone, brings us a fantastical modern fairy tale from a bygone era.

Del Toro’s labyrinth is the mystical creation of the utterly compelling Ofelia (a truly superb Ivana Baquero), who is forced to live with her new father in-law, the demonic Capitan Vital (Sergi Lopez). Her mother is bearing the Capitan’s child, and he will stop at nothing for his heir to survive. The Capitan is a soldier of Franco’s Spain, and his truly violent ways are both abhorrent, and yet somehow fascinating. To escape from this awful predicament, Ofelia finds joy in ancient fairytale’s and upon moving to a heavily wooded compound, she discovers a magical labyrinth full of strange and wonderful creatures.

Not unlike Roberto Beningni’s Life is Beautiful before it, this wonderful film shows that the human spirit can guard itself from almost any evil. As her new world consumes Ofelia, we are transported away from the grim realities of her domain. This is how fairytale’s should work; creatures, missions and amazing stories are bundled into one fantastic piece of cinema. Unlike Terry Gilliam’s unfortunately sprawling The Brothers’ Grimm, Del Toro manages the action of the real and unreal with great skill. The performances are all outstanding, particularly that of Baquero and Lopez, but also Maribel Verdu as the maid Mercedes.

We live in dark times, and if cinema is truly meant to transport us away from the horrors of the six-o’clock news, then we are much the better for this film to have been made.

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