A sweet and magical tale from visionary director Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth tells the story of a little girl in mid 20th century Spain who loves to read and lose herself in a world of make-belief.
Her adventures bring her to meet fantastical beings that are sometimes friends and sometimes foe, the latter no less terrifying than some of the real world people she interacts with.
Del Toro wrote the screenplay with a very light touch, creating full fledged fantasy characters that are simply marvelous. Terrific are the makeup, art direction, cinematography (all 3 Oscar winners), and visual effects as well.
Little Ivana Baquero is simply precious in the role of Ofelia, the little girl who gets to live a big adventure. Finally, Javier Navarrete created one of the most enduring, overwhelmingly beautiful, and strikingly elegiac soundtracks I’ve ever heard. The main theme is simply timeless.
A great fantasy movie that’s not for the little ones, but that will let the adult public dream like little kids again.
Grade: 8
1 comment:
"Pan's Labyrinth", in my extremely humble opinion, is one of the most overestimated movies ever.
But, wherever I turn my eyes to, I just read enthusiastic reviews: probably it simply didn't catch me or I was not in the right mood to see it. I don't know.
Maybe I really have to see it again...
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