Pan's Labyrinth

[Not Afraid]

Hopefully we will get to see this tomorrow.

[Gn2Dlnd]

I watched it last night, it fell into the same sort of category as "Dreamchild," or "City of Lost Children" for me. I enjoyed it, but it didn't send me into raptures.

[€uroMeinke]

We saw it yesterday and loved it. I was worried at first that the theater audience would ruin the experience - there were scores of murmurs as the film started and people realized that it was in Spanish with subtitles, but the theater quickly grew silent which is probably testament to the power of the story in this film.

Though I probably agree more with EH1812's interpretation, I tend to prefer ambiguity in my films. I think it important to remember when looking at the whole fantasy/reality question, is that it all plays out within the fiction of a film, and in this film there are two different worlds and the inhabitants of each of those worlds view what happens in the end differently.

[Not Afraid]

We saw it as few days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since.

I finially read all of the spoilers here (but haven't read the interview Chernie linked to yet.)

Spoiler:

I interpreted the fantasy part of the story as a creation of Ofelia as an alternate and better situation than where she was residing in reality. At one point Captain Vidal and the Faun actually emit the exact same words (about obediance). I think that's when I became aware that these two places were parellel universes - one reality and one her twist on that reality. The Faun being her challenger that we was able to conquor and achieve some good - a choice she didn't seem to have in her reality.

However, I like the fact that is is a possible interpretation but yet there is still a lot of ambiguity. Things don't line up nicey and I prefer that over having everything all wrapped up in a neat package that you never have to think about again.

I LOVED the fairy-eating monster. He was straight out of mythology and fairy tales with a twist. He didn't diasppoint. The Faun, however, was my least favorite character to watch. He was just too mechanical - a mish mash of all sort of different contemporary fantasy character archtypes. There was some alien mixed with some War of the Worlds monster with a bit of Yoda thrown in and a dash of a few other comtemporary creations. I found him to be way too distracting for my tastes.

I spent a great deal of time during certain sequences with my hands over my eyes.

[€uroMeinke]

I've also been thinking about the fantasy/reality elements

Spoiler:

In the context of the film, both worlds are a fantasy, a fiction of cinema and thus equal in this deconstructed concept. I think our interpretation reveals more about our selves as the film poses an interesting question as to why anyone would chose to live in the world of reality full of pain, suffering, and death when another world (heaven/underworld) exists, or can be willed into existence (faith/belief). I think it also interesting to note that in Franco's Spain, the Fascists win, so even the brief victory/justice in the real world of the film are fleating

[RStar]

Wow, you guys are too deep for me.

It was a movie and I liked it.

Oh, look- this is my 1,000 post.

I guess I'm a looser now, huh?

[mousepod]

Here's a neat article about Pan's Labyrinth written by GDT.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by mousepod

Here's a neat article about Pan's Labyrinth written by GDT.

I'm getting "Page not found"...

[mousepod]

Hmmmm... it links directly to the pdf for me.

PM me if you can't get it and I'll email it to you.

[Gemini Cricket]

I got it to work by cutting and pasting the address from the error page.