Pan's Labyrinth

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

I think we need to do some folktale readings sometime in the not to distant future. Perhaps ... a quiet gathering of the folklore inclined.

Hahaha, would this be akin our "salon" idea from last year that was so charming, though not repeated?

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Hahaha, would this be akin our "salon" idea from last year that was so charming, though not repeated?

Of course, the truth is we do it all the time, just without the cumbersome structure - I am after all an anarchist at heart (one who does have a counter-intuitive love of ritual). So it will happen, though perhaps not as envisioned...

[RStar]

I saw it tonight as well. I had to see it at The Block because it wasn't playing at DTD. There is a distinct difference in audiences in the two theaters. We chose to go early as the teen crowd at The Block realy gets rowdy in the evening, but still durring the 4:00 showing they were fairly vocal (but not in a distracting way). There were a few groans here and there, but at times at The Block they will shout at the screan and even say things durring the credits and I feel like I'm at the Rocky Horror Picture Show or something!

I liked the film, and though I didn't know it was in Spanish and I, like ISM disslike having to read durring a movie, still enjoyed it. I tended to get just what the director intended (evedently) so it worked for me. I was a bit uncomfortable with the violence at times as that's not my piece of cake ( Saw just about did me in ) but it was real. I mean it WAS a war....

The special effects were great, acting good, score fantastic. Dark and even a little depressing, a fantasy for adults. I heard it was compared to The wizard of Oz, though I don't get that connection....

[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.