It is in Spanish and subtitled, but if you are not too shallow to let that bother you, you must see it.
Be warned though, the film is unexpectedly violent, courtesy of the "real world" setting of a fascist captain who kills peasants on a whim, and tortures captured rebels with relish. His cruelty contrasts with the little girls fantasy (destiny) with heart wrenching poignancy.
Well, it's a bit premature, but I am more excited about Del Toro's next movie:
He is going to apparently adapt H.P. Lovecraft's masterpiece, At the Mountains of Madness.
Altough the story has been heavily referenced in movies like The Thing and Alien before, this may be one of the greatest horror movies ever if they get it right.
Oh, and I saw Pan's Labrynth yesterday. It is very violent, but quite artistic in intent. I thought there would be more fantasy elements though. Those that are done are beautiful, but most of the film is actually 'real world' which isn't what the trailors or reviews might lead you to believe.
Originally posted by Rory Hughes: Well, it's a bit premature, but I am more excited about Del Toro's next movie:
He is going to apparently adapt H.P. Lovecraft's masterpiece, At the Mountains of Madness.
Altough the story has been heavily referenced in movies like The Thing and Alien before, this may be one of the greatest horror movies ever if they get it right.
Oh, and I saw Pan's Labrynth yesterday. It is very violent, but quite artistic in intent. I thought there would be more fantasy elements though. Those that are done are beautiful, but most of the film is actually 'real world' which isn't what the trailors or reviews might lead you to believe.
I'm a big fan of Lovecraft's writing and would love to see a great movie adaption of his stuff.
John Carpenter did well with In The Mouth of Madness.
Would Del Toro use a contemporary setting if he adapted At The Mountains Of Madness?
I keep meaning to watch Pan's Labyrinth but the foreign language and the subtitles keep knocking it down the list, the last sub-titled film I watched was Dark Water and that must have been years ago.
The original Lovecraft story was about a 1930's science expedition to the Antarctic that found some earth-shattering revelations when they got there.
Personally, I think the time era is integral to the effectiveness of the story. This is a time when communications and transport were nowhere near as developed as they are in contemporary times. Like Peter Jackson's King Kong, the sense of early 20th century exploration is essential to creating the right mood.
But then, that's just me! I've no idea what Del Toro is planning. But I can hope.
I keep meaning to watch Pan's Labyrinth but the foreign language and the subtitles keep knocking it down the list, the last sub-titled film I watched was Dark Water and that must have been years ago.
Please don't let the subtitles stop you seeing it. We saw it this afternoon and it's stunning.
Originally posted by Rory Hughes: Well, it's a bit premature, but I am more excited about Del Toro's next movie:
He is going to apparently adapt H.P. Lovecraft's masterpiece, At the Mountains of Madness.
Altough the story has been heavily referenced in movies like The Thing and Alien before, this may be one of the greatest horror movies ever if they get it right.
Oh, and I saw Pan's Labrynth yesterday. It is very violent, but quite artistic in intent. I thought there would be more fantasy elements though. Those that are done are beautiful, but most of the film is actually 'real world' which isn't what the trailors or reviews might lead you to believe.
Are you sure? There is no referance to this movie at IMDb. His next project is aparently Hell Boy 2.
Ah! it is not Del Toro who is doing this film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0768216/ I too am a Lovecraft fan. Rare to see film adaptaions, and with good reason; they are more literary than visual. Not imposable though.
Originally posted by Zest: All I can say is - Wow!
You have got to see this film!!
It is in Spanish and subtitled, but if you are not too shallow to let that bother you, you must see it.
Be warned though, the film is unexpectedly violent, courtesy of the "real world" setting of a fascist captain who kills peasants on a whim, and tortures captured rebels with relish. His cruelty contrasts with the little girls fantasy (destiny) with heart wrenching poignancy.
I saw this film some months ago.
If you like it you may also like to check out another of his Spanish films: 'The Devils Backbone'. It's quite similar to Pan's Labrinth (though less on the fantasy). I won't say much more.....
Have seen Devils Backbone (because i loved Pan's Laberynth so much) Not as good to be honest. I felt as though he was trying to achieve the same sence of childhood innocence amidst time of peril - the same as "PL"- but not achieving it as sucsessfully. Also good film- Cronos. Prefurred it to DB.
This was a srange, interesting film combining fantasy and a very real political world(end of Spanish civil war).The fantasy was dark,gloomy and macabre but it gives the girl Ofelia an outlet from the cruel fascism of her step father.However it does not let her off the hook:she has to undergo trials and dangers.The fantasy figures-the Paleman and the Faun are very frightening and breath-taking in their realization(both performed by the same man).The violence in the real world is so graphic-be warned.Although the real and fantasy worlds are merged well I felt there were two separate films trying to find expression.The acting was excellent. Easily a film of the year>5*.
I saw this a few days ago after having been wanting to seen it for a while and I can't say I was overly impressed by it. It was good but just not that amazing. I think the film could have spent more time in the fairytale world as I thought that was what it was mainly based around. Also,they never really explained why the girl and her mother went to live with the man!? Another thing (sorry!!) but in one part of the film,Mercedes tells Sofia (I can't remember if that's her name) that she shouldn't believe everything a Faun says or something like that which made me think that the Faun was going to turn nasty and try to hurt Sofia but..that never happened. I think they should have made something like that happen in the film,would have made it a bit more interesting. I also thought...they could have spent more time around the labyrinth itself.
After all that,it was an alright film just not one I'd be able to watch over and over again. I don't usually find things creepy or shocking but I was actually scared by that horrible thing with the eyes in its hands! Urgggh.... And I was quite shocked at them showing the general (was he a general?) beating that man's face in with the bottle! I actually laughed at that bit because I was so shocked and wasn't expecting to see anything like that!
they never really explained why the girl and her mother went to live with the man!?
****-SPOILER WARNING!!-*********
Im sure they did. The mother was pregnant with his baby, so he invited her to live with him (cause he wanted a son so badly) and she saw it as preferable to a poor widows life, besides, she was bowled over by him. That's how it came accross to me.
quote:
Another thing (sorry!!) but in one part of the film,Mercedes tells Sofia (I can't remember if that's her name) that she shouldn't believe everything a Faun says or something like that which made me think that the Faun was going to turn nasty and try to hurt Sofia but..that never happened.
Mercades tells Sofia that she was told not to trust Fauns- which does come back at the end of the film when the final test is whether Sofia obeys the faun's instructions or follows her own consience. This is also reflected what the doctor said- "to obey without question, that is something only a cirtain kind of person can do; I can not"- or something like that. It was a hint of what was to come, and especially the premise/theme/moral(?) of the film.
I think the film was not trying to be creepy or shocking, but very poinient. It was not a horror movie but a dark fairy tale with a message and a heartbreaking tragedy.
Admittedly, you could be forgiven for expecting it to be more fantisy, especialy after the adverts for it and trailers, but it's nice to see a film that teases your expectations, but holds back the cliche's.
![Picture of [_Screenager_]](http://community.channel4.com/groupee_common/platform_images/avatars/set3/75.gif "Picture of [_Screenager_]")
