Day 119: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Movie #77 – Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) - 119 min, cert 15.

It is Spain, 1944. Ofelia is a young girl whose father, a tailor, has recently died, so she and her heavily pregnant mother must go to live with her new stepfather, a particularly sadistic officer in Franco’s army. He is stationed in a camp in the woods where he is leading his men against the guerrilla tactics of the rebel forces hiding nearby. He appears unconcerned with either his new stepdaughter or his new wife, but only with the unborn son she carries inside her, so desperate is he for an heir. In the woods near the camp, Ofelia comes across an ancient labyrinth. A fairy comes to her and guides her into the heart of the labyrinth where she finds a frightening looking being who calls himself a faun. He tells her to escape this world she must complete three dangerous challenges. She duly sets about these challenges, in which she encounters strange and hideous monsters, while life in the military camp becomes more and more unbearable.

I actually rather enjoyed this movie. I thought it was going to be a bit too ‘children’s fantasy’ for me, but it isn’t at all. Maybe I should have realised from the 15 certificate, but this film is clearly not aimed at children at all. The violence is quite extreme and graphic at times. And this isn’t fantasy violence, this is the real horrors perpetrated by the Spanish officer Capitan Vidal upon the people unfortunate enough to fall into his captivity. In one particularly gruesome scene, he beats a young man in the face with the base of a bottle so hard that his skull breaks and his face caves in.

The main reason I enjoyed this film was that it kept my interest. If I’m going to commit 2 hours or so into watching a movie, then I expect to be entertained during that time, and if I’m getting bored, then I’m clearly no longer being entertained, and the film has failed to deliver. This film kept me entertained all the way through. I cared about the characters and wanted to know what was going to happen to them. As far as I’m concerned, that makes it a good film. Whether it’s good enough to warrant watching again in the future, I’m not so sure.

Score – 8/10.

Next up is Singin’ in the Rain. I’ll probably watch this with my youngest son, as he’s keen on dancing and likes the routines in old musicals like these. I’ve seen it before, but not for a long time.