The dark violence of the film (parents, note: Pan's Labyrinth is not for children) is leavened by its invention -- by the way it pushes the limits of reality and fantasy, each world overlapping with the other.
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:188
Fresh:179
Rotten:9
Average Rating:8.5/10
Consensus: Pan's Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable. Told through the eyes of a little girl whose imaginary world is inhabited by nightmarish creatures, Pan's Labyrinth is a visually imaginative and allegorical take on the fears she faced in Spain during WWII.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for graphic violence and some language
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:24-11-2006
Synopsis: Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, PAN'S LABYRINTH is a thrilling, violent fairy tale set in post-Civil War Spain. Ivana Baquero stars as Ofelia, a young girl who moves with her mother,... Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, PAN'S LABYRINTH is a thrilling, violent fairy tale set in post-Civil War Spain. Ivana Baquero stars as Ofelia, a young girl who moves with her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), into the home of Captain Vidal (Sergi López), in an abandoned mill in the middle of dark, dangerous woods. Vidal is leading his team of soldiers against resistance fighters--and he will do whatever is necessary to kill every last one of them. As Vidal bosses around the pregnant Carmen, a flying creature leads Ofelia through a garden labyrinth and into an underground cave ruled by Pan (HELLBOY's Doug Jones), who believes that Ofelia might be the lost princess of this strange yet magical place. To prove she is royalty, Ofelia must complete three tasks, each more difficult and terrifying than the previous one. Meanwhile, Vidal is becoming more and more paranoid, torturing and murdering seemingly at will. Del Toro (THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, HELLBOY, CRONOS) creates a marvelous battle between good and evil, between heroes and villains, in both the real world aboveground and the mystical land below. Baquero gives a compelling performance as the terrorized Ofelia, who is befriended by Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), a woman who harbors some secrets of her own. Stellar production design, superb special effects, and a stirring score by Javier Navarrete add to the scary fun. Selected as the closing-night entry in the 2006 New York Film Festival, PAN'S LABYRINTH is a captivating story that is not for the squeamish. [More]
Starring: Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil
Starring: Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil, Doug Jones, Alex Angulo, Roger Casamajor, Ivana Massague
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Screenwriter: Guillermo Del Toro
Producer: Berta Navarro, Alfonso Cuaron, Frida Torresblanco, Alvaro Augustin
Composer: Javier Navarrete
Studio: Picturehouse
Reviews for Pan's Labyrinth
A magical, frightening and heartbreaking movie for adults who want to take the journey, and read the subtitles.
Fairytales are seeded in the darkest of forests, and Pan's Labyrinth emanates as one of the most enticing.
Like the folk tales from centuries past, Pan's Labyrinth is a dark odyssey with nightmarish visions and cruel threats...
Pan's Labyrinth catapults del Toro to the top ranks of international filmmakers. His fertile imagination appears to have no limit, and all his previous work is hopefully a mere warm-up for a fecund future.
The creator of such pulp prodigies as Hellboy and Blade II, del Toro mingles myth and history in Pan's Labyrinth, and produces a masterpiece of magical realism.
Pan's Labyrinth, with its unblinking sense of the baroque, may be a tough sell for anyone generally not interested in fantasy. But the film is one of the most original and spectacular of the year.
A dark, creepy, sad tale of incorruptible innocence and ultimate sacrifice.
One of the most fascinating, imaginative yet darkly disturbing political fables of our time.
a captivating, albeit unstable, blend of anti-Fascist social commentary and a visually sumptuous childhood fable
...a finely crafted film of Ofelia's two distinctive worlds where the humans can be the real monsters and the creatures beneath the earth showing humanity.
Del Toro's made a lot imaginative films. I think this is his masterpiece to date.
His palette here is deep-toned, with bottomless blacks and supersaturated oranges and blues -- as if the Walt Disney of Pinocchio had collaborated with Goya.
I've seen this film three times and cannot claim to know whether its fantasy characters and events are meant to exist solely in the imagination of the 12-year-old girl at the center of the story, or if she is the only human aware of them.
[Pan's Labyrinth] isn't really a movie about one person or one historical moment; it's about the larger question of how history judges what we do.
Pan's Labyrinth artfully fuses a war film with a family melodrama and a fairy tale. The result is visually stunning and emotionally shattering. Though graphically violent in parts, it still manages to be enchanting.
The horrors of both the realistic and surrealistic worlds are woven into the beautifully aligned narrative structure of del Toro's story. This is fabulous filmmaking in every sense of the word.
The childhood desperation that permeates his dramatic sensibility is elevated by del Toro's sincere devotion to imaginary belief systems rooted in cycles of nature.
[Th film is] distinguished by another in a long line of recent child performances that are nothing short of astonishing in their accomplished matter-of-factness.
Latest News for Pan's Labyrinth
April 21, 2009:
Five Favorite Films with Ron Perlman
While he's become best known for portraying a red, horned antihero in Guillermo del Toro's popular comic book adaptations Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Ron Perlman... More...
November 14, 2008:
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RT caught up with Hellboy II director Guillermo del Toro at the DVD/Blu-ray Launch Event for Hellboy II: The Golden Army, where the celebrated fantasy auteur shared his favorite... More...
July 13, 2008:
Guillermo del Toro - RT's Dinner and the Movies Interview
We have an extended chat with the director of Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth and this week's Hellboy II to talk about his career past, present and future and tap him for juicy... More...
July 01, 2008:
Edinburgh 2008: What to Watch
We share twenty of the best films screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, currently running in the Scottish city. More...
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