comes out that breaks the bounds of language. Films like Roberto Begnini's Life Is Beautiful, or last year, when the latest film by Pedro Almodóvar, Volver Starring Penelope Cruise. These films seem to break the boundries between Art Films and Mainstream, and get a large following.
The foreign film that's doing this year is Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) latest film Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno). A stunning film that's just starting to hit wide release.
The story is set in Spain in 1944 as Franco's victorious fascist forces bear down with punishing weight on any who resist. The film's extraordinary fantasy sequences, in which the girl must complete three arduous tasks, offer a semblance of hope and salvation compared to the short life expectancy in a merciless military state. The film begins with a prologue about the fate of a long-lost princess and the promise of her return. As the tale is told, a pregnant and sickly woman, Carmen (Ariadna Gil) and her daughter Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) arrive at a military outpost commanded by Carmen's officious new husband, Capt. Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Ofelia still pines for her late father while her mother entreats her to embrace the stiff and unpleasant captain although it soon becomes apparent that he is more interested in fathering a son than in being a husband or father to the girl.
Worse than this, the Captain reveals himself as a monster who kills captured rebels with extreme brutality and utter disdain for their existence. The camp is threatened by a gathering number of guerillas aided secretly by their leader's sister, Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), who is the Captain's chief housekeeper.
As the world around Ophelia becomes more and more violent, she becomes captivated by fairies that lead her to an ancient maze leading down to a labyrinth where she encounters a fearsome but talkative faun (Doug Jones). He claims she is a legendary lost princess and she must pass three tests in order to claim immortality.
Ophelia's mother fights with an increasingly difficult pregnancy while Ophelia fights with the challenges and the Captain finds even more gruesome ways to deal with the Guerilla's. Ophelia's adventures seem as real to her as the horrors around her, and it's to Guillermo del Toro's credit that he can weave the 2 worlds together convincingly.
The visual style of the film is mesmerizing and the drama of the military camp has its horrifying moments of torture and death, as well as the scene when the captain has to stitch his cheek together after being slashed by an assailant.
Pan's Labyrinth to me has what most hollywood films is missing - Originality and imagination. Guillermo del Toro has created a wicked wonderland of horror and fascintation, a film that transcends the bounds of language, and presents a story that is beautiful and surrealistic, it's like Lewis Carrol met Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. This is one of those rare films that is a must see.
Pan's Labyrinth - A
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