Guys, I have read a lot of mythology so I know what the stories I was referring to were called and about (and that they were myths, hence my footnote). I purposely did not name them or the characters. My point was how protagonists in stories often do what they are warned not to do and it goes back a long way in the history of storytelling.
Granted that most of the movie is ambiguous about whether the fantasy world is real, the last act doesn’t really leave any doubt. How does she get out of her room, and get through the maze so quickly, if it’s not?
Really, though, I thought that what really made it a masterpiece was how long it did manage to keep things ambiguous. You look at a scene once, and it’s insects crawling on ruins, but then you look again, it’s a fairy castle, and yet it’s exactly the same scene both times. It’s a great subtle visual presentation.
It thought it was a fine movie. Ofelia’s fantasy world parallels what’s happening in the real world, which is to be expected, as it’s her way of dealing with the horrors around her. The difference, of course, is that the fantasy world gives her the illusion that she has some measure of control over what’s happening, and that she might be able to effect a good outcome. And that is, at bottom, is the primary function of fantasy and myth.
Meanwhile, although the main story is grittily realistic, we (the audience) feel that there should be some sort of satisfying resolution, as that’s our fantasy, and Del Toro obliges. Sure, Ofelia dies, but so does Vidal, and under much more demeaning circumstances.
I wouldn’t say it was any sort of life-changing work of art, but it is a compelling story, well told.
[menonbooks]Hated it![/menonbooks]
Swept Away? With Madonna? somebody *liked *that?
There’s a Japanese anime thing with that title too.
Hmmm. Perhaps she meant Spirited Away.
I didn’t like Pan’s Labyrinth and I didn’t like Spirited Away, either. I didn’t watch either of them knowing that they were “amazing”. Didn’t find out until afterwards that everyone in geekdom held them in such high regards…and I kept my mouth shut about it 
Then again, I’m not into fantasy at ALL so I just figured it was me who sucked, not the movies.
“Hey little kid… you can go into a secret fantasy world that… umm is one room, and you can’t, ya know, do anything fun in that room, and you’ll have to be back in 2 minutes. Unless of course you’re not. Hooray Queen!”
That ain’t exactly Narnia.
In my interpretation there is a lesson and he uses turns the conventions of fairy tales on their head to deliver it.
Fairy tale convention: “You are given a set of instructions and you have to follow them or Bad Things Will Happen”.
Lesson of film: “Do not blindly follows orders without thinking for yourself or Fascism Will Happen”. At the end the faun asks her to sacrifice the baby and she refuses. She is right to do so and she passes the test. I felt the message of not bowing to authority and thinking for yourself was the link with the historial events in “real life”.
I love the film, for its imagery yes, but especially for the message I read into it.
Yes! That’s it! Dammit, when am I going to learn to look these things up?
I thought it was brilliant, the way it operated on so many different levels. The acting was great, the effects were terrific, and it kept me on the edge of my seat.
Ditto.
Yes, it was absolutely horrific and magical. The end made me bawl my eyes out!
I liked it. I thought the fantasy bits looked utterly marvelous.
Yes, exactly! This was a major theme in the movie; I really liked that aspect of it.
It was probably my favorite movie of the year, although it was one of the very few movies that made me need a stiff drink after watching it. Now that I have a daughter of my own, I’m not sure I could stand to watch it again, so I’m glad I saw it when I did.
Sorry, I much preferred The Devil’s Backbone to Pan’s Labyrinth.
I loved it. Unlike others, I fully “got it” that the fantasy part was “real”. I think too many viewers were seeing this film more realistic than it was, probably because of the Spanish Civil War background, which was real.
I was completely happy imagining this was another world, and in that world, the fantasy was perfectly “real”, and thus the movie had a happy ending.
I liked it. I also thought it was all in her head, like Total Recall.
It ought to be a punishable offense to mention those two movies in the same post.
Man from Earth was the most derivative snoozefest I’ve ever seen. Pan’s Labyrinth was on the other hand, brilliant.