Pan's Labyrinth (2 DVDs)

Pan's Labyrinth (2 DVDs): El Laberinto del Fauno (659 words)
by shaneo632 - written on 26.03.08 (Very useful, 32 readings)
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Note: review was written for Freeola in 2006, thanks! Guillermo Del Toro has always been a director with a vision. Even Hellboy, which I found decidedly average, had a unique visual style, and has clear led onto bigger and better things with his latest effort - El Laberinto Del Fauno, or for us - Pan's Labyrinth. The basic plot is that in war-torn Spain, as guerrilas rise up against the authority, a young girl by the name of Ofelia is drawn into a fantasy world, where a faun offers her the title of princess if she can complete three goals for him. Set against this back-drop of warring Spain, the film cuts between Ofelia's journey, and the events ...

Dark, Brutal, Brilliant (1230 words)
by sonic0209 - written on 30.12.07 (Very useful, 61 readings)
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~~~Prelude~~~ Pan's Labyrinth is a beautiful film: dark and at times terrifying. It mixes folklore and fantasy with the brutal reality of Fascist oppression post the Spanish Civil War. Centred on a young girl who finds a dark refuge from her surroundings in a fairy world whose monsters are not so unlike those from whom she is hiding. The film won Mexican film maker Guillermo del Toro three awards at the Golden Globes. ~~~Plot~~~ A young girl and her pregnant mother move to a rural military camp to join her stepfather who is captain there, working to overcome republican guerrillas. She clutches her fairy tale books close to her, despite her mother's ...

Pan's Labyrinth (2 DVDs): its alice in wonderland, but darker (1046 words)
by giksy21 - written on 08.08.07 (Very useful, 181 readings)
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This is the first effort by acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro that i was luck enough to see, which is ironic in that it is his most recent work. Bowled over by its spell, i think that it is a film to be shouted about, so here i am, shouting. Director - Guillermo Del Toro Born on October 9th 1964, Del Toro was brought up by a strict catholic grandmother in Guadalajara Mexico. He realised his love of film in his teens, and learned about make-up and effects working alongside Dick Smith on the Exorcist in 1973. He worked in make-up for many years, but finally got the break he yearned for in 1993, directing Cronos. This won him 9 academy awards in ...