Pan's Labyrinth

Film Review: El Laberinto del Fauno or Pan’s Labyrinth
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, and Ariadna Gil
Release Date: November 2006
Running Time: 119mins
Cert.: 15

I was reluctant to see this movie, having been put off by Guillermo del Toro's Hollywood films (Hellboy and Blade 2 *shudder*). I'm glad I overcame my prejudice, because Pan's Labyrinth is easily the best film released this year.

The script combines two of the director's favourite themes, fairy tales and the Spanish Civil War, and does so to stunning effect. The year is 1944 and in a rural area of a little girl escapes from the harsh realities of Franco's dictatorship into a fantasy world where she is a lost princess who must complete three tasks before the moon is full. She is helped by a faun (the Pan of the English title), who may not be all that he appears. Meanwhile her stepfather, a brutal captain in the Spanish army, is trying to suppress Communist guerrillas who live in the nearby woods.

Del Toro has said that he prefers small budget productions and it shows. The film features an unknown cast and is shot entirely in Spanish but don't let that put you off. The cinematography is superb, the performances utterly convincing and the effects brilliantly implemented. In fact, the only real criticism I have is that the ending is telegraphed during the opening scene and therefore not as effective as it could have been were I not expecting it. But this is a minor criticism of what is the most intelligent political film I have ever seen. A work of genius.