Goose Egg Marathon Film #2(2006, Guillermo del Toro) Early on in my viewing of Pan's Labyrinth I worried to myself - my goodness, the Assassination of Jesse James was so great and this one is starting to shape up too - what if this whole marathon I have nothing but hyperbole for every film! As much as it pains me to say it, after the first 15-20 or so, as much as I really enjoyed particular aspects of this film, in the end this didn't do a whole lot for me. Well, It's interesting to me sometimes...as much as you think you can make a scientific, unbiased analysis of a film you realzie so much of your enjoyment of a film is wrapped up in your personal experience, other movies you've seen in the past, and just plain personal opinion. I really admire this film - and I love little-engine-that-could films and I truly like to support projects like these. This aimed for something very lofty and just missed for me, which hey is pretty cool in my book.
So positives first, because there is a lot to admire here:
First, I really enjoyed Ivana Baquero's portrayal of a young girl swept off to a new home - having to contend with a tyranical father figure, the backdrop of a world war, and a mother sick and having given up hope. I also really enjoyed set design of the labyrinth, and the other fantastical imagerey - especially the final scene. I was suprised at how pretty the Spanish forest backdrop was - looking very much like the temperate rain forests near where I live. I was very comfortable in these surroundings!
In trying to quantify what didn't work for me, I almost hate to bring things up because I know this is a beloved film. But I feel like we were kept an arm's distance from the characters, and as such they seemed pretty one dimensional. So this is a pretty well travelled formula, right? oppressed child creates/visits fantasy world for escape. We have the misunderstanding parents, the "bad guy", the backdrdop of war, the abiguous nature of the fantasy world and, of course, the can-do-no-wrong precious child. Everything from Narnia to Spiderwick (recall, as close together as these two movies came out, the books are decades from each other) So what I need from the film is a different hook.
I think there are a few differences here that are worth noting (getting in spoiler territory here) - I appreciated the fact that the creatures of the fantasy world did not bring about the undoing of the antogonst, and in fact that in fact it's pretty clear
the fantasy world existed solely in the imagination of the child. I really respected these choices. But the characters seemed solely as plot delivery devices. I have no sense of history, and therefor no sense of motivation from any of these people, and thus the stakes are not very high. Constrast this with
Where the Wild Things Are. One or two scenes with the kid's mom and we can feel the weight of a lifetime of ups and downs.
For instance, a very telling scene for me. There is a section of the film in which the child is given specific instructions not to perform a certain act lest there be dire consequences. The fact she breaks those rules, well first of all, was pretty telescoped, but more important we have no insight into the character as to why she would act this way. Then the consequences where pretty horrifying but we don't really get much sorrow from her until she is called on later to answer for her actions. I guess this can be forgiven because she herself is telling the story - but hmmm...I'm not sure that's enough for me.
Then we have the antogonist. A man so unsympathetically vile that it's almost cartoon like. I couldn't help but think of how great the Landa character was in contrast in
Inglourious Basterds.
These things I could forgive had the story been told completely from the perspective of the child. If she is the one filtering and interpreting the events around her. Then yes, of course there would be no good side to el Capitan, and of course, the Maribel Verdú character could do no wrong.
I wasn't all that impressed with the fantasy characters, at all, really. But I'll readily admit, that's just a preference thing. The two main fantasy characters had long been spoiled for me (heck they're on DVD cover!)
Let me end on a high note. Some very cool things:
1) The bug taking on fairy form - that was slick
2) The ending - really from the point where
Ofelia takes the baby through the reveal at the end. Very nice payoffs here.
3) The rebel explosions in the distance and the scene with the locamotive. Very cool and unique.
4) overall cinematography and set design. Very moody and great at capturing this era and the rural location.
5) The CGI - really great, subtle, not overdone as well it could easily have been.
So overall a grade of like B- I think. Anyways, thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. I'm really glad I finally caught up with this. I remembered a lot of hype around this back that year around Oscar time. I wish I had done a better job avoiding this. I would have been more willing to give this more of a "small little gem", "sleeper" or "European film" discount in my review
Verdict:
High marks for style, mood and look of the film. Disconnection with characters left me wanting
Grade: B