I FINALLY SAW IT.
Jan. 28th, 2007 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arkratirmaDad, Cammy and I left around 1:00 for the 1:30 showing of Pan's Labyrinth at Sutton. We hit traffic from just past Lime Kiln almost all the way to McKnight; we were worried that we'd miss the show. Thankfully, we didn't, and we arrived in the nick of time.
* NO SPOILERS *
Pan's Labyrinth - or, more properly, El Laberinto del Fauno - is amazing.
It isn't quite what I expected or imagined it to be, but I was not disappointed. At all.
Especially now that I have had time to sit and think about what I watched, the brutality and immense beauty of the film are all the more apparent, and more vibrant. More powerful.
I have seen several graphic movies, but this one probably beats them all, hands down. It is a war movie first, fantasy second. The violence is too horrendously stunning not to watch, and I have read that people covered their eyes during the more unpleasant moments in the film. I couldn't cover my eyes. I was transfixed.
Viewers have complained about the film's subtitling, the mere fact it is in Spanish. It's a shame, because I cannot imagine ever watching it in English. I have found that reading subtitles actually helps me remember more of what occurs earlier on. The lines are explosive and mesmerizing in Spanish, and so are the characters, from young, innocent Ofelia to her sadist stepfather, Captain Vidal.
Captain Vidal is the most gruesome fictional character I have ever seen. Take elements of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, and wrap them all into one unashamedly evil man. That's Captain Vidal.
Mercedes, Vidal's servant, is a fantastic character. I won't say anything more about her.
The performances are spectacular all around, but Doug Jones takes the cake: he fascinates us as the faun and terrifies us as the Pale Man, both to stunning effect. Jones works the faun's legs himself, too, which gives a believability to the creature's movement. And the Pale Man.... He is some awesomely creepy shit. MY GOD.
The war and fantasy aspects of the film are integrated well, and it is indeed a very sad story.
I need to go off and make more fan art for the sketchbook contest, soon.
So, all in all.... LOVE. Mom still wants to see it, and I am definitely going to go with her to see it again.
* NO SPOILERS *
Pan's Labyrinth - or, more properly, El Laberinto del Fauno - is amazing.
It isn't quite what I expected or imagined it to be, but I was not disappointed. At all.
Especially now that I have had time to sit and think about what I watched, the brutality and immense beauty of the film are all the more apparent, and more vibrant. More powerful.
I have seen several graphic movies, but this one probably beats them all, hands down. It is a war movie first, fantasy second. The violence is too horrendously stunning not to watch, and I have read that people covered their eyes during the more unpleasant moments in the film. I couldn't cover my eyes. I was transfixed.
Viewers have complained about the film's subtitling, the mere fact it is in Spanish. It's a shame, because I cannot imagine ever watching it in English. I have found that reading subtitles actually helps me remember more of what occurs earlier on. The lines are explosive and mesmerizing in Spanish, and so are the characters, from young, innocent Ofelia to her sadist stepfather, Captain Vidal.
Captain Vidal is the most gruesome fictional character I have ever seen. Take elements of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, and wrap them all into one unashamedly evil man. That's Captain Vidal.
Mercedes, Vidal's servant, is a fantastic character. I won't say anything more about her.
The performances are spectacular all around, but Doug Jones takes the cake: he fascinates us as the faun and terrifies us as the Pale Man, both to stunning effect. Jones works the faun's legs himself, too, which gives a believability to the creature's movement. And the Pale Man.... He is some awesomely creepy shit. MY GOD.
The war and fantasy aspects of the film are integrated well, and it is indeed a very sad story.
I need to go off and make more fan art for the sketchbook contest, soon.
So, all in all.... LOVE. Mom still wants to see it, and I am definitely going to go with her to see it again.
