subject: Pan's Labyrinth - Why it is the best film of the past 5 years [print this page] Its official title is El Laberinto de FaunoIts official title is El Laberinto de Fauno. It is a Spanish movie with English subtitles. It is set against the background of the Spanish Civil War in the 1940s. And it is, quite simply, the most memorable and remarkable film of recent movie production.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro of Hellboy fame, the film tells the story of Ofelia. Ofelia moves out to the country to live with her pregnant mother and stepfather, Captain Vidal. Vidal is a ruthless man in every way who has been tasked by the government to hunt rebel guerrillas in the area. Faced with an unhappy and unstable home life, Ofelia often retreats into a fantasy world, led by the Faun, whose relationship to reality is often left up the viewer's discretion. To give much more in plot details would be impossible (in short order) and unfair to the reader who has not seen the film.
I am not sure that I would call the last 5 years (2005-2010) an especially strong era of movies. In terms of movies from this time period, really only Pan's Labyrinth, The Departed, Michael Clayton, Letters from Iwo Jima, and the newly released Inception would (in this author's opinion) make the list of all-time greats. Not to take anything away from these films - which would stand out well in any period - but that is a pretty short list for a time period where film is almost without limits. If you can dream it, you can put it on the screen. Almost anything is possible.
This movie does more with those possibilities than any other recent release (with apologies to Avatar, which is held back a bit by a rehashed script - essentially Dances with Wolves set in space). Its brilliant use of special effects and make-up to bring Ofelia's world to life are truly a visual achievement and invaluable to the story, but Del Toro's brilliance is in always using them as a supplement to the story and never allowing them to drive it. The viewer is left continually questioning the reality of the on-screen situations while at the same time not dwelling on it. Of modern filmmakers, really only Christopher Nolan can also do that.
Due to the subtitles, Pan's Labyrinth may never get much more than a cult following in the United States, but it is very much beloved by those who have seen it. Its ability to mix fantasy, drama, mystery, and even elements of horror is unparalleled. It is not so much that it exceeds other films as it goes to places that other films dare not. Perhaps the best way to describe it is a fairy tale for adults. In the hands of a lesser film maker, that is a genre that could be very problematic. Taking on very serious subjects while incorporating a faun, a living root, and a monster that places his eyes into his palms could come across as utterly ridiculous instead of completely captivating. But in Del Toro's hands, an absolute masterpiece is created that is unrivaled in years.
Pan's Labyrinth - Why it is the best film of the past 5 years
