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Pan's Labyrinth
Jan. 17th, 2007 01:13 pmPan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro. Jan 14th, 4:15 pm. View count: 1.
I'm going to keep this spoilerless, because it's still in theatres and all.
I don't think I can quite agree with optic's assessment that Pan's Labyrinth is something Gilliam could ever make; his darkness is not nearly so unflinching and visceral. It's more existential/mental, really. But the comparison should definitely remain, as the whole fairy tale + real life marriage is pretty Gilliam-friendly, I completely agree.
This is a really well-done movie. The fantasy/reality line is well-walked, and all the characters are realized to a good level. It's sort of messy and confusingly motivated in some spots, but I think this is okay. I probably need to see this again, because it is dense and interesting, but I shrink somewhat from the idea of doing so because of the dark, dark violence. Del Toro is not afraid of showing violence. There is no last-second cutting away, and almost no blocked views. There is also no balancing humor.
I will close with some stuff a lady sitting near us said, that chmmr caught after the movie: "It's so violent! It's not appropriate for kids at all. But the brother was so cute."
This is more depressing than the movie, and also much less interesting.
I'm going to keep this spoilerless, because it's still in theatres and all.
I don't think I can quite agree with optic's assessment that Pan's Labyrinth is something Gilliam could ever make; his darkness is not nearly so unflinching and visceral. It's more existential/mental, really. But the comparison should definitely remain, as the whole fairy tale + real life marriage is pretty Gilliam-friendly, I completely agree.
This is a really well-done movie. The fantasy/reality line is well-walked, and all the characters are realized to a good level. It's sort of messy and confusingly motivated in some spots, but I think this is okay. I probably need to see this again, because it is dense and interesting, but I shrink somewhat from the idea of doing so because of the dark, dark violence. Del Toro is not afraid of showing violence. There is no last-second cutting away, and almost no blocked views. There is also no balancing humor.
I will close with some stuff a lady sitting near us said, that chmmr caught after the movie: "It's so violent! It's not appropriate for kids at all. But the brother was so cute."
This is more depressing than the movie, and also much less interesting.
