Fairy tales don't always have happy endings. Just ask Hans Christian Andersen. Oh, wait, you can't. He's dead. I think he even died again when Walt Disney released the Little Mermaid.
Fairy tales are just landscapes for us to explore. In them, we find a world that is similar to ours, but yet very different. We use them to face what we fear, have adventures, and in general do things that we are most likely afraid to do. This all occurs when we are children and read a fairy tale. As adults, we have movies. Pan's Labyrinth tries to merge these two elements. It does a wonderful job. The parallels between the real world in the mountains, run by a single-minded captain, and the underworld, guarded by the somewhat questionable faun. Read Greek mythology or even the Chronicles of Narnia for a further exploration of the character of fauns.
Where this movie fails is its need for gratuitous gore and violence. For example, we see the captain sew up his face after it was cut by Mercedes. Why was it necessary to see that? Why did we need to see him get shot in the head, or the first cut of the wounded leg? Was it possible for me to miss the fact that the world was violent and desperate if those scenes were not included? I doubt it. It would have been a much better movie if less time had been spent on trivial shots and scenes like that.
PS That stupid theme song that they kept recycling through the picture, please give it a rest. It was a nice idea to use that as a theme, but it was really too much to hear it all the time and then in variation.
at February 3, 2007 1:30 AMReally?? You're actually against gratuitious violence? ;)
I signed up for Netflix. Maybe my downfall. Have you ever seen the new Battlestar Galactica? Somehow I got hooked. I blame it on my NASA buddies.
Posted by: Rebecca at February 9, 2007 9:45 AMyes, i have seen battlestar galactica and i love it, too. i've only gotten through the first season and half of the second, all watched on dvd. it's hard to describe exactly why i like the show, but i think it is probably because the characters are so interesting.
Posted by: hope at February 9, 2007 9:55 AMforgot to answer the first question...yes, i am against gratuitous violence. most of the time that is. it should be used wisely, i think. it's like swearing. if you swear all the time, everyone will just think your vulgar. swear rarely and people are shocked. that's really the point of swearing, isn't it?
Posted by: hope at February 9, 2007 10:09 AMI actually loved every single thing about this movie. I did cover my face more than once, but for me, it was actually quite effective. I was struck by how much horrifying the real world was than the fantasy. I did not consider it gratuitous, but maybe I'm just desensitized to violence. (?) For me, the violence depicted made it all the more believable that the girl would have concocted such a rich fantasy--reality was too much for her to bear. She was in a situation in which she felt completely powerless and utterly horrified. I really love reading all of your analyses.
Posted by: Jill at February 19, 2007 10:33 AMWhile a happy ending isn't required, I don't know that I need to see all the horror and violence only to be left with a sick feeling of utter hopelessness. If that's where I'm to be brought, then I prefer more subtle tactics.
I also have this strong maternal instinct. While I appreciated that Mercedes did what she could, that girl was totally failed by her mother and other than Mercedes (who had to abondon her at a certain point), she had no friends. My interpretation is that the fantasy world was her escape of the horrors of her life. Her death just put her into that fantasy permanently.
It was wretchedly sad.
I'm also horrified at the young kids that were sitting in front of us. I know they fell asleep at a certain point, but they saw plenty to screw them up for a while.
Posted by: Kate at February 21, 2007 12:56 PMi loved the part where the woman woke up her children by saying, "Wake up. The movie's over. The girl died." I'm sure that was helpful.
Posted by: hope at February 28, 2007 10:34 PMYeah. That woman was the epitome of a horrible mother. Those kids were going to the bathroom so much that I have to believe it was really an attempt to avoid seeing the gore...and she was just put out that she had to take them. Are babysitters really more expensive than 4 $9 tickets plus pop/popcorn? I certainly never got paid that much...not even close.
Posted by: kate at March 10, 2007 8:41 AM