Pan's Labyrinth: A movie review

Pan's Labyrinth

This is a beautifully constructed movie. One can see that care was put into every detail of the production, yet it never feels stuff like a story board come to life. The planning that was put into the transitions from shot of shot create a dreamy fluid viewing experience. The camera tracks into a foreground tree in the forest. On the other side of the tree the next shot has unfolded without a bump. This is done in interiors too. There are scenes of the Captain in his chamber shaving. This stationary situation is transformed and performed as a kinetic dance of dolly shots and editing. Yet this dance is not at all showy. It appears as the only way it should have been done. The technique does not distract from the content. There is a lot of this sort of thing in this gorgeously photographed entertainment.
The fine musical score by Javier Navarrete enhances the dance.

There are times in trying to approach fantasy-fairy tale cinema with an open heart as an adult, that I have failed to be properly moved. In cinema all can seem so explicit it leaves no room for imagination to have anything what-so-ever to do but submit to the machine. In those instances I have refused to submit, or been sadly unable to. The story that Guillermo del Toro tells somehow manages to leave room for the imagination. This on top of the well rendered characters and the high risk melodrama of it all drew me in and made it easy for me to drop my cold disbelief.
I viewed it as a fairy tale within a fairy tale. The outer "real world" fairy tale in the guise of a realist war saga, perhaps allows more of an opening to the little girl's imaginary world. The Captain is so boldly drawn as a villain and brut that one wants to go anywhere to escape him. At the compound there is nowhere to run to escape his tyranny. He is the real monster of the piece, but also has an effect of making one wonder if there are other monsters lurking. There is the question that continues throughout the whole movie; It this monstrous creature really my friend, or yet another danger. All this rather vague mystery makes the movie fulfilling. The viewer can imagine what she wants about the proceedings, we are happily not spoon-fed.
This is the type of adult fairy tale movie that Terry Gilliam has attempted in the last two movies and failed. Tideland came off as just sad and a little sleazy, The Brothers Grimm, what I saw of it, as a slanderous mess.

Guillermo del Toro starting with his original script has done the job of creating a fantasy. It's a very fine piece of work.

To Make The People Smile Again by George Wheeler

I was talking with a friend recently about the new movie Pan's Labyrinth. Neither of us had seen the movie yet. I said that I was sort of interested in it since in was set in Spain during the civil war in the 1930s. My friend who is 38 and well educated, about to get a PhD, knew nothing about the Spanish Civil War. I was a little shocked by this. I guess I think that it is something everyone should know about since it was such a pivotal point in the events of the 20th Century.

The BBC World Service radio is presenting a drama set in the war. The play can be heard on the internet for a couple more days, until late Friday Jan. 12th 2007. I wish there could archive these things somewhere, but I guess there are rights issues involved.

To Make The People Smile Again by George Wheeler
Dramatized by Steve Chambers
With Ben Crowe as George Wheeler.
Directed and Produced by Marion Nancarrow

The play begins with a young British man George Wheeler signing on to join the International Brigades to travel to Spain an assist in the support of the republican government . In 1936 General Franco backed by The Catholic Church and various other interests including the Nazis and the Italian fascists rebelled against the government which was engaged in land reform. An International Brigade was formed to help in the struggle. This was made up of American and British Communists, socialists and anarchists. The we follow the young man George to Spain and see the struggle through his eyes in this excellent factual production. The play includes a few recordings of the voices of actual aged survivors.

This play presents the internal difficulties of the various political forces involved with the international brigades. This is also discussed in George Orwell's memoir of his time in Spain, Homage to Catalonia.
The play has a very human story. It's not at all a dry history lesson and is a very good introduction to the war. It is an entertaining and informative radio drama. The so called "free world" didn't help at all. There was no aid to the republic from the USA or British governments. Only individual citizens and communists, socialist parties and anarchists organizations helped . The Soviet Union helped for a while, but perhaps in the end somehow betrayed or abandoned the struggle. It's didn't end up so good for the cause of freedom. Franco won and was the dictator of Spain for the next 40 years.
The BBC World Service Drama is presenting a series of plays about heroes. The story of Mr. Wheeler and the International Brigades could not be more fitting in such a series.