Pan's Labyrinth Reaction!
Added 2025-07-27 17:45:19 +0000 UTC
Comments
Did she eat the grapes or was it just "imagination"? I never thought of this as a copy of Time Bandits, but it makes sense as I love that also. And I never think to compare one movie when watching it, I always just get lost in the emotion.
Matthew Beckford
2025-07-30 18:53:14 +0000 UTCAs I said, I didn’t see this when it first came out. Glad you finally got to see it. True about del Toro that love or hate his work, he makes what he wants. The Michael Shannon of it all is a good hook for The Shape of Water. So long as your mom was ok with it, that sounds great about you not giving her any head’s up on the subject matter. My mom’s heard about that, and she’s not seen the film, sensing it wouldn’t be her thing. Still not sold on that being best picture of that year. Then again, my favorite of 2017 was The Death of Stalin. Would have been very happy with Blade Runner 2049 winning, pipe dream though that would have been. This felt more suited for best picture, even if I have it ranked too low on my 2006 list with my agreeing with the academy with The Departed. (With a solid argument for The Prestige. Little Children too.) Was not aware of controversy with the mundane versus fantastic debate. I know that it’s the big talking points, and arguments can get heated about that, so perhaps “controversy” is the right word. My brother and I get upset about the Inception arguments as it misses the point. People note that the film never answers if he is still dreaming or not, and we yell, “IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER!!” As stated, I favor the fantastical being all in Ofelia’s head. Heinous bitch though Rowling is, it’s that great line in Deathly Hallows when Harry’s in Powell and Pressburger land, “Of course it’s happening inside your head. Why should that mean it’s not real?” That one creature did look like that bug in Temple of Doom. I can instantly see the scene and even hear the music cue that John used in that part as you say it. I remember you saying how you don’t do well with bugs, that scene being particularly bad, makes sense how that’d be bad here. The scene is a good audience barometer. The comparison to The Next Karate Kid, yeah, though not as bad, similar energy. The allowances for the extreme situation people at this time and place were in, I mainly focus on that with the mom. One of those times where you can’t really judge by today’s standards. All the same, we don’t get that much perspective on her, and her story, so it does become difficult to sympathize at parts, much though empathy is there. The insistence that Ofelia call Vidal her “father” being the recurring trigger, yeah. As you say, it never becomes too huge an issue, and Mercedes more than picks up the slack. The film is great for the refusal to humanize the villains. Never really heard of the translation leading to the belief that the Faun is Pan prior to seeing the film. I prefer Philosopher’s Stone, but we’re in America, so we’re stuck with the alternative. Ofelia is shit with naming things if this is her imagination. The lack of creativity, name-wise, it makes me so sick, I feel a tide of vomit burn the back of my throat! (Not seen the film. Surmised correctly the line you snuck in. I looked it up to verify, and in the process, saw the one from old Lexie, and it felt fitting for a reference.) I was more surprised by the Pale Man being only in the one scene. Share the praise for Doug Jones. Tis a common fairy tale trope, and good catch on how it related to the rationing. The old Juice would definitely recruit him, (inevitable we both reference that film,) assuming that Bette Midler doesn’t resurrect him first. Had seen Hellboy by 2006, though the second one demonstrated that the body horror is the recurring thing in del Toro’s work. Though not as visceral as the needle phobia that Jess has, being prescribed nightly shots for six-and-a-half years when I was younger leaves me with a STRONG aversion to needles, and the cheek scene was bad. So was the earlier one with the completely unnecessary close-ups. Sent Jess messages of warning, though not sure how much good they were. Much though there is zero sympathy for Vidal, I did yell at him for the stupidity for having the booze after stitching himself up, yelling, “What part of any of what just happened to you suggested that having the booze was anything other than a BAD idea?” Jesus, that would burn like a motherfucker. The karma of the reverse Spartacus, good comparison, was immensely cathartic. True about the rebellion is going to be crushed soon, and Spain will suffer through three more decades before they can finally say Francisco Franco is still dead. I indulge the idea, perhaps a fantasy, that Mercedes lives through it all. Perhaps unrealistic. No more so than a dying girl imagining the fairytale ending that Ofelia envisions, so it meshes well with the film, where yes, that parallel is definitely intended. I feel that I don’t love this film as others do, but it is a marvel of cinema, and again, glad you finally got to see it.
Thomas Corp
2025-07-28 22:11:06 +0000 UTCThis is a first time viewing for me, a bit odd since I've always been huge into Guillermo del Toro, most of all his determination to make the kinds of stories he wants without interference. It was especially striking when he described what the studio did to Mimic as being like his child getting kidnapped, and then getting a photo every year of them working as a prostitute. This is not a guy who gives a single shit if anyone else is on the ride with him, he's just going to do what he wants, and simply getting it finished is accomplishment enough. And luckily, that's seen enough success that he can keep doing it, and even get a Best Picture Oscar for a movie about fucking a fish man (my mother tagged along with me on that one just because she became such a huge Michael Shannon fan from Boardwalk Empire, and I elected not to give her any heads up on the subject matter). The one big thing I'd heard beforehand is the controversy over whether the fantasy stuff is real, which is something I've never really understood. As perfectly put in one review of Inception I've seen, "Of course it's a fantasy. It's a movie." And even the Del Toro quote that I've seen trotted out to "prove" he meant it all to be real just talks about how he meant the whole thing as a metaphor for the time period and it doesn't matter. If you had a good experience watching it, and were left with something that stays with you, that's the important part. We start out with not a snake, but that thing on Willie Scott's hand, which to me is way worse. And Ofelia instantly assuming it's a fairy is a pretty nice immediate indicator on whether you'll be able to go along with what the movie is doing. Though I also had a bit of an obstacle with the exposition about the family situation, which I couldn't help comparing to (apologies to anyone triggered by this) The Next Karate Kid. I also never had as much sympathy for her mother as I think I'm supposed to. I really do try hard to make allowances for the extreme situation people at this time and place were in, and it's not like she's a Coco Chanel level collaborator, but it still feels like we don't get quite enough on how her relationship with Vidal got started to say for sure it wasn't willing on her part, especially with her insistence on calling Vidal Ofelia's "father" despite how much she clearly hates it. But luckily she has a surprisingly small role so that never became much of an issue for me, and Mercedes easily takes up the slack. I'm perfectly fine just accepting Carmen has to die so Batman can have his intended life, even if he's George Clooney now. And it was nice to see zero effort to humanize any of these guys and just let them be pure evil, in the days before Youtube would yell at you over that. Then the actual labyrinth kicks in, and I wasn't too surprised to learn the faun isn't actually Pan, and that was thrown into the translation because Americans are idiots who'd think he was a baby deer, just like why we have the Sorcerer's Stone (good thing no one told this to CS Lewis). Though that does bring up, if Ofelia is just making all this up, would it kill her to name a few things? Four is a name, but so is Gary. Even not being claustrophobic, the whole scene under the tree really freaked me out, enough that the Pale Man actually didn't hit me very hard despite being one of the most famously terrifying things in movie history now. Doug Jones is one of the most singular acting talents who has ever lived, and he makes sure to leave one hell of an impact in his brief screentime. I didn't quite know what to make of the way he stumbles around at the time, but when Vidal does the same thing at the end it all clicked. I was also able to mostly let the grape stealing go just because it's such a classic fairy tale trope that the movie is deliberately playing into, plus we'd already had the whole bit with wartime rations to explain just how tempting it would be. And I couldn't help noticing she seemed to leave the chalk behind, so maybe he'll be going to see Betelgeuse now. From now on there's a whole lot of body horror, and if even in 2006 you went into a Del Toro movie not expecting that, I don't know what to tell you. Even not having a thing about needles myself, Vidal sewing up his cheek had me shivering, and it got worse when he takes a drink way too soon afterwards. Good thing I don't care at all about him, and his being in that kind of pain is just a bonus at this point. And Del Toro thankfully doesn't skimp out on his comeuppance after putting so much work into making us despise him, actually giving him a reverse Spartacus so he gets to die knowing the one thing he ever cared about is forever lost to him. Almost makes you forget this rebellion is going to be crushed soon, and Spain will suffer through three more decades before they can finally say Francisco Franco is still dead. Though given the overall tone with our main little girl character also dead and maybe having a dying dream, I can buy that's entirely intentional. I'm very glad I finally got to see this film, and it makes a marvelous addition to the work of a filmmaker who's always been a champion of the artist, and done his part to encourage everyone to make up their own minds about the kind of creative work they want to do. His upcoming Frankenstein movie looks as great as always, and there's probably way more to come after that.
Ryan
2025-07-28 19:26:33 +0000 UTC
