[jPoDTGN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F1GTR /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with philodox. The fantasy part of the film was what was so hyped in the trailers, and you practically saw all of it before even seeing the film. It was a complete letdown for me that Pale Man was in there for a whole total of five minutes. Overall I think the film is extremely overhyped and overrated at the moment. I just can't understand all the amazing praise it has been receiving. Sure it's a good film, but it's not great. To me it was just another war movie, with extremely graphic violence(not sure how anyone could claim to like "the bottle" scene), with a touch of fantasy added in. A 180 degree turn from the previews and the title for crying out loud. How do you title it with the word "Labyrinth" and then have maybe 15% of the entire film dealing with the Labyrinth and fantasy? 2006 films that I would rate above Pan's are: The Fountain Children of Men The Proposition The Departed Perfume Apocalypto

No way in the world Gibson's POS movie was better than Pan's.

 

[F1GTR]

Yes it definitely was. You may not like Gibson himself, I'm not a huge fan of his acting and glad he wasn't actually in the movie, but the film itself is excellent and far more entertaining than Pan's. I almost nodded off twice in Pan's. During Apolcalypto I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

 

[Gamemako]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif I liked it, but I agree that I think the fantasy side of the movie should have been explored in more depth than it was. The real world side of it was pretty simple and could have been shortened a fair bit I think. I also thought the ending was weak.

This makes me sad.

Not to offend, but I believe you and F1GTR missed the entire point of the movie.

 

[philodox]

What point did I miss exactly? The real world aspect of the movie was not all that deep... which is the main reason I would have rather seen less of it.

 

[Sarchi]

Got PL but haven't subtitled it yet...looking forward to watching it.

Of the other big (nominated) films by Mexican directors, I liked Children Of Men, and didn't like Babel - it reminded me of Crash, or any other film where the director asks you to care about characters you know nothing about. Guess the non-linear thing doesn't work for me.

Other good ones we've watched lately:
The Prestige - very good thriller about two magicians who compete for ultimate stakes.

Lonely Hearts - an excellent 50's cop drama with John Travolta and James Gandolfini. Reminded me of LA Confidential, very well done.

The Departed - everyone's seen this by now I guess. Very very good, though I waited too long to see it, and with all the hype, it was almost a bit of a let down. No film can live up to that much hype! Still it should win best film and director.

Blood Diamond - loved it, great film. Leo should get the Oscar.

Little Miss Sunshine - not bad, but no idea why this film got so many nominations.

The Pursuit of Happyness - pretty good.

Jesus Camp - worth seeing.


Still haven't watched Volvere, Dreamgirls or Borat yet.

 

[xenochimera]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamemako /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ofelia's dream world is best described as a parallel to her experiences -- that is, while still a fairy-tale world, it is also twisted and ugly. The movie is as much a psychological drama as a fantasy.

i think it was all real. towards the end, she was locked in her room (remeber she said to the faun that the door is locked). the captain assigned a guard to her door, yet she was able to be in the same room as the baby!!

 

[Gamemako]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenochimera /img/forum/go_quote.gif i think it was all real. towards the end, she was locked in her room (remeber she said to the faun that the door is locked). the captain assigned a guard to her door, yet she was able to be in the same room as the baby!!

The door is also unlocked and unguarded when Mercedes comes back for Ofelia. Harry Houdini had some great tricks, but none of them were magic.

//EDIT: Philo, I'll go into detail about it later. I am extremely short on time right now. I'll try not to disappoint.

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamemako /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ofelia's dream world is best described as a parallel to her experiences

Interesting thread with some great thought - out of depth for me! I viewed Pan's Labyrinth today and thought it was brilliant. It was easily the best movie I've seen from 06, and I've watched the usual suspects.

I was hoping Gamemako or anyone else could further connect the allegory of Ophelia's fantasy world to the related or larger events within the movie?

 

[Hell_Gopher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by virometal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting thread with some great thought - out of depth for me! I viewed Pan's Labyrinth today and thought it was brilliant. It was easily the best movie I've seen from 06, and I've watched the usual suspects. I was hoping Gamemako or anyone else could further connect the allegory of Ophelia's fantasy world to the related or larger events within the movie?

I loved this movie. Easily the best of '06 for me.

It's very true the fantasy stuff parallels what's happening in the real world, although I think the overall effect is too rich to boil down to a simple "this-means-that" allegory.

Having said that, the political undertones of the Pale Man bit aren't exactly subtle!

The toad underneath the tree is pretty interesting. Some immediate thoughts on that one - the toad is like Ofelia's unborn sibling, poisoning her mum from the inside (what does the tree remind you of?). It's destroyed by greed (swallowing the ring), which is in keeping with the general political thrust of the film.

The second-last scene is pretty sweet too, and the parallel there is immediate. Ofelia won't risk even a little bloodshed for power (=> facism), she tells the faun she'd rather not go back to her kingdom. As soon as she makes that decision, her "father" appears and the exact real world equivalent is played out.

And the "blood of the innocent" dripping on that stone at the very end leaves the "is it real" question completely open. And the very last scene...is more than a little cheesy, but whatever

.

About the violence in the film - I didn't think it was inappropriate at all! Some of it was quite extreme, but what made it completely appropriate was that it actually looked appalling! When was the last time that a Hollywood film made violence look so bad? It wasn't the sort of hypocritical film that luxuriates in glamorous violence under the pretext of passing comment.

 

[Yikes]

Pan’s Labyrinth was outstanding, easily the BEST movie that I saw in 06. That being said I thought that 2006 was without a doubt the worst year in cinema since the 70’s.

 

[pabbi1]

Saw Babel today - wish now that I had seen Pan's Labyrinth instead...

 

[Dork Knight]

I got around to watching this last night and I thought it was fantastic, I hope that this will be released on HD DVD.

 

[Gamemako]

Haha, I haven't forgotten about this thread, but I don't sleep much as is right now. Next weekend I'll hopefully have some time...

Also, you might consider the ending cheesy, but it was the contrasting resolution which perhaps embodied the political element of movie. It was also necessary to fulfill the prophecy at the beginning of the movie, just as it was necessary for the the U-boot to be destroyed at the end of Das Boot (recall the ship they destroyed when they believed it to be abandoned -- the struggles of the sailors parallel).