pan's dance

I saw Pan's Labyrinth the other day. I was not impressed, and maybe it was because I had expectations of a movie filled more with a land of mystery and folklore, but instead I saw a child's imaginative escapism from harsh reality full of overbearing male dominance. There was far too much gore and violence than I care to fill my mind with, and the issues of forced domination over others was only reinforced by the last scene when everything was supposedly coming to a peaceful and "feel-good" ending. But whatever. You win some, you lose some. There were some fun visuals that didn't quite make it worth going to see, in my opinion, but are cool to check out on their own:


Comments

  1. Anonymous5:14 PM

    I was surprised that the "harsh reality" was the dominant part of the movie. And both the reality and fantasy portions were harrowing and hard to watch. But it sure was amazing!

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  2. Ohhhh, wonderful drawings.

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  3. Huh, I've heard nothing but good things. Though, those good things came from guys.

    Interesting to hear your perspective on it. I'm disapointed to hear it's so heavily about escapism.

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  4. I agree with your point of view.
    The people, the characters, the forest, the house, the story is too close to reality. It´s from reality.
    The use of violence is excesive and can put you out of the movie.
    Anyway,It was amazing for me too.

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  5. Hey, thanks for the heads-up. I was planning to see it this weekend. Still going, but it's good to know what's going on sometimes.

    :)=

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  6. Yeah, I traveled pretty far to see it a coiple of weeks ago, which I usually do when a read or hear about a good independent film that looks like one not to miss on the big screen. I too was hoping for much more in the actual labrynth itself and actually looked forward to some more escapism. What I got was a cold harsh dose of reality--the reality if war mostly. I wasn't "mentally prepared" for the gore and the saddness that stayed with me when I left the theater. On the same token, I'm glad it wasn't some Harry Potter tripe. There were some scenes in the film that made me want to jump up and cheer, while others were near tear inducing. I think a lot of movies lack that ability to stir emotions anymore. Still, some of the violent and gory scenes were a bit much for me as well. The acting was superb though and the film had me wondering afterwards just how much of it was all in the girl's head and how much was reality. Good stuff, though the ads are a bit misleading. I'll probably grab the dvd. Anyhow, great write up and artwork as always!

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