Pan's Labyrinth

I had been dying to see this movie. I got a pirated copy some weeks ago for fifty bucks. Unfortunately, there were no English subtitles I only viewed the first three minutes. Until last Wednesday, April 25, I was able to catch it last full show with Ross at Megamall.
The movie is basically a fantasy movie and with a surreal touch as experienced by the a young Spanish girl named Ofelia, who would be playing the main character. Having a penchant for fairy tale stories, she soon found herself getting in touch with the underworld creatures. Perhaps it was her disappointment with her mother’s new husband, a powerful and arrogant Spanish civil war officer, that forced her to imagine and experience the fairy tale stories as outlet to escape from the harsh reality. Her mother was pregnant while acceding to the cruel husband’s tyrant disposition. The underworld creatures, in the form of fairies and a fawn would promise her to bring her back to her kingdom as their lost princess. The promise was not however served on a silver platter, as she has to accomplish some tasks that would perhaps challenge her discipline and determination. These would lead her to encounter scary underworld creatures like a monster frog underneath an old huge tree where she would retrieve a golden key and a mutant like being with a pair of eye on its pair of palm and from which she would secure a golden knife. In the meantime, and going back to her reality, Ofelia and her mother would continue to suffer from the hands of her stepfather. The story happened post civil war in Spain circa 40’s. The stepfather has his own men and artillery based on the mountains and where they continuously encounter resistance from the guerillas. Eventually, the guerillas would end victorious, kill the stepfather, and recover Ofelia’s baby brother. But her stepfather would also kill Ofelia after stealing her baby brother. The death of Ofelia would reunite her with her fantasy parents who are the king and the queen of the underworld while she being the lost princess. And she would live happily ever after.
Ivana Vasquez, the young Spanish actress who portrayed Ofelia was convincing in truly expressing innocence amidst the overwhelming power displayed by both her underworld experiences and her miseries under the hands of her vicious stepfather. The latter on the other hand, portrayed by the Spanish actor whose name I momentarily slipped from my memory, was a natural villain, his performance creating an impact on the viewers. I wished I would have a turn shooting him at the end of the story.
Not to be missed in recognition are the technical aspects namely the production design, cinematography, special effects, make up and art direction. No wonder it would eventually be cited by the motion picture of America as the best in as far as the technical aspects or as mentioned earlier.
While it may be true that fantasy movies could help a viewer escape from his or her present reality even within two hours of being absorbed, scary movies about monsters and miseries of war devastation makes a viewer thankful and secure. Advances in special effects, animations, make ups, production designs etc… makes a viewer believe further that what they are seeing on screen are the precise imagery even if these are only the movie creator’s perceptions.
By and large, Pan’s Labyrinth is a movie I can recommend to friends especially those with a knack for a film’s technical aspects.