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Smalls loves in a big way, Guillermo Del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH at FrightFest!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... Guillermo called me from London after this screening, very happy about how it went. Next he's headed to Venice to be a juror at the Venice Film Festival - and our man Quint will be seeing PAN'S LABYRINTH in Los Angeles later this weekend. As Quint's there for another TRANSFORMERS behind the scenes report. However, SMALLS, as this spy likes to be called, loves PAN'S LABYRINTH - which is a common ailment that seems to be befalling all those that come within its spell. I'm DYING to see it.
Hello,
I've read the site for so long and never posted a
review, but after seeing Guillermo del Torro's Pan's
Labryinth last night, I felt moved to send you this. I
know its long, so if you want to edit it by all means
do so (I'll trust you!).
Without further ado...
It’s the morning after the night before and having had
time to reflect, I had to share my thoughts with you
about Gillermo del Torro’s latest, Pan’s Labyrinth. I
went to London’s Frightfest horror festival last night
and the film’s first public screening since Cannes,
where it was introduced by the man himself.
Before I entered the cinema I’d heard of the 25-minute
ovation at Cannes and read Frank Darabont’s gushing
feedback on the web, and after seeing the trailer I
was cynical it could be that good. I knew it would be
good, but surely not? My doubts disappeared when the
enthusiastic Guillermo and Alfonso Cuaron (They
co-produced it) introduced it. According to Guillermo,
this film is a true labour of love – he deferred his
fee, significant parts of it are autobiographical and
he even described Pan’s Labrynth as a ‘piece of my
soul’.
Well, what a soul that man must have! Like his
previous film (and companion piece to Pan’s Labrynth)
The Devil’s Backbone, this is set around the time of
the Spanish civil war. Like the former film it has a
child main protagonist (In DD it was a boy, in Pan’s
it’s a girl), both have an evil fascist (or
proto-fascist) as the main antagonist, and both have
an ethereal dream-like quality that make fairy tales
so appealing to all ages.
However, whereas Backbone is more of an old-fashioned
ghost story, Pan’s Labyrinth is like the best
children’s fairy tale. The key to fairy tales is that
they work as allegories about the end of childhood,
coming of age and the loss of innocence. That’s why
they resonate with generation after generation. Pan’s
Labrynth is the 21 Century’s fairy tale, to be shown
again and again to generation after generation.
The story is quite simple – a young girl, Ofelia (The
awesome Ivana Baquero), is forced to live with her
mother and new stepfather, a sadistic Fascist Captain
hunting ‘reds’ in remote mountains. Her mother is ill
with her unborn son and Ophelia is left to explore the
woods around the army camp. It’s here she finds the
Labrynth in question and meets a Faun, who tells her
she is the princess of a magical underground kingdom
and to get back, she must complete three tasks.
It sounds simple, but like The Devil’s Backbone and
all the best films, Pan’s only unravels its secrets in
the hours and days after you’ve seen it. It stays with
you, sticking under your skin, unveiling more and more
to you, letting you slowly understand and appreciate
its message of hope and the retaining of childlike
innocence, no matter how much evil there is in the
world around you.
Speaking after the screening, del Torro mentioned the
9/11 as a reference point to Pan’s Labrynth, and the
ruthless attempts of the pitiless Captain Vidal (Sergi
Lopez managing to top his performance in Harry, He’s
Here To Help) to crush the socialists’ resistance and
his use of torture resonates in our times. But it’s
the girl’s innocence and hope in her quest to return
home and find happiness is a message of hope to us
all.
Like journalism, you cannot hide in filmmaking. If
you’re heart’s not in your work, the audience will see
it up there on the screen. That’s why so much
Hollywood product feels soulless and vacuous, because
people are making the film to make money not because
they have a story to tell. On the other hand, when a
filmmaker is passionate about his work and puts his
(or her) heart and soul into a film, then it shines
through and stays with you. Pan’s Labrynth is like the
most passionate love affair – what you see on screen
is Guillermo and his love of film. The story is so
rich and textured, with not a false moment or
one-dimensional character – everyone is real and
complicated with their own hopes, fears, faults and
sympathetic traits – well, apart from Captain Vidal.
Visually the film is like a lush Rembrandt masterpiece
or Monet watercolour – the colours leap out at you and
command your rapt attention, and the directorial
flourishes are not the gimmicks of someone showing
off, but the sign of a director fluent in cinematic
language and deeply, deeply in love with it.
From the incredible opening shot, to an ending that
has the perfect blend of pathos and a sense of hope
that lifts your spirits, Pan’s Labrynth is the perfect
film that constantly surprises, always intrigues and
never fails to hold your attention. If like me you’ve
become increasingly cynical about films and cinema in
recent years under the bombardment of unimaginative
dross from Hollywood, Guillermo’s Pan’s Labrynth will
restore your love of film and storytelling.
Introducing the film, Guillermo said his film wouldn’t
receive a massive marketing push and wouldn’t be in
thousands of multiplex screens but he said this film
is the one he’s most proud of, most in love with. He
implored the audience to go out and evangelise this
film to friends, family, strangers on the streets.
Well I implore you to do the same – everyone must see
this film - and Guillermo, I hope by posting my humble
opinion this will do what you asked.
Harry, if you use this, call me Smalls!
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+ Expand All
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...is what del Toro is.
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...del Toro is, I meant to say.
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I'm stupid. I've drank too many mimosas this morning. And it's only 11:12 a.m.
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"f you
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...Are in this topic...find them
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except successful. very excited to see this one, but if i don't get out of delaware soon, it won't be until the dvd release.
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Give us the secret of the mighty t t t !
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I'm doubting it but still sounds good...
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...because in the end the soulless film and the heartfelt one are treated the same, as product to be fed through the sausage grinder that is modern media, serving as a momentary distraction to keep us cocooned in a bubble of masturbatory consumer obliviousness...Okay, so I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
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Everyone check out Doug in this movie. He is so talented. You can also check out the man behind Pan's mask and behind the Silver Surfer in his newest movie at
www.goknockknock.com -
i don't know about those 9/11 comparisons but hey whatever this could be a great movie from everything i've heard. hoping to check this one out at the nyff in a month or so.
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And I can't really put my finger on why. It just worked. I think this is gonna be great as well.
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For this glorious plant!
Read the "From the beautiful opening shot..." paragraph. It sounds like a press release -
Rembrandt isn't lush. Anyway, I'll wait until it comes out and make up my own mind about this. There seems to be too much hype around it. I mean, the 25 minute ovation thing sounded really silly when it came out. If it that good, I hope it does well.
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mmmmmmm
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Hello all, here is a link to my entry into the Kansas City Film Festival judged by George A. Romero. Hope you all like
thanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azo8heDmNoQ
kidjingo -
Severance director Chris Smith and the organiser of Frightfest on Mark Kermode's BBC podcast this week. It will be very interesting to you if you have already clicked on to this story. http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/entertainment/kermode.shtml
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Aug 26, 2006 8:49:35 PM CDT
There's no way that this is gonna be as good as t t t.
by jar jar 4 prez
I just can't see it.
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Don't get the love for that film.
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Because I really want to see it as fresh as I can. THIS is the kind of thing worth waiting for....
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It's sounding like it could be a decent flick. It'd be a nice change of pace after this past summer's kind of mediocre showing.
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You forgot to use "masses" and "sheep" in your cliche-ridden, meaningless rant.
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...you mass-like sheep thing.
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I'm glad the faerie tale genre is coming back. GdT, God bless you!
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He gets a pass for me for a decade or so for his brillant work on Hellboy and Devil's Backbone. Even though i temporarily took the pass away after watching Blade 2 and Mimic. Pan's Labyrinth is getting rave reviews all around it seems. Ill tell yall about it. Check out this awesome review website. http://tinyurl.com/pv8do
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His punctuation is as choppy as his editing. If you are heart's not in your review, us readers will see it on the page.
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I went to see this friday night at fright fest.Before i start this i would like to say i liked the film a lot, great performances,great creature design and it did have..magic.I really did enjoy it a lot and felt a lot better for having seen it that day..but and this may be a personal thing but i found the film a little jarring to watch.
I love fantasy movies etc and i also like war movies but with this film i found the constant switching between war and fantasy a bit annoying 10mins war 10mins fantasy 10mins war 10mins fantasy.And to be honest when the war stuff was happening,as good as it was i kinda missed the fantasy.dont get me wrong the war bits were great well acted,dramatic,well directed but i just wished we could have had the first half hour in reality then the character escaping into a fantasy world for most of the rest of the movie.Again this is just my personal feeling and overall i really enjoyed it,I will buy the dvd and i would reccomend it to you all.But it is hard to escape into a fantasy land with a character when youre dragged back to reality every 10 mins.oh guillermo was a funny and passionate host and it was a great night(my first film fest of any kind)I have a feeling though that this film is gonna be dabated heavily.sorry for rambling first time post.Go see it when it arrives youll be glad you did but dont expect to applaud for 25mins.oh and guillermo mentioned every film on the night but cronos i love that movie -
Cronos is my favorite del Toro film.
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marketing push. With the money this guy made for the studio with Blade 2 you would think they would throw a few dollars around to help his labour of love get a larger audience. This looks like a truly interesting film.
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Yeah, it looks very interesting! Ca't wait to check it out!
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The film is in Spanish... so am I correct in presuming the release will be subtitled?
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The fil was subtitled at fright fest and i would assume the general release would be the same.Not to be a purist but they should leave it subtitled these kind of more arty/dramatic movies should never be dubbed.
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now that's funny
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and see this movie. is a command.
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hey it was good watch it
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