I saw it talked about on another board, and it piqued my interest. Then I started to see ads for it on TV, and I did some research on it and found it was nominated for 6 Academy Awards!h: Its a Spanish film originally, and for the American release, it had English subtitles. I'm getting to where I absolutely loathe dubbing, except for in animated shows. Anyways, I watched the film today, and I thought it was pretty good, although it is really sad overall. Some parts may be viewer decided, like whether all the fantasy elements are the main characters imagination or not, it's sort of vague in that area, and some things point out that it may be real or just a figment of her imagination. I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone, but a word to the wise, DON'T go in there expecting a full fledged fantasy movie, or you..*might* be dissapointed. Imagine a Spanish version of Schindler's list with color and some Fantasy elements, or a severely more tragic version of My Neighbor Totoro (well, sorta).
I saw it last week, a very dark movie. Though I thought it was pretty good and was amazed the budget on it was $5 million. It was directed and written by the same director who did hell boy, Guillermo del Toro. Didn't that white monster that eats children and fairies remind you of something out of silent hill?
Actually, I never played Silent Hill or watched the movie about it. Now that you mention it, it does look like something I've seen in SH screenshots and artwork.
Mr. Casual: what about checking Efter Brylluppet("After The Wedding") out then ? and tell me what you think ?
I watched the movie in november. I have been quite disturbed by characters acting very stupidly. And that a person shot one time dies immediately (actually, after walking a few meters just to show he don't know of to play a death), but the villain got stabbed in heart and in face, but is perfectly alive... Nevertheless, it's quite metaphoric and there are some good ideas. But, on the same register, I prefered way more Tideland by Terry Gilliam last summer.
I saw it in December and I really liked it. It's a fresh change in spanish cinema. I just can't remember any other fantasy-related film, even if the fantasy part is decided by the viewer (on the other hand, they've started a horror-based program on a tv channel two weeks ago, with new movies made for the program that I find quite entertaining).
The one thing that annoyed me was the girl eating the grapes. She is warned NOT to eat any of the monster's food, and sees pictures of the monster eating children, and she is warned by the fairies not to eat anything...and she does anyway. I was like WTF!? @WolverineDK, I think you got the wrong idea here. I never saw a foreign film in theatres until yesterday, and that was because I was interested in seeing Pan's Labyrinth. I'm usually not much of a "movie" guy anyway, I just wanted to see what the fuss was all about, and I like Fantasy movies, too. Pan's Labyrinth would have been good even without the Fantasy elements, but I probably wouldn't have bothered to watch it.
When I first saw the previews, I thought it would be something similar to "Big Fish", which was an amazing film, but going on the descriptions here is nothing like it. I may still check it out though.
Nah, just a fairy tale cliche. I thought the most violent part was probably when the general kills that guy on his knees with a bear bottle.
Well... I mean, the one guy got shot in the back... and whose to say he died immediately? He could've just passed out from the shock of being shot. And the villian wasn't stabbed in the heart. He was stabbed in the back of a shoulder, in the front of the other shoulder, and threw the cheek. None of which would be particularly fatal I wouldn't think. Especially not if they're attended to right away. At any rate, I saw the flick today and I thought it was amazing. Easily one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. I'm still on the fence on whether or not the fantasy aspects were really happening or not... I like to think they were, since if they weren't then the flick is more depressing than A.I.. But regardless, an amazing film. Hope it wins every award it was nominated for, it truly deserves it.
The reason the main villain didn't die was because the blade was so short, I still would of thought the one he copped in the heart would of been enough but I guess not.. Its a pretty good film overall, the ending is quite ambiguous so you can come to your own conclusions about what happens to the little girl.
SPOILERS I kind of thought the "Fantasy" ending was really cheesy. I'm like, "This movie was great and all, but the ending was too cheesy", then you see that one woman crying over the girls dead body and makes it seem like that was either her version of Heaven or whatever. Still was depressing as hell, though. I think the end part with the tree was what made me think it was her imagination. The tree instantly didn't bloom like I was thinking, just grew a little flower, which is pretty natural, imo. The only thing that proves otherwise to it all being her imagination, imo, is the weird root thing that was in the milk. The monster scene could have easily been a nightmare, too.
SPOILERS The two things that make me question it being in her head are as follows: She escaped the locked room via using the chalk. When the captain was chasing her through the maze the maze opened up for her... and when the captain got there it was closed. So... it could go either way I guess. </spoilers>
movie was good. i think the art direction was awesome. The film leads you to many different conclusions. Don't want to spoil it.
This is not a Spanish film. It's in Spanish with a Spanish accent and set in Spain, but the director is Guillermo del Toro, a filmmaker from Guadalajara, Mexico (the city where I live). It's a Mexico-Spain co-production deal, I think. The guy is a celebrity here - I think he was a teacher in the local film school for a while, too. I saw the movie when it came out over here some months ago and found it awesome. Imdb says "El laberinto del Fauno" is "Mexico's entry to Academy Awards, on the category of Best Film in a Foreign Language (2006)" I really hope it wins.
