In this year’s Oscar, I noted a movie has been nominated from Mexico. I always love to watch movies of Mexican directors for their brilliance in visually rich tales with poignant relationships between characters. This year, the film that topped among the top 5 foreign movies in the Oscar race was actually directed by a Mexican director, but it is set after the Spanish Civil War during 1944. Still I was interested to watch it as soon as I can get it. Last Day I bought it and skipped my gym to see it in the first place. The name of the movie is, “Pan’s Labyrinth”.
It took 2 hours to complete the movie, but it may take a lifetime to forget this movie. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth brilliantly melds the realms of fairy tale and brutal 20th-century history. An epic, magically moving and wonderfully haunting movie with stunning visual depths art direction and breathtaking cinematography like this perhaps did not grace in the movie screens for a long time. I may be over-rating but, if you are ok with subtitles only movies (like me, I don’t know Spanish) it’s a recommendation for you from my side.
The movie is based on fairy tales and lead role is played by a 11 years old girl who likes fables and moving to a rural military outpost near a dark forest with her pregnant mom to stay with his new brutal step dad, a general whom you will hate from the first scene. Upon reaching there, the girl finds a labyrinth and consequently meets a Faun, a fantasy character in roman mythology. She was soon informed that she is the long-lost Princess Moanna who is the daughter of immortal-land and she receives three tasks to complete before the full moon. Upon completion, she will join the King and Queen, and live happily ever after. She enthusiastically accepts the challenges and her journey begins. Is it a dream, or is it real? Viewers go on from there to the last gripping minutes. Simultaneously, tension reaches to the fullest between the rebel republicans in the mountains and fascist Soldiers led by the cruel general.
This film was completely captivating -all of the plots and sub-plots weaved expertly together. All the characters brought out extremes: from compassion and love, to fear and hate. The movie is so brilliant in its presentation that it will definitely take you back to the legendary ages and still look like normal. I particularly liked the encounter with the hand-eyed man with the girl in one of the quests. The last epilogue says about ‘some’ little signs on Earth, visible only to those who knew where to look and shows a flower to blossom, I liked this scene also.
Had it been an English movie, it would’ve swept the Oscars; however, that’s not the point, this movie is simply one of the most creative, intense and visually stunning movies last one decade.