POISON SCOOTER

Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)

My entire life I've loathed kid's movies. Not because I hate children, but rather as a child I was bored with their predictibility and niceness. I guess over time I just learned to gravitate towards darker fare as I hit elementary school. Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Return to OZ, these were the kinds of kid's movies I enjoyed. Not Disney crap like Flubber or Herbie Goes Bananas. I wanted the dark stuff.

Guillermo Del Toro has perhaps accomplished something rare and divine by making a kid's movie for adults with his universally acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth. This Spanish language film devotes equal time to both fascist Spain during war time and a mythical underworld where Ofelia, our child protaginist, spends her daydreaming time to escape from her brutal stepfather and the war going on around her.

The visuals are stunning, the creatures and fairies are at once scary but oddly endearing. Sergi Lopez, who was fantastic in Dirty, Pretty Things, is mesmerizing and terrifying as the brutal and authoritative Captian. But the real feather in the cap on this one is the storytelling. Wow. A perfect blend of history and fantasy, equal parts Diary of Anne Frank, Alice in Wonderland and the Princess Bride smothered in muted tones and espanol. Fantastic film.

posted by Scooter @ 12:54 PM