Pan's Labyrinth

For all you folks who shy away from foreign films because reading dialogue is just soooo tedious, this is one of those times you need to suck it up. This little gem won 3 Oscars for a REASON. Besides being visually stunning in a so-not industrial light and magic sort of way, this is a story that requires some intellectual soul searching. Try to remember you are watching a film made for another culture - and all those lovely countries south of our border - where the magical and the spiritual constantly invade our mortal world.

Director and writer Guillermo Del Toro takes us back to the Spanish civil war, where we meet our heroine Ofelia - brilliantly portrayed by 12 year old Ivana Baquero. Ofelia is living the nightmare of war, shipped off with her pregnant mother to where her stepfather is busy quelling the last of the rebellion. The Captain is a classic bogeyman, oozing menace ... so it's little wonder that Ofelia is not at all put out by creepy bugs that become only slightly less creepy fairies who lead her into things that just get creepier... so is Ofelia's labyrinth real or only a projection of the evils of wartime from a child's mind? Anyway you look at it, it's worth the trip - the effects are great, there's a ton of violence for the boys, but in the end all fairy tales have a happy ending.... or do they?

Official selection from Mexico, Pan's Labyrinth was nominated for Best Foreign Film, and won Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Makeup against all our domestic stuff. See the official website HERE.