Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #161 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-05-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Inspired by the Brothers Grimm, Jorge Luis Borges, and Guillermo del Toro's own unlimited imagination, Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale for adults. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) may only be 12, but the worlds she inhabits, both above and below ground, are dark as anything del Toro has conjured. Set in rural Spain, circa 1944, Ofelia and her widowed mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil, Belle Epoque), have just moved into an abandoned mill with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergi López, With a Friend like Harry). Carmen is pregnant with his son. Other than her sickly mother and kindly housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú, Y Tu Mamá También), the dreamy Ofelia is on her own. Vidal, an exceedingly cruel man, couldn't be bothered. He has informers to torture. Ofelia soon finds that an entire universe exists below the mill. Her guide is the persuasive Faun (Doug Jones, Mimic). As her mother grows weaker, Ofelia spends more and more time in the satyr's labyrinth. He offers to help her out of her predicament if she'll complete three treacherous tasks. Ofelia is willing to try, but does this alternate reality really exist or is it all in her head? Del Toro leaves that up to the viewer to decide in a beautiful, yet brutal twin to The Devil's Backbone, which was also haunted by the ghost of Franco. Though it lacks the humour of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth represents Guillermo Del Toro at the top of his considerable game. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Synopsis
Accompanied by her parents, Ofelia moves from a large Spanish city to a more rural area in the North of the country. Faced with the upheaval of moving home, an abusive stepfather and the general unpleasantness surrounding Franco's victory in 1944, Ofelia enters an imaginary world of creatures and demons, in a bid to escape. From Guillermo del Torro, the visionary director of THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE and CRONOS comes this frightening, yet fantastical film.

Customer Reviews

Spanish fantasy
This is a superb film from director Guillermo del Toro. Set in 1944 when a last band of rebels are still holding out after the Spanish Civil war has long since finished. Ofelia is a young girl who brought by her mother to see her stepfather a Captain in the army with a sadistic streak. He is leading the fight against the rebels.

All this is interesting and mapped out from the start. However within a short space of time the film takes a huge turn into the world of fantasy. Ofelia is taken by a fairy to a fantasy world under the maze of the films title. On a simple level this is just a young girls escape from the nightmare happening around her, and if you just accept it as that you will still see a great movie.

However Toro uses the fantasy world as a chance to make a movie that works on another level. There are clear references to the holocaust in the film (piles of shoes for one) and the Captain/Stepfather is remarkably similiar to the camp commandant in Schindlers List, both because of his brutal actions, and even visually Toro has picked an actor who looks like Ralph Fiennes. This may be pure coincidence...

This isn't a film I could recommend for small children. Firstly it has some quite unpleasant violence, which in context is completly justified. Secondly some of the imagery is a little too disturbing for youngsters in my view. But at the right age (and I wouldn't like to say what age that should be) its a film for everyone.

Unlike many Hollywood films this is resolved without the need for tons of overt sentimentality, people cheering etc. Indeed I thought the ending got the balance just about right. Its a film I shall be watching again. Hopefully next time in HiDef as I imagine this would be a stunning film to see in that format.

Absolutely Amazing
Let me start by saying that this film is quite possibly one of the best films I have seen in a long time, and if you haven't watched it yet then where have you been?

From the off set we are transported into a little girls mind during WW2 Spain. With a heavily pregnant mother and an evil stepfather the girl escapes into the pages of her treasured fairy tales.

With the promise of becoming a princess and escaping her tragic life, the girl embarks on her fairy tale adventures, some of which you may remember from your own childhood.

I don't want to give too much away, as ruining this film for even one individual would be unforgivable, and of course we have all read the synopsis.

All I can say is that this is a truly touching tale, with amazing acting and sensational visuals. If you haven't already seen this film then I suggest you buy it now.

Were the asking price doubled it would still be worth every penny.

Film making at its best
This is a dark but thoroughly entertaining and gripping tale that will have you rivited. I won't spoil the ending and therefore will say no more about this other than it shows a dark and sinister side of a small conflict within the Spanish Civil war and the consequences for those involved. It is told through the eyes of a child as she experiences it as a modern fairy tale. See it and marvel at film making at its best. You will need a hanky.