Pan's Labyrinth

Infobox Film
name = Pan's Labyrinth
(El laberinto del fauno)


caption = "Pan's Labyrinth" theatrical poster
director = Guillermo del Toro
producer = Guillermo del Toro
Alfonso Cuarón
Bertha Navarro
Frida Torresblanco
Alvaro Augustin
writer = Guillermo del Toro
starring = Ivana Baquero
Doug Jones
Sergi López
Maribel Verdú
Ariadna Gil
Álex Angulo
music = Javier Navarrete
cinematography = Guillermo Navarro
editing = Bernat Vilaplana
distributor = Mexico:
Warner Bros.
United Kingdom:
Optimum Releasing
United States:
Picturehouse
released = Spain:
October 11, 2006
Mexico:
October 20, 2006
United Kingdom:
November 24, 2006
United States:
December 29, 2006
runtime = Theatrical Cut:
112 min.
UK Theatrical Cut:
119 min.
country = MEX
ESP
language = Spanish
budget = $19 million [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=panslabyrinth.htm Pan's Labyrinth (2006)] , Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.]
website = http://www.panslabyrinth.com
gross = $83 million [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=panslabyrinth.htm Pan's Labyrinth (2006)] , Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.]
amg_id = 1:326961
imdb_id = 0457430

"Pan's Labyrinth" (Spanish: "El laberinto del fauno", literally "The Labyrinth of the Faun") is a 2006 Spanish language fantasy filmcite news |last=Shafer|first=Craig |url=http://www.newtimesslo.com/index.php?p=showarticle&id=2232 | title=Amazing journey: Fantasy both frightening and beautiful lurks in this award-winning labyrinth | publisher=New Times SLO | date=2007-01-18 | accessdate=2007-01-24 ] cite news |url= http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw14471.html |title=Guillermo del Toro and Ivana Baquero escape from a civil war into the fairytale land of "Pan's Labyrinth" |accessdate=2007-01-27| date=2006-12-25 |publisher=Science Fiction Weekly| last=Spelling|first=Ian] written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films.

"Pan's Labyrinth" takes place in Spain in May and June, 1944, after the Spanish Civil War, during the Franquist repression. Also present is the main character Ofelia's fantasy world which centers around an overgrown abandoned labyrinth. Ofelia's stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, viciously hunts the Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fight against the Franco regime in the region, while Ofelia's pregnant mother grows increasingly ill. Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become central to her story, leading her through the trials of the old labyrinth garden. The film employs make-up, puppetry, and CGI effects to create its creatures.

Del Toro stated that he considers the story to be a parable, influenced by fairy tales, and that it addresses and continues themes related to his earlier film "The Devil's Backbone", to which "Pan's Labyrinth" is a spiritual sequelFact|date=September 2008. The original Spanish title refers to the mythological fauns of Greek mythology, while the English title refers specifically to the faun-like Greek character Pan (intended to help English-speakers differentiate the title from the term fawn). However, del Toro has stated that the faun in the film is not Pan.

The film premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. It was released in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2006. In the United States and Canada, the film was given a limited release on December 29, 2006, with a wide release on January 19, 2007.cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=panslabyrinth.htm|title=Pan's Labyrinth (2006)|accessdate=2007-02-12 |publisher=Box Office Mojo] "Pan's Labyrinth" has won numerous international awards, including three Academy Awards, the Ariel Award for Best Picture, and the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form.

Plot

The movie opens with a fairy tale. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl who loves to read, lies on the ground, bleeding, while the narration explains that Princess Moanna of the Underground Realm, curious about the world above, escapes to the Earth, where the sun blinds her and, forgetting her past, she weakens and dies. Nonetheless, her father retains hope that her spirit will eventually return to him.

The story then cuts to post-Civil War Spain in 1944, with Francisco Franco firmly in power. Ofelia has traveled with her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) to join Captain Vidal (Sergi López i Ayats), her new stepfather and father of Carmen's unborn child, at his post in the mountains where he is rooting out Spanish Maquis guerillas, on the North-West Spanish Region.

Ofelia discovers a stick insect that she believes to be a fairy. It follows her to the mill where Vidal is stationed. Ofelia chases it into an ancient labyrinth nearby. Ofelia meets Vidal's housekeeper, Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), who treats her kindly. Later that night, Ofelia overhears Mercedes and the local doctor conspiring to help the rebels. Upon her mother's request, Ofelia tells a surprisingly mature story to her unborn brother, a fable about pain and loss, and the promise of eternal life. After waking her in the middle of the night, the insect appears in Ofelia's bedroom where it changes into a fairy and leads her outside and through the labyrinth. There, she meets a faun (Doug Jones), who says that he believes her to be Princess Moanna. He gives her three tasks to complete before the full moon to ensure that her "essence is intact" so that she can return to her father's realm.

Ofelia completes the first task of retrieving a key from the belly of a giant toad that lives deep beneath the roots of a fig tree. Ofelia is becoming more worried about her mother, who has been ordered to stay in bed as her condition has worsened. The faun tells Ofelia of a magic way to restore her mother to health : Placing a mandrake root in a bowl of fresh milk underneath her bed. Meanwhile, her stepfather is proving to be a brutish, violently cruel man. Ofelia then undertakes the second task of using the key to retrieve an ornate dagger from the lair of the Pale Man (also played by Jones), a grotesque, child-eating monster who sits absolutely silent and motionless in front of a large feast. Although she was gravely warned not to consume anything, she eats two grapes, awakening the Pale Man, who eats two of her fairy friends and pursues her. She narrowly escapes by drawing an escape door with a piece of chalk. However, infuriated at her disobedience for having eaten the grapes and causing the fairies' death, the faun refuses to give her the third task.

Events in the real world take an even grimmer turn as Vidal captures and brutally interrogates a rebel. The doctor who has been staying with them to help Carmen is ordered to tend the wounds of the tortured rebel, so that he can be interrogated further. Instead, at the rebel's request, the doctor kills him to end his ordeal. Vidal kills the doctor for his disobedience and betrayal, angered by the doctor's statement that only a man such as Vidal could practice such blind, unthinking obedience with no concern for the consequences. Just as the doctor dies, Carmen goes into labor and starts hemorrhaging. She dies in childbirth, but delivers a healthy son—Vidal had said that if only one could be saved, that it should be his son. Vidal discovers that Mercedes is a spy, and he captures her and Ofelia as they attempt to escape. Ofelia is locked in her bedroom, and Mercedes is taken to be tortured; however, she frees herself using a hidden knife with which she stabs and slices Vidal, but not fatally. She then flees but is caught. At the last moment, the rebels arrive and rescue her.

The faun returns to Ofelia and gives her one more chance to prove herself. He tells her to take her baby brother into the labyrinth. She then uses the magic chalk to escape her room and sneak into Vidal's room. She drugs Vidal and grabs her brother; although disoriented, Vidal chases her through the labyrinth while the rebels attack the mill and Mercedes searches for her. Upon reaching the center, the faun tells Ofelia that the portal to the underworld will open only with the blood of an innocent, so he needs a drop of her brother's blood. Ofelia, unsure of his intentions, refuses to allow her brother to be harmed. The faun grudgingly agrees and vanishes. Vidal finds her, takes the baby and shoots Ofelia in the stomach. She falls to the ground, bleeding.

When Vidal leaves the labyrinth, the rebels and Mercedes are waiting for him. Realizing that he will die, he calmly hands Mercedes the baby, and starts to make a request that they tell his son about his heroic father, but Mercedes informs him that his son "will never even know his name." Pedro, one of the rebels and Mercedes' brother, shoots Vidal in the face, killing him.

Mercedes and the rebels enter the labyrinth to find Ofelia dying, in a reprise of the opening scene. While Ofelia's blood drips onto the altar that was the gateway into the underworld, the scene flashes to a dream-like state: Ofelia is reunited with the king (Federico Luppi) (her deceased father, resurrected) and queen (her mother, alive again) of the underworld. The faun is there, as are the fairies. Ofelia learns that by sacrificing herself, instead of her brother, she has succeeded at the true final task, proving herself to be the Princess Moanna and achieving immortality. The moment Ofelia learns she is the Princess in the underworld, she smiles; at that same instant, in the real world, she dies. The scene is ambiguous however; it is unclear from the inter-cut perspectives whether she has actually died, as it seems in the world on the surface, or if she has taken her place as the princess of the underworld. [cite news |url=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/carrie_rickey/20070112_inq_weekend_CRKPAN.html |author=Carrie Rickey |title=A magical tale of fantasy as an escape from evil |publisher=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=Fri, January 12, 2007] [cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/movies/29laby.html?_r=1&ex=1168491600&en=a4a7b437ab5e3751&ei=5070&oref=slogin |author=A.O. SCOTT |title=In Gloom of War, a Child's Paradise |publisher=New York Times |date=December 29, 2006] The final scene shows a small white flower blooming on a dead tree next to where the giant toad lived.

Due to confusion over the film's ambiguity, in an interview, del Toro clarified that, in his own view, the fantasy world isn't only Ofelia's imagination; the Underground Realm does exist, and in the end, Ofelia does actually escape to the fantasy world (where she would be more happy to live in than the real world). [ [http://twitchfilm.net/archives/008507.html PAN'S LABYRINTH—Interview With Guillermo Del Toro] , December 16, 2006, Twitch Film]

Cast

*Ivana Baquero as Ofelia: Del Toro says he was "scared shitless" in casting the right actress for the lead role, and that finding the 10-year-old Spanish actress was purely accidental. (The film was shot from June to October 2005, when she was 11). "The character I wrote was initially younger, about 8 or 9, and Ivana came in and she was a little older than the character, with this curly hair which I never imagined the girl having. But I loved her first reading, my wife was crying and the camera woman was crying after her reading and I knew hands down Ivana was the best actress that had shown up, yet I knew that I needed to change the screenplay to accommodate her age."cite news |url= http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/deltoro.php |title=Exclusive Interview: Guillermo del Toro "Pan's Labyrinth" |accessdate=2007-01-28|date=2006-09-26 |publisher=Dark Horizons |last=Fischer|first=Paul] Baquero says that del Toro sent her lots of comics and fairy tales to help her "get more into the atmosphere of Ofelia and more into what she felt". She says she thought the film was "marvelous", and that "at the same time it can bring you pain and sadness and scariness and happiness."

*Sergi López i Ayats as Captain Vidal: Del Toro met with López in Barcelona, a year and a half before filming began, to ask him to play Vidal. In Spain, López was considered a melodramatic or comedic actor, and the producers told Del Toro "You should be very careful because you don't know about these things because you're Mexican, but this guy is not going to be able to deliver the performance"; del Toro replied "Well, it's not that I don't know, it's that I don't care."cite news |url=http://www.oscarwatch.com/2007/01/pans_labyrinth_a_story_that.html |title=Pan's Labyrinth: A Story that Needed Guillermo Del Toro |accessdate=2007-01-27 |date=2007-01-11|publisher=oscarwatch.com| last=Stone|first=Sasha] Of his character, López said he is "the most evil character I've ever played in my career. It is impossible to improve upon it; the character is so solid and so well written. Vidal is deranged, a psychopath who is impossible to defend. Even though his father's personality marked his existence — and is certainly one of the reasons for his mental disorder — that cannot be an excuse. It would seem to be very cynical to use that to justify or explain his cruel and cowardly acts. I think it is great that the film does not consider any justification of fascism."cite news|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0530365/bio|title=Sergi López's biography|accessdate=2007-07-25 |date=2007-07-25|publisher=oscarwatch.com| last=Stone|first=Sasha]

*Doug Jones as The Faun and The Pale Man: Jones had worked with del Toro before on "Mimic" and "Hellboy", and says the director sent him an email saying, "You must be in this film. No one else can play this part but you." Jones read an English translation of the script and was enthusiastic but then found out the film was in Spanish, which he did not speak. Jones says he was "terrified" and del Toro suggested learning the script phonetically, or dubbing his lines with a voice-over actor, but Jones rejected both ideas preferring to learn the words himself. He said, "I really, really buckled down and committed myself to learning that word for word and I got the pronunciation semi-right before I even went in," using the five hours a day he spent getting the costume and make-up on to practice the words. [cite news |url=http://www.canmag.com/news/4/3/6216|title=Doug Jones En Espanol |accessdate=2007-01-27 |date=2006-12-27 |publisher=CanMag |last=Topel |first=Fred] Del Toro decided afterwards that he still preferred to dub Jones with the voice of "an authoritative theatre actor," but Jones's efforts remained valuable because the voice actor was able to easily match his delivery with Jones's mouth movements. [cite news |url=http://www.straight.com/node/63731 |title=Labyrinth’s faun unmasked |accessdate=2007-01-28 |date=2007-01-11 |publisher=straight.com |last=Eisner |first=Ken]

*Maribel Verdú as Mercedes: Like López, Verdú was cast against type; usually playing a sex goddess, del Toro selected her to play the compassionate revolutionary because he "saw a sadness in her ... he thought would be perfect for the part".
*Ariadna Gil as Carmen: Ofelia's mother and Vidal's wife.
*Alex Angulo as Doctor Ferreiro: A doctor in the service of Vidal who is anti-fascist.
*Manolo Solo as Garces: One of Vidal's lieutenants.
*César Vea as Serrano: One of Vidal's lieutenants.
*Roger Casamajor as Pedro: Mercedes' brother, who is one of the rebels.

Production

Influences

The idea for "Pan's Labyrinth" came from Guillermo del Toro's notebooks, which he says are filled with "doodles, ideas, drawings and plot bits." He had been keeping these notebooks for twenty years. [cite news|url= http://www.premiere.com/features/3364/del-toros-pans-labyrinth-sketches.html |accessdate=2007-07-20|date=|title=Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth Sketches| publisher=Premiere.com] At one point during production, he left the notebook in a taxi in London and was distraught, but the cabbie returned it to him two days later. [cite news|url= http://www.mrnewsmx.com/fullStory.php?nid=25996 |accessdate=2007-07-20|date=2006-11-06|title=Almost a horror story|publisher=Los Angeles Times|last=Horn|first=John] Though he originally wrote a story about a pregnant woman who falls in love with a faun, [cite news|url= http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=film&article=288 |accessdate=2007-07-20 |title=The world of the labyrinth|publisher=Bay Area Reporter|date=2007-01-04| last=Lamble|first=David] Sergi López said that del Toro described the final version of the plot a year and a half before filming. Lopez said that "for two hours and a half he explained to me all the movie, but with all the details, it was incredible, and when he finished I said, 'You have a script?' He said, 'No, nothing is written.'" López agreed to act in the movie and received the script one year later; he's said that "it was exactly the same, it was incredible. In his little head he had all the history with a lot of little detail, a lot of characters, like now when you look at the movie, it was exactly what he had in his head." [cite news |url= http://www.canmag.com/nw/6255-sergi-lopez-pans-labyrinth-interview |title=Sergi Lopez on "Pan's Labyrinth" |accessdate=2007-01-27 |date=2007-01-02|publisher=CanMag| last=Topel |first=Fred]

Del Toro got the idea of Pan from childhood experiences with "lucid dreaming." He stated on "The Charlie Rose Show" that every midnight, he would wake up, and a faun would gradually step out from behind the grandfather's clock ["Pan's Labyrinth" DVD, U.S.] . Originally, Pan was supposed to be a classic half-man, half-goat faun fraught with beauty. But in the end, Pan was altered into a goat-faced creature almost completely made out of earth, moss, vines, and tree bark. He became a mysterious, semi-suspicious relic who gave both the impression of trustworthiness and many signs that warn someone to never confide in him at all.

Del Toro has said the film has strong connections in theme to "The Devil's Backbone" and should be seen as an informal sequel dealing with some of the issues raised there. Some of the other works he drew on for inspiration include Lewis Carroll's "Alice" books, Jorge Luis Borges' "Ficciones", Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" and "The White People", Lord Dunsany's "The Blessing of Pan", Algernon Blackwood's "Pan's Garden" and Francisco Goya's works. In 2004, del Toro said: "Pan is an original story. Some of my favorite writers (Borges, Blackwood, Machen, Dunsany) have explored the figure of the god Pan and the symbol of the labyrinth. These are things that I find very compelling and I am trying to mix them and play with them." [ [http://www.deltorofilms.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=28#28 Del Toro message board, Answers Archive Wed Nov 24, 2004 1:27 am] , repost from elsewhere; Retrieved on 2007-08-20.] It was also influenced by the illustrations of Arthur Rackham.cite news|url= http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1949245,00.html |title=Pan's people|date=2006-11-17|accessdate=2007-07-09|publisher="The Guardian"]

There are differing ideas about the film's religious influences. Del Toro himself has said that he considers "Pan's Labyrinth" "a truly profane film, a layman's riff on Catholic dogma", but that his friend Alejandro González Iñárritu described it as "a truly Catholic film". Del Toro's explanation is "once a Catholic, always a Catholic".

Guillermo Navarro, the director of photography, said that "after doing work in Hollywood on other movies and with other directors, working in our original language in different scenery brings me back to the original reasons I wanted to make movies, which is basically to tell stories with complete freedom and to let the visuals really contribute to the telling of the story." [cite news|url= http://www.ascmag.com/magazine_dynamic/January2007/PansLabyrinth/page1.php |title=Fear and Fantasy|accessdate=2007-06-17|date=January 2007|publisher=American Cinematographer]

Effects

"Pan's Labyrinth" employs some computer generated imagery in its effects, but also uses complex make-up and puppetry. The giant toad was inspired by "The Maze". Del Toro himself performed the noises. The mandrake root is a combination of puppetry and CGI. Del Toro wanted the fairies "to look like little monkeys, like dirty fairies," but the animation company had the idea to give them wings made of leaves.cite web|url= http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-01-02-pans-labyrinth-main_x.htm |accessdate=2007-07-20|date=2007-03-14|title=Surprises lurk inside "Pan's Labyrinth"| publisher=USA Today|last=Wloszczyna|first=Susan]

Jones spent five hours putting on make-up for the faun, which was mostly latex foam. He operated the faun's legs, while his own were digitally erased. Puppeteers helped to operate his face. Del Toro told Jones to "go rock star... like a glam rocker. But less David Bowie, more Mick Jagger." Del Toro also had the faun grow younger as the movie progressed.
Jones said that he had to look out of the Pale Man's nostrils. The Pale Man's legs were attached to the front of his over a green leotard. [cite news|url= http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=interviews&id=8772 |accessdate=2007-07-20|title=INTERVIEW: DOUG JONES (PAN'S LABYRINTH)|date=2007-02-18|last=Fischer|first=Russ]

ubtitles

The film uses subtitles for its translation into other languages, including English. Del Toro wrote them himself, because he was disappointed with the subtitles of his previous Spanish film, "The Devil's Backbone". In an interview, he said that they were "for the thinking impaired" and "incredibly bad." He spent a month working with two other people, and said that he didn't want it to "feel like... watching a subtitled film." [" [http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/labyrinth%20director%20wrote%20his%20own%20subtitles_1021894 Guillermo Del Toro - Labyrinth Director Wrote His Own Subtitles] ", contactmusic.com, 2007-02-13. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.]

Distribution

"Pan's Labyrinth" was first released at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on May 27, 2006. Its first premiere in an English-speaking country was at the London FrightFest Film Festival on August 25, 2006.cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/releaseinfo|title=El laberinto del fauno - Release Dates] at IMDb|accessdate=2007-08-22|publisher=IMDb] Its first general release was in Spain on October 11, 2006, followed by a release in Mexico nine days later. On November 24, 2006 it had its first general English release in the United Kingdom; that month it was also released in France, Serbia, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Singapore and South Korea. It had a limited release in Canada and the United States on December 29, 2006, in Australia on January 18, 2007, in Taiwan on April 27, 2007, in Slovenia on May 17, 2007 and in Japan on September 29, 2007. Its widest release in the United States was in 1,143 theatres.

The film was released on DVD on March 12, 2007 in the UK by Optimum Releasing in a two-disc special edition. The film was released in the US on May 15, 2007 from New Line Home Entertainment in both single-disc and double-disc special edition versions, featuring an additional DTS-ES audio track not present on the UK version. Additionally, the film received a special limited edition release in South Korea and Germany. Only 20,000 copies of this edition were manufactured. It is presented in a digipak designed to look like the "Book of Crossroads". The Korean edition contains two DVDs along with an art book and replica of Ofelia's key. The German special limited edition contains three DVDs and a book containing the movie's storyboard. "Pan's Labyrinth" was released for download on June 22, 2007 from Channel 4's on-demand service, 4oD.

High definition versions of "Pan's Labyrinth" were released in December 2007 on both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats. New Line has stated that due to their announcement of supporting Blu-ray exclusively, thus dropping HD DVD support with immediate effect, "Pan's Labyrinth" will be the first and last HD DVD release for the studio, and would be discontinued after current stock is depleted. [" [http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/New_Line/Industry_Trends/New_Line_Details_Transition_to_Blu-ray/1351 New Line Details Transition to Blu-ray] ", highdefdigest.com, 2008-01-08. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.] Both versions had a PiP commentary while web extras were exclusive to the HD DVD version . [cite news |title=High-Def Digest Blu-ray review of Pan's Labyrinth|date=2007-12-26|url=http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/panslabyrinth.html|accessdate=2008-04-23] [cite news |title=High-Def Digest HD DVD review of Pan's Labyrinth|date=2007-12-26|url=http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/panslabyrinth.html|accessdate=2008-04-23] The audio for both versions were presented in DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio track in , which was a first for New Line Home Entertainment.cite news |last= |first= |title=New Line Brings 'Pan's Labyrinth' to Blu-ray, HD DVD |work= |publisher="High Def Digest" |date=2007-10-04|url=http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/New_Line/Disc_Annoucements/New_Line_Brings_Pans_Labyrinth_to_Blu-ray,_HD_DVD/1039 |accessdate=2007-10-08]

Reception

The film has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes,cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pans_labyrinth/ |title=Pan's Labyrinth |accessdate=2007-01-24 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes] and a 100 percent rating among the "Cream of the Crop" critics. It received a 98% rating at Metacritic, [cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/panslabyrinth |title=Pan's Labyrinth (2006)|accessdate=2007-01-24|publisher=Metacritic] making it Metacritic's fourth highest rated movie of all time. [cite web |url= http://www.metacritic.com/film/highscores.shtml |title=Best-Reviewed Movies|accessdate=2008-02-04|publisher=Metacritic] At its Cannes Film Festival release, it received a standing ovation.cite news |last=Rodriguez |first=Rene |title=Director keeps Hollywood out of "Pan's Labyrinth" |work=The Seattle Times |publisher="Miami Herald" |date=2007-01-16|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2003522640_deltoro16.html |accessdate=2007-07-25] It also received a standing ovation at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, [cite web|url= http://www.firstshowing.net/2006/09/11/pans-labyrinth-receives-standing-ovation-at-toronto-film-fest |title=Pan's Labyrinth Receives Standing Ovation at Toronto Film Fest| publisher=FirstShowing.Net| accessdate=2007-08-20|date=2006-09-11] its first release in the Americas.

Mark Kermode, in "The Observer", labeled "Pan's Labyrinth" as the best film of 2006, describing it as "an epic, poetic vision in which the grim realities of war are matched and mirrored by a descent into an underworld populated by fearsomely beautiful monsters." [cite news |url= http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1939681,00.html|title=Pain should not be sought - but it should never be avoided|accessdate=2007-01-25|date=2006-09-05|publisher=The Observer|last=Kermode|first=Mark|authorlink=Mark Kermode] Stephanie Zacharek wrote that the film "works on so many levels that it seems to change shape even as you watch it," [cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2006/10/13/pans_labyrinth/ |title=Pan's Labyrinth |accessdate=2007-01-25|date=2007-10-13|publisher=Salon.com| last=Zacharek|first=Stephanie] and Jim Emerson called the film "a fairy tale of such potency and awesome beauty that it reconnects the adult imagination to the primal thrill and horror of the stories that held us spellbound as children." [cite news |url= http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/REVIEWS/61228001/1023 |title=Pan's Labyrinth |accessdate=2007-01-25|date=2006-12-29|publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |last=Emerson|first=Jim] Roger Ebert reviewed the film after his surgery and it was put on his Great Movies series on August 27, 2007 [cite news|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/REVIEWS08/70825002/1023|title=Pan's Labyrinth |accessdate=2007-08-27|date=2007-09-27 |publisher=The Chicago Sun Times |last=Ebert|first=Roger] and when he did his belated top ten films of 2006 Pan's Labyrinth was #1 with him stating "But even in a good year I'm unable to see everything. And I'm still not finished with my 2006 discoveries. I'm still looking at more 2007 movies, too, and that list will run as usual in late December. Nothing I am likely to see, however, is likely to change my conviction that the year's best film was 'Pan's Labyrinth.'" [cite news|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071122/COMMENTARY/71123002|title=The Best Movies of 2006 |accessdate=2007-11-23|date=2007-11-23 |work=The Chicago Sun Times |last=Ebert|first=Roger] "The New Yorker"'s Anthony Lane took special note of the film's sound design, saying it "discards any hint of the ethereal by turning up the volume on small, supercharged noises: the creak of the Captain's leather gloves... the nighttime complaints of floorboard and rafter...." [cite news|accessdate=2007-02-18|work=The New Yorker|date=2007-01-08 |last=Lane|first=Anthony|title=The Current Cinema] Some reviewers had criticisms, however: for "The San Diego Union-Tribune", David Elliott said "the excitement is tangible," but added that "what it lacks is successful unity... Del Toro has the art of many parts, but only makes them cohere as a sort of fevered extravaganza." [cite news |url= http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070111/news_lz1c11pan.html |title=Artist in charge |accessdate=2007-01-25|date=2007-01-11 |work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |last=Elliott|first=David]

During its limited first three weeks at the United States box office, the film made $5.4 million. As of March 1, 2007, it has grossed over $37 million in North America, and grossed $80 million worldwide. In Spain, it grossed almost $12 million, and it is the fourth highest domestically grossing foreign film in the United States. In the United States, it has generated $55 million from its DVD Sales and Rentals. [http://www.the-numbers.com/dvd/charts/annual/2007.php]

Awards

*Academy Awards
**Best Art Direction
**Best Cinematography
**Best Foreign Language Film
**Best Makeup
**Best Original Score
**Best Original Screenplay

It has also earned BAFTA awards for Best Film Not in English, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hair. [cite web |url=http://www.bafta.org/site/page287.html|title=Latest winners & Nominees| accessdate=2007-05-23| publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts] At the Goya Awards, the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards, the film won in many categories including Best Cinematography, Editing, Make Up & Hairstyles, New Actress for Ivana Baquero, Original Screenplay, Sound and Special Effects. At Mexico's Ariel Awards, the movie won in 8 categories, including Best Movie and Best Director. The film won the top award at the 2007 edition of Fantasporto. At the 2007 Saturn Awards, it received accolades for Best International Film and Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Ivana Baquero. [cite news | author = David S. Cohen | title = 'Superman' tops Saturns | publisher = Variety|date=2007-05-10|url=http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117964717.html |accessdate=2007-08-20] The film also won "Best Film" at the 2007 Spacey Awards, [cite news|url=http://www.spacecast.com/microsites/spaceys07/SpaceChoice/#movie |accessdate=2007-07-20| title=Spaceys 06; Space Choice| publisher=SpaceCast] and "Best Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series of 2006" at the 2007 Constellation Awards. [cite web|url= http://constellations.tcon.ca/|title=The Constellation Awards - A Canadian Award for Excellency in Science Fiction Film and Television| accessdate=2007-07-12] It also won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form in 2007. [cite web
url = http://www.thehugoawards.org/index.php?page_id=127
title = 2007 Hugo Awards
publisher = World Science Fiction Society
date = 2007-09-01
accessdate =2007-09-01]

The film was also nominated for a number of other awards such as Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes [cite web |url=http://www.hfpa.org/nominations/index.html|title=Golden Globe Nominations and Winners|accessdate=2007-05-23|publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association] in 2007.

Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2006/toptens.shtml |title=Metacritic: 2006 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |accessdate=2008-01-08 |publisher=Metacritic]

*1st - Mark Kermode, The Observer
*1st - Andrew O'Hehir, "Salon"
*1st - Roger Ebert, "Chicago Sun-Times"
*1st - Lou Lumenick, "New York Post"
*1st - Marjorie Baumgarten, "The Austin Chronicle"
*1st - Richard Corliss, "TIME" magazine
*1st - Shawn Levy, "The Oregonian"
*1st - Staff, "Film Threat"
*2nd - "Empire"
*2nd - A.O. Scott, "The New York Times"
*2nd - Ann Hornaday, "The Washington Post"
*2nd - Jack Mathews, "New York Daily News"
*2nd - Marc Savlov, "The Austin Chronicle"
*2nd - Peter Hartlaub, "San Francisco Chronicle"
*2nd - Stephen Holden, "The New York Times"
*3rd - Keith Phipps, "The A.V. Club"
*3rd - Lawrence Toppman, "The Charlotte Observer"
*3rd - Lisa Schwarzbaum, "Entertainment Weekly"
*3rd - Ray Bennett, "The Hollywood Reporter"
*3rd - Rene Rodriguez, "The Miami Herald"
*3rd - Richard James Havis, "The Hollywood Reporter"
*4th - Stephanie Zacharek, "Salon"
*5th - Michael Wilmington, "Chicago Tribune"
*6th - Glenn Kenny, "Premiere"
*6th - Noel Murray, "The A.V. Club"
*7th - Claudia Puig, "USA Today"
*8th - Kenneth Turan, "Los Angeles Times" (tied with "Children of Men")
*9th - Kevin Crust, "Los Angeles Times" (tied with "Babel")
*9th - Kirk Honeycutt, "The Hollywood Reporter"
*10th - Ty Burr, "The Boston Globe"General top ten
*Dana Stevens, "Slate"
*Joe Morgenstern, "The Wall Street Journal"
*Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, "The Globe and Mail"
*Ruthe Stein, "San Francisco Chronicle"
*Steven Rea, "The Philadelphia Inquirer"

Comparisons to other films

In 2007, del Toro noted the striking similarities between his film and Disney's "The Chronicles of Narnia": both films are set around the same time, have similar child-age principal characters, mythic creatures (particularly the fauns), and themes of "disobedience and choice." Says del Toro: "This is my version of that universe, not only 'Narnia,' but that universe of children's literature."cite news|url=http://www.starbeacon.com/heat/local_story_363121523|title=Del Toro crafts a harrowing fairy tale|accessdate=2007-03-28|date=2006-12-29 |publisher=Star Beacon] In fact, del Toro was asked to direct "" but turned it down for "Pan's Labyrinth."

In addition to "Narnia", "Pan's Labyrinth" has also been compared to films such as Gabor Csupo's "Bridge to Terabithia" and Jim Henson's "Labyrinth". [cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com/film/83674.html |title=Pan's Labyrinth Film Review - Time Out Film |accessdate=2007-01-24] [cite web |url=http://www.canmag.com/nw/6778-bridge-terabithia-review | title=Bridge to Terabithia a Pan's Labyrinth for Kids |accessdate=2007-02-23] Del Toro himself has noted similarities with "The Spirit of the Beehive".cite web|url= http://www.thephoenix.com/OutsideTheFrame/PermaLink.aspx?guid=8ae649e6-a17f-478b-993a-a6f0f791a936 |title=Outside The Frame: Guillermo Del Toro Interview Part 1 |accessdate=2007-01-28 |date=2007-01-11 |publisher=ThePhoenix.com]

oundtrack

Infobox Album
Name = Pan's Labyrinth
Type = Film score
Artist = Javier Navarrete


Released = December 19, 2006
Recorded =
Genre = Film soundtrack
Length =
Label = Milan Entertainment
Producer = Emmanuel Chamboredon Ian P. Hierons
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5du06j7b7180 link]

The score for "Pan's Labyrinth", composed by Javier Navarrete, was released on December 19, 2006.cite web|url= http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5du06j7b7180 |title=Pan's Labyrinth soundtrack overview |accessdate=2007-02-04 |date= |publisher=Allmusic.com] Navarette and the score were nominated for an Academy Award.cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/nomswins.html|title=79th Annual Academy Awards Nominees and Winners|accessdate=2007-05-23|publisher=Academy Awards] It was entirely structured around a lullaby, and del Toro had the entire score included on the soundtrack, even though much of it had been cut during production. The art used for the soundtrack cover was the unutilized Drew Struzan promotional poster for the film.

Track listing

#"Long, Long Time Ago (Hace mucho, mucho tiempo)" – 2:14
#"The Labyrinth (El laberinto)" – 4:07
#"Rose, Dragon (La rosa y el dragón)" – 3:36
#"The Fairy and the Labyrinth (El hada y el laberinto)" – 3:36
#"Three Trials (Las tres pruebas)" – 2:06
#"The Moribund Tree and the Toad (El arbol que muere y el sapo)" – 7:12
#"Guerilleros (Guerrilleros)" – 2:06
#"A Book of Blood (El libro de sangre)" – 3:47
#"Mercedes Lullaby (Nana de Mercedes)" – 1:39
#"The Refuge (El refugio)" – 1:32
#"Not Human (El que no es humano)" – 5:55
#"The River (El río)" – 2:50
#"A Tale (Un cuento)" – 1:55
#"Deep Forest (Bosque profundo)" – 5:48
#"Waltz of the Mandrake (Vals de la mandrágora)" – 3:42
#"The Funeral (El funeral)" – 2:45
#"Mercedes (Mercedes)" – 5:37
#"Pan and the Full Moon (La luna llena y el fauno)" – 5:08
#"Ofelia (Ofelia)" – 2:19
#"A Princess (Una princesa)" – 4:03
#"Pan's Labyrinth Lullaby (Nana del laberinto del fauno)" – 1:47

References

External links

* [http://www.panslabyrinth.com Official site]
*rotten-tomatoes|id=pans_labyrinth|title=Pan's Labyrinth
*imdb title|id=0457430|title=Pan's Labyrinth
*mojo title|id=panslabyrinth
* [http://www.myspace.com/panslabyrinth Official Pan's Labyrinth] MySpace

succession box
title=BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language
years=2006
before="The Beat that My Heart Skipped"
after="The Lives of Others"