Pan's Labyrinth

I remember watching Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm. About the only positive aspect was Heath Ledger showing his acting chops as the more bookish of the two brothers. Given Ledger's looks, you'd imagine that he'd focus on hero roles, so it was refreshing to see him try something new, and gave some hope (well-founded) that there might be a special performance in Brokeback Mountain.

The rest of the film was awful, mixing stories of two tones together that didn't really make sense together. The first half resembled Scooby Doo, except the brothers were both the ghosts and the crime solvers at the same time. The second half was like Scooby Doo post mystery machine when it was merely Scooby, Shaggy, and, sigh, Scrappy, mostly getting scared with real monsters.

If Gilliam needs lessons in telling two stories together that don't seem to fit, he should observer Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth.

Interestingly enough, the fairy tales of old, circa the Brothers Grimm, were often noted for being quite grim and grisly, and only lightened up some for the post Blues Clues set.

If there's an American counterpart to del Toro, I'd imagine it would be Spielberg. As expertly as Spielberg manipulates emotion, he'd keep himself well to the PG-13 side of things. del Toro, feeling no such desire, amps up everything in this story of good vs. evil.

Ostensibly, the story is about Ofelia, whose mother owes the Captain her livelihood. She carries his male heir, but is otherwise expendible. An early scene establishes the Captain as cruel. He is fighting off "red" sympathizers (the story as set in Spain), punishing an offender, and even after a mistake, not caring about it much. You know the captain is a bad, bad man.

Ofelia, meanwhile, spins off into her own fantasy world. del Toro walks a fine line, indulging Ofelia her fantasies, but not quite claiming Ofelia is crazy or imagining things. Part of the reason is that what Ofelia does in the fantasy world leaks into the real world.

You have to hand it to special effects these days. While science fiction fans still grumble about the fake CG effects a la Star Wars (the first three episodes). But put it in a fantasy setting, and we're willing to suspend disbelief more. Fortunately, the faun ("Pan" presumably) is no demon--not exactly, anyway. You've seen movies where the devil utters evil sounding phrases. In English. American English. You imagine how scary he'd be in Indian English.

It goes to show you the power of language, and certainly, the thought of this faun speaking Spanish is amusing for a bit, before you get engrossed.

del Toro, the expert manipulator he is, knows how to amp up scenes, no more gruesome when the Captain, post slashing, does his own surgery (good skill that) and takes a swig, to realize that his effort did not produce a leak-proof solution. It's darkly humorous and painful.

The fairy tale seems too offset what would be a story almost too violent to bear, creating an odd lightness, and a strong desire, like any fairy tale, for a happy ending. Throughout, there's a battle between the cruelty of adults who live in the real world, and the magic of Ofelia's world, where, perhaps much like the real world, it's not all sugar and spice.

You can tell how masterful del Toro is in when Ofelia meets Pan the second time. In the first, while she's a bit scared of Pan, he seems trustworthy enough. But somehow, right from the get go, in the second meeting, you feel Pan is up to no good, that what he says is not what he means, and Ofelia also senses this.

The acting is superb throughout, especially Ofelia. You have to love non American directors who often find child actors that are not ultra moppet. Even Mercedes, the ostensible adult hero is not traditionally beautiful, making her actions seem reasonable.

You need a bit of a strong stomach to watch this magical tale, but if you can take it, it's a transcendent experience.