Dying.... DYING!... to see this film.

Anyone going to catch it?

http://www.panslabyrinth.com/

Edited to say: enter the site, go under video and click trailer... viewing options there let you see it larger screen, too. AWESOME!!!

ooh ooh! me too. i'm not anywhere near an appropriate theater though. i'll wait for dvd i imagine.

-jm

It might come here. If I remember right, I saw a trailer of it when I saw Borat.

Looks absolutely luscious!

Cher

Wow....... I'd LOVE to see this. Not playing in my area at the moment.

edit to say...

Now playing in:
New York, LA, Chicago, San Francisco

Coming Jan. 12th to:
Boston, Philly, DC, Seattle and "more".

"more" better be here!
~margarita

Was perusing the "commentary and notebook" section of the site last night. Looks like it is a very dark story (or something). Definitely what they mean by "a fantasy or fairy tale for adults". Looks like some amazing film-making to be sure.

If anyone manages to see this, please post a review to let folks know what you thought of it. I was really interested in this film to start out with, but I learned it is extremely graphic so, now, I am unsure as to whether I will end up seeing it, or not.

January 19th for me! Woot!


Coming soon to the following cities:

January 12:
Austin TX
Boston
Dallas / Ft. Worth
Houston
Miami / Ft. Lauderdale
Philadelphia
Sacramento
San Diego
Seattle
Washington DC

January 19:
Albany
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Baltimore
Buffalo
Burlington, VT
Charlotte
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Denver
Detroit
Gainesville
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Knoxville
Las Vegas
Memphis
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Monterey
Nashville
Oklahoma City
Orlando / Daytona
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Portland, OR
Providence
Rochester
San Antonio
San Francisco
Santa Fe
Sarasota
Springfield, MA
St. Louis
State College, PA
Syracuse
Tallahassee
Tampa / St. Petersburg
Tucson

January 26:
Even more cities... check back for details!

AWESOME!!

It might even make it to Evansville!

Cher

Peeps, if you have an opportunity at all, I advise you to see this movie. You will not be disappointed. This movie is both visually and emotionally arresting, and one of the best I've seen in recent memory.

Regarding the violence, I won't lie. It is violent--and I am not usually phased by movie violence. As far as sheer volume of blood and guts, it's nothing more than what you'd see in your average shoot-'em-up action flick. But the violence is more disturbing that most of what you see on the big screen...but in a way that is vital to the story, not in a gratuitious way.

I really would hate for anyone to skip the movie because of this, but honesty does not permit me to downplay this aspect.

Tickets = purchased. Movie = 4:40 pm tomorrow. Troy = stoked.

I saw it. I think I loved it... but this is one of those films that has to sink in before I can say for certain.

I will say: daring, and different. And I never took my eyes off the screen.

I just got back from seeing this tonight.

Pan's Labyrinth was probably one of the best films I will see in 2007. I cannot believe how breathtaking this was and I became completely transported to another place and time throughout the film. I was riveted from start to finish. It is a dark tale and set in Spain during 1944. I was hardly aware of the sub-titles I was so involved in the plot. What I loved about it was similiar to what is special about Narnia...there is another "other" world created within a realistic one. My cousin parelleled this to Narnia as it took place historically around the same time only with a much darker coloring to the story.

This movie is not for the faint of heart. It is for people with deep hearts that can handle some violence. A goth fairy tale (as the movie site calls it), is quite accurate. There is a feeling throughout the film that is very gothic. I also categorize it as magical realism, but I could be off on that. There are a couple of themes throughout the movie that bring depth and drive the movie's plot. These themes will make great discussion topics.

I look forward to discussing it further after more of the Orchard has seen it.

I had to glance away from the screen a couple of times!

OK. So, yes... I loved it.

It is a hard tale, to be sure. But del Toro does such a wonderful job of intertwining fantasy with reality that you don't know which is which, or where to expect which to pop up. At any moment you expect the two worlds to converge (trying to avoid spoilers here) and you're constantly left guessing as to whether they have already, or are simply the same thing anyway. But don't misunderstand, if you haven't seen it yet... the "other" world in the Labyrinth is not safe and lovely; it is as wrought with peril as the 'real' world, and you don't know who is to be trusted and whose motives are sincere. Both the daily life of Spain in this story, and the world through so many secret doors and bizarre ritual, are places with dire circumstance and dire stakes. Yet somehow, the story is written and played so that in each of the settings you see beauty and majesty -- often planted right in the middle of horrific acts and ghastly images -- that literally had people in the audeince, when I saw it, speaking aloud with gasps of shock traded later for "wows" and "cools" spoken aloud.

Not sure what else I can say, except that you probably have to see it to know whether it's for you. For me, this is the rare movie that sets out and does exactly what it intended, which takes you exactly where it wanted you to go, and which is clearly the work of someone's imagination who has thought and re-thought his story so many times before making it that it borders perfection.

10 out of 10.

Troy

On that, I'm definitely going to see it. You know how you read review that give you the nudge you need to spend money and see something? This was the nudge.
Now I just need the time.

Me too, but I have saved it for DVD on Blockbuster. I'm still not sure if it's for me, but your review intrigued me.
I am the one person who doesn't love the LOTR trilogy.

I hear you Trudes, but believe me... this is nothing (zero percent) like the LOTR, at all. Doesn't mean you'll like it of course...

Entertainment magazine gave PL an 'A'.

This review is a much better one than the one I attempted! The way you wrote this you made it seem effortless and did truly draw us into the story and cause others to be curious without giving anything away. Well done!

Let's see....takes place in the 1940's...a little girl is displaced to a home in the country due to the war....she stumbles upon a portal to another world...she meets a faun....yes, aside from a few minor differences, this is exactly like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!


Seriously, though, aside from the parallels at the beginning, this is nothing like Narnia. It is definitely not for children.

I thought it was a wonderful movie, although the violence was quite brutal (especially the implied violence).

Initially, I was disappointed to learn that it was in Spanish. Subtitles are so distracting, although dubbing is usually worse. I got used to the subtitles, though, and I loved the sound of Pan speaking Spanish.

One aspect is open to interpretation, but I don't want to say any more.

i went to see it last night (missed the state of the union, oops) based on troy's and carrie's reviews.

it was tough -- but wonderful. it's not a typical movie i'd go to see, but i'm glad i expanded my horizons and went to see it. i was so wrapped up in the movie that i *swear* they were speaking in english -- the subtitles (which never bother me anyway, unless i'm exhausted) disappeared even though i was reading them. if that makes any sense.

my heart was tight and breath baited.

i was surprised to read today that the movie was from mexico -- not made by a spaniard. but maybe i shouldn't be surprised; i don't know.

another thought during the movie was how universal and brutal war is. i read a fiction book about ww2 (i think) in the philippines and some of the images in my mind's eye were similar to the scenes in the woods in the movie. it brought home the violence in iraq in a new way.

Da-yam! I keep seeing commercial after commercial for this one. I really, really wish it would show here. Da-yam, da-yam!

Cher

Yes, it does make sense. I almost felt the same way, and I'm a person who hates subtitles. For some reason, they didn't bother me so much with this movie, and didn't distract me from the visuals and the voices.

Whoa! This is actually made it to Huntsville! Hope I catch it (we'll see)...

If everything works out, I'll be seeing this tomorrow. I have to drive to Evansville (an hour away) to do so, but it's one that I'm DEFINATELY going to see in theater.

Cher

WELL??

Well ..... we just got back, and I rushed in to post my reply. Sighhhhhhhh .. I loved it ... absofrickinlutely loved it!! I don't want to give away any spoilers either, but gosh, this is probably the BEST movie I've seen in years. "Borat's" up there as well but for totally different reasons. The cinematography was beautiful, the music was beautiful, the actors were beautiful (yes, even the Captain!). The plot(s) were outstanding. My assistant coordinator went with me, and I was really afraid that she would be bored to tears, but we couldn't stop talking about it. There were a couple of scenes where her face mirrored mine (think bottle and knife) as we sat there looking at one another with hand to mouth. What an incredibly sad, sadistic man he was.

Golly gee, please, please, please don't wait to see this for the first time as a rental if you can help it. It will be one that I will be adding to my collection (hopefully there will be a director's cut/extended version coming out). I will be watching to see what happens come Oscar time.

Wow!

Cher

Pans Labyrinth was definitely worth seeing on the big screen. great movie. nothing like Lord of the Rings OR Narnia. Very much a "literary" movie I guess you could say... I was actually surprised that most of the movie takes place in the "real world". The previews make it look like a fantasy flick. I guess it sort of is, but not like you'd think. The interview on NPR with del Toro was fantastic. Go look it up and listen if you haven't heard it yet, especially if you're on the fence about seeing this due to its violence or fantasy aspects.

WARNING: Here be spoilers. Arrr!



I'm jumping in a little late on this, but I just wanted to put my two cents in. Just saw it. I'm not sure if I loved it or not. The movie was beautiful and poignant, there was no doubt of that. I'm just not sure that I entirely understood the movie. I guess I'm reaching for some overarching theme. Why was the movie set specifically in a civil war? If the other realm was real, why did Ofelia abandon her old world when she finally had the power to change it? Or if she invented it to cope, why was it so hard on her and why did it eventually cost her her life? I had questions like that.

Overall, I'm glad I saw it. I wish I was just a little bit smarter to figure out the deeper message (or if there is indeed a deeper message than beauty), but I thoroughly enjoyed what I did catch.

The first scene of violence (the bottle) had me on edge throughout the rest of the movie. I'm usually not jumpy, but the movie crossed a line of brutality that most other don't, and, even though it only stepped over it once or twice, it was enough for me to expect the worst whenever something bad started to happen. I'd be a lot better off watching it a second time through, now that I know where the implied brutality is and where the real brutality is.

Aargh. My thought process is starting to fall apart, so I've got to get some sleep. Thanks for reading!

you must go here and listen to this fantastic interview with the del Toro. all your questions will be answered...

YES!! You really must! A huge thanks for posting the links, Brook.

Cher

Went out this afternoon and saw this movie, having only heard that it was good and not knowing anything else about it other than it took place during a war time in Spain and that a child used fantasy to cope.

Don't think I've seen a movie since Little Miss Sunshine before this, and I really enjoyed this one! Yes, there is sporatic violence in this one and I tend to find violence in movies enough of a turn-off that they erase a lot of the entertainment value/distract too much from the story line for my liking. But the violence in this wasn't gratuitous nor did it jump out at unexpected times, so I had ample warning to close my eyes.

Great story, and unlike some of the other posters here, I wasn't left with lots of questions at the end. It didn't seem that "deep" to me; instead, quite the opposite. It seemed to me that the movie tried to be open about how Ofelia systematically related and used that what she knew from her books regarding fairy tales and nature to aspects of her every day life that seemed out of her control. It helped her to cope and make sense of things; it was a coming of age story, and I loved it!

I didn't see it but really wanted to. Couple people said it came here but was only showing for a week or so. I don't remember seeing the listing. But anyway, it's being released on DVD May 15, 2007. It lists some extras that read like they could be pretty fun/cool.