Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

In this article, we will be looking at 2019’s book “1001 Movies to See Before You Die” and going through each film in a random order that I have chosen. We will be looking at what constitutes this film to be on the list and whether I think this film deserves to be here at all. I want to make perfectly clear that I won’t be revealing details from this book such as analyses by film reporters who have written about the film in question, so if you want the book itself you’ll have to buy it. But I will be covering the book’s suggestions on which films should be your top priority. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that everyone reading this article has probably watched many of these movies anyway. But we are just here to have a bit of fun. We’re going to not just look at whether it should be on this list but we’re also going to look at why the film has such a legacy at all. Remember, this is the 2019 version of the book and so, films like “Joker” will not be featured in this book and any film that came out in 2020 (and if we get there, in 2021). So strap in and if you have your own suggestions then don’t hesitate to email me using the address in my bio. Let’s get on with it then.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) dir. by Guillermo del Toro

One of the weirdest yet most successfully weird films of all time, this dark fantasy film is written and directed by the king of weird himself, Guillermo del Toro. Set five years after the Spanish Civil War, Guillermo del Toro stated that this film was influenced by fairy tales and addresses some of his earlier work as well. Referring to it in terms of different mythologies, this film is also influenced by the faun-esque Greek deity, Pan. It received an over twenty minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.

The critics' consensus on Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating of over ninety percent and states the following:

"Pan's Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable."

One of my personal favourite reviews for this film was the one by Mark Kermode [one of my favourite critics of the modern time] who critiques the film based on its presentation of story, genre and theme - it is awesome. Check out what he has to say about the way the film is presented to the audience:

"Set against the backdrop of fascist Spain in 1944, Pan's Labyrinth is a dark fairy tale that distils his distinctive mix of fact and fantasy, poetry and politics, pain and pleasure. It's 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 - a transformative, life-affirming nightmare which is, for my money, the very best film of the year."

Stephanie Zacherek reviewed this film as well and stated the following, giving it positive acclaim:

"This is a somber, lovely picture, set in Franco's Spain a few years after that country's civil war. It's rich both in metaphorical terms and in literal ones. Del Toro's imagery is so vivid and concrete that it's likely to change the color of your sleep: A writhing, cooing root that's "almost" a human baby; a faceless creature with pale wrinkly skin draped over its willowy bones, its eyes located in the palms of its hands instead of in its head. Those far-side-of-sleep images (and the movie contains many others) can be read as symbols and stand-ins for other things -- a nascent country that might have been; so-called leadership that's howlingly blind -- but del Toro isn't playing a game of allegorical one-to-one matching here."

So do you think that this film is an honestly great film? I do. When I first watched this film, I was about twelve years’ old and I was terrified but in a really good way. I ended up adoring this film. It is dark fantasy at its very best - the genre has been perfected.

Citations:

Mark Kermode

Stephanie Zacherek