no, not a sequel to 'peter pan'...
mild spoilers follow...northern spain, towards the end of the civil war. ofelia (ivana baquero) and her, heavily pregnant, mother carmen (ariadna gil) have travelled to be with vidal (sergi lopez); carmen's new husband, the father of her unborn child, a captain in the spanish army and the step-father that ofelia doesn't want. vidal, a cold brutal man, who lives in the shadow of his father's heroic reputation, is lodged in a fierce struggle against anti-fascist dissidents, camped in the hills near the mill, where they are staying.
with carmen bed-ridden, as a result of her pregnancy, ofelia, a dreamer and lover of fairytales, finds a friend in mercedes (maribel verdu); a maid in the vidal's household, who's sympathies lie with the suppressed rebels. a mysterious insect, that ofelia believes to be a fairy, guides the young girl to the labyrinth that sits in the woods behind the mill. here she meets a faun (doug jones), who tells her that she is a princess, the daughter of the king of the underworld, who can only return to her true home if she undertakes a series of tasks.
as vidal struggles against the dissidents, ofelia attempts to complete the dangerous and fantastic challenges, whilst her mother fights to survive her pregnancy...
writer / director guillermo del toro has described this as the sister film to his earlier work, 'the devil's backbone', a film that i really enjoyed and one that shares many of the same themes; innocence, fantasy, brutality and war. before seeing 'pan's labyrinth', i had heard a lot of glowing praise for it, on reflection, this was probably not a good thing. i enjoyed the film, but i didn't think it was the great masterpiece that i'd been told it was.
the narrative succeeds in meshing together the world of captain vidal's brutal war, with ofelia's world of fantasy. del toro also succeeds in his creation of these worlds: the war is portrayed with an extreme brutality and drama, whilst the world of the labyrinth is beautiful, scary and equally as rich.
praise deserves to be heaped on ivana baquero, who's performance is simply fantastic; as a twelve year old, if she can continue to produce at this level, she has a very bright future ahead of her. maribel verdu is as solid as you'd imagine and sergi lopez is impressive as vidal.
in terms of special effects, the film spoils its audience; the graphic violence, that surrounds vidal, is depicted with an astounding reality, perhaps a little too real for some viewers. on the other side of the coin, the world of fantasy, that surrounds ofelia, is beautifully crafted; from the faun to the pale man, who has practically become an iconic image already. the mixture of traditional, mechanical and cgi effects works so well, that you stop thinking of them as special effects.
so, at this point, you're probably thinking that i did think it was a great film and i'm only just 'saying' that it was good. well, despite the successful creation of the two worlds, the great performances and the incredible special effects, the whole doesn't quite equal the sum of these parts.
the overall narrative didn't really work for me. as the film progressed, the majority of events played out as expected and the only drama came from the more obvious set-pieces. and, despite some great performances, the characters were pretty two-dimensional or, in the case of vidal, verging on caricature, although, i'm also in half a mind to believe that is intentional.
then, there's the biggy: what is real and what is fantasy? i've read del toro's comments and reasoning, for his view and, personally, i don't really think that it stands up too well. when watching the film, there are plenty of conflicting moments that could be sighted to argue either way: he does, however, say that it is open to interpretation.
so yes, it's a good film, not without its faults. it's not a great film, but it is definitely worth seeing.
the film is currently on a limited theatrical release and the dvd is expected around march.
