I don't think there's a thread for this movie yet. .. *glances around*

Anyway! I saw Pan's Labyrinth two weeks ago, and I still have the movie on my brain. I absolutely loved it!! It fits perfectly with me, being lost in my own fantasy world half the time. Of course, I think they could have left out some of the really graphic scenes. . . but I want to discuss it here with you guys! What did everyone think? Opinions? Observations? Thoughts? Share em!

I haven't seen it, but what happens in this movie? Spoil me away, I'm probably not gonna see it, I'm just curious. xD

EDIT: Okay that sounds really bad, um, I might get it on DVD or something eventually! xDD

:lmao:

Okay, I'll give you the basic plot, and you can decide whether you want me to spoil it more for you, or if you will want to see it! Its a Spanish film, subtitled! YAY!!! *cough* Anyway. ..

The movie opens with the tale of how Princess Moanna from the Underworld one day evaded her caretakers and went up to the upper world. (Our world, basically) But the sunlight blinded her and erased her memory. She lived out her days on earth and died, but it is believed that her soul will be reborn and find its way back home. . .

The story then goes to Ofelia, a young girl about twelve, I think, and her pregnat mother going to their new house where Ofelia's new step father awaits. The story takes place in WW2, and her step father is a Captain in the army or something to that effect. He isn't very nice to her, and really is NOT a nice person at all. Near their new home is a stone labyrinth, and Ofelia goes into it one night, following a fairy. There she meets a faun (Pan) who tells her she is Princess Moanna, and that if she wishes to return home, she must complete three tasks. Supposedly, Ofelia is Princess Moanna reborn, but its left up to the audience to decide whether or not the whole fantasy angle of the movie is just her imagination or real. The majority of the movie does take place in reality, though their are good chunks of fantasy stuff.

Its a sort of fairy tale for adults. I wouldn't recommend it for really young children since its very graphic with violence. Its a wonderful movie though. If you want me to spoil more, I can go ahead. ^_^

PLZ SPOIL AWAY. xD I read about the basic plot already in Entertainment magazine or somethin', fairy tale for adults, etc. How bad is it since it has an R rating? Spoil away, plz.

:lmao: Alright, you asked for it!!! I've only seen the movie once, so I'm fuzzy on some parts, but this is the general gist of the story.

The R rating is mainly for really, really graphic violence scenes. For example, there's this part where Ofelia's nurse Mecedes, also part of a resistance against the Captain, attacks him and cuts his mouth with her little knife. Later, it shows him sewing it up. GAAAAHHH!!! >_< Things like that. There's also this scene where the Captain is smashing in suspected resistance people's faces with a wine bottle. The rating is because of the gorey violent scenes. You can hide your eyes through them like I did, lol.

Okay, spoiling away for the movie. Ofelia's three tasks. The Faun gives her a magic book that will give her the instructions she needs, and also 3 magic stones. However, when she looks at the book, the pages are blank. The next day when she's alone in the bathroom, she opens the book again, and it begins to show words and pictures, detailing what she has to do. She must go into the forest surrounding her home and find a tree that is dying because a huge toad is living inside it, stealing the nutrients from the tree. Ofelia must get a golden key that the toad has. At the same time, there is bunch of things going on around the house. There is giong to be a party that night with some of the Captain's buddies, so Ofelia's mother has made a special fancy dress for Ofelia, with shiny new shoes.

The Captain is being a pompus jerk, as he always is, and has recieved a shipment of rations that he has under lock and key. He supposedly has the only copy, but Mercedes secretly made another and smuggles out supplies to the resistance, who her brother Pedro is part of. She brings them letters, food, tobacco, and medicine from the doctor who has been taking care of Ofelia's mother.

After dressing in her new gown, Ofelia goes out to complete the task. To avoid getting her dress muddy,she hangs it on the tree outside, then crawls through a hole in the base of the tree, down into where the toad lives. She feeds him the magic stones, and he coughs up a bunch of slimy goop and dies. The key is in the goop.

While she is doing this, the Captain and his soldeirs are out looking for the resistance and come across their abandoned campfire, where the Captain finds a vial of medicine that was left behind. It seems that someone in the resistance has been injured gravely. It begins to rain, so they return home to get ready for the party. The storm grows worse, and Ofelia still hasn't come home.

When she crawls out of the tree it is to find that the wind has blown her dress into the mud where it has been ruined. She puts it on anyways and goes home, the key in her pocket and the book in hand. Of course, she is scolded. But she has more pressing things to worry about since her mother's pregnacy is hard, confining her to her bed until the child is born. The Captain, in undertone to the doctor, tells him that if it comes down to it, to save his unborn son instead of his wife.

The time then comes for Ofelia's next task. The faun appears in her room, bringing her a piece of chalk and some fairies to guide her. He tells her she must draw a door with the key and go in to find the object that the key will reveal. However, she is given very strict instructions not to eat anything. She does as he tells her, and finds herself in a underground room where a marvolous feast is laid out on a long table (you have to keep in mind, this is war time, and she has been on rations and recieving little food) Sitting at the head of the table is a strange, pale man with no eyes. His eyes, oddly enough, are on a plate in front of him. :blink: Her attention is then drawn by the fairies to a wall where there are three little doors. Ofelia chooses the proper one and opens it with the key she recieved from the toad. Inside is a beautiful gold dagger. She takes it out and starts to go back, but then she stops, and eats two grapes. The fairies try to warn her as the pale man comes suddenly to life, puts his eyes in his hands *Eeeeeewwwww* and tries to grab her. He eats two of the fairies, and Ofelia flees with the other one, barely escaping in time.

Once more the Faun comes to her, bringing a root that will help her mother get well if it is kept under her bed in a bowl of milk and given 2 drops of blood every day. But when he finds out that Ofelia ate some of the food, he becomes angry, telling her she has failed her task and can no longer return to her kingdom. She is devistated by this, naturally. But she does use the root to help her mother, and it seems to work.

Meanwhile, the Captain is being his usual tyrannical self, treating people horribly, killing members of the resitance, and he ends up catching one of them, torturing him for information. The doctor, also secretly a resistance member, slips the captive something to ease his pain and help him die peacefully. The Captain finds out and shoots the doctor. He catches Ofelia under her mother's bed with the root and shouts at her, telling her mother that she must make Ofelia stop living in her little fantasies. Her mother scolds her, and tosses the root into the fire. Almost immediately, she begins to have horrible pain from the baby, and another doctor has to be rushed to her side. The baby boy is born healthy, but Ofelia's mother dies.

Mecedes is then found out, and the Captain prepares to torture her, but she fights back and escapes. Ofelia is put in her room, and the Captain places a guard at her door, telling him that if anyone (Mecedes or her fellow resistance members) tries to recue her, to shoot Ofelia first. The resistance members are at this time waging war on the house against the Captain and his soldiers.

While Ofelia is crying in her room, the Faun comes to her again, telling her that he has decided to give her one last chance. Her last task has come. He tells her to get her baby brother and bring him out into the labyrinth. Ofelia uses the chalk to escape from her room and sneaks into the Captain's room where her baby brother is. She slips some drugs into the CAptain's whisky and he drinks it, then leaves for a moment. When he leaves, Ofelia takes the oppertunity to get her little brother out of the cradle and starts to carry him out of the room. The Captain comes back and catches her. She runs with him following her, trying to shoot her (the drugs have affected him, so he cannot run as fast or shoot properly). She manages to evade him in the labyrinth and goes to where the Faun waits for her with the gold dagger. He tells her that the last task is to shed the blood of an innocent- her brother. Horrified, Ofelia refuses, and the Faun leaves her. The Captain catches up with her, and takes the baby from her, then shoots her. Ofelia falls to the ground as the Captain walks away. At the entrance to the labyrinth, Mecedes, her brother Pedro, and others in the resistance are waiting for him. Mecedes takes the baby, and the Captain is shot and killed. They go into the labyrinth and find Ofelia's body.

Ofelia however, finds herself dressed in a beautiful gown, in a magnificent throne room. She has returned home. Her father the King and her mother are sitting on thrones, with an empty one for her at their side. The Faun appears and tells her that it was all part of the test. She had to shed her own blood to return home.

Of course, my description of this does not do the movie justice at all. Its so much better, and so more detailed. I really recomend it!! (just hide your eyes from the gore if you are squemish like me!)

Whooaaaaaa! xDD Sounds very interesting, kinda strange and scary, but interesting, I might get it on DVD when it comes out then. Thanks a bunch! :huggle: I really love the way it goes from fantasy to reality and shizz, ith very interesting.

You are most welcome! :huggle: It really is all of those things, freaky, scary, heartwrenching, fantasy, and reality. I hope you'll enjoy it when you see it!

I saw it with a friend of mine. And I really liked it. I'll agree that some of the violence could have been cut down and was a little unnecessary (Such as shooting someone in the face FIVE times, geez, don't waste your bullets!)

The part with the pale man scared me so much! Very intense!

And I loved the maid who was part of the resistance. I loved how she cared so much about Ophelia.

I thought the main who played the captain was a very good actor. He did a good job of making that character so evil that I hated him.

I even got my boyfriend to go and he at first didn't want to because he had to read subtitles. But he also liked the movie.

I read about this movie in the newspaper, and I fell in love with the fairytale-esque premise from the beginning. Gotta love screwed-up adult fairytales. <3

Also heard about the violence, though. Just about everyone I know who's watched it couldn't stomach the violence. I think I'll also buy the DVD and watch it in the privacy of my home, because I'm a squeamish little chicken-hearted gal. :P

Lol when they mentioned gory scenes I thought of people getting their guts torn out with hooks and eyeballs exploding or something. But what you described doesn't seem that bad at all lol. It depends on the person...but I think that if I can watch Kill Bill and be all right, I can definitely watch this movie's 'goriness'.

It is gory, but not bad. It's not even near Kill Bill gory, imo.

The ending depressed the hell out of me. I had to fight not to cry.

No way! Sad ending? Aw man...oh well, I guess that's pretty cool. Takes a lot to resist the temptation to end things off with everyone all smiles. Plus for some reason a bitter ending (or was it at least bittersweet?) seems to fit the movie.

Never saw Kill Bill, so I can't comment on that one. . .

But the ending is sort of bittersweet, if you believe that Ofelia's imaginary world is real. Which I do. ^_^

The Pale Man scared me too Rinchan!!! *shivers* He was just too creepy!!! I especially hate the fact that his eyes are on his hands. It just wierds me out!!

I liked Mercedes though. She was a very, very brave woman, especially considering the danger she was in. Even though the part grossed me out, I was so glad when she cut the Captain's mouth. The audience cheered, lol.

Wow! Revival of ze thread! I actually went out to the movies and saw this the other night because of what you said, and because my brother mentioned it was one of the best movies he's seen in a long time.

It was great!!

Oh gosh, the faun freaked the heck out of me, I kept thinking he was evil no matter what. I mean, seriously, did anyone else feel that way about him? Also, of course, the weird pale man, geez. xD

Also, I absolutely loved Mercedes, even though I read this summary I kept thinking she would die at the end because I couldn't remember it all, so I was so happy when she came out alive. Usually in movies you're yelling at people for being stupid, but she was so smart and brave, I adored her. Anyways, yus, discuss plz? revival?

OMG!! You saw it!! *cheers* I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah I was a bit freaked by the faun at first too, lol. Like you, I was so certain he was bad, though his gentle kindness towards Ofelia started to thaw me out towards him.(well, except for the slap >_<) And the pale man was FREAKISH!!! *shivers* All his floppy skin and his eyes/hands!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! I just hated him, lol.

Mercedes was definately my favorite character after Ofelia. She was brave, smart, and fast thinking. In some ways, I really think she was meant to portray a grown up version of Ofelia. She too has a brother she's trying to protect, and the Captain is the evil monster tormenting her. *shakes fist at the Captain* Mercedes was so kind to Ofelia, she really loved her and the baby like her own children, it was so sweet. ^_^

I hate to bump a thread but I really need to join in on the discussion if anyone is still up for it.

I finally got to see this last night (got it for my birthday) and I can safely say it is the best movie I have ever seen. I'm watching it again right now infact! Ivana who plays Ofelia is absolutely brilliant, she definetly made the film as good as it is. The faun was kind of shifty at the beginning, and I agree with people saying they couldn't tell if he was being good or bad, but I kinda like characters like that; adds more mystery!

The ending had me in tears, even though I think it's open to interpretation. I think she really did complete the task and become the princess again, though others could think she actually just died and went to Heaven. Also when Ofelia's mother died, that had me in tears too!

The whole fairy tale part of the story really grabs me. I love all this fantasy stuff from tales and to get an adult-orientated film about it is really something special.

It was a fabulous movie, wasn't it? ^_^ I'm so glad that it will be out on DVD sometime this month. I don't recall the exact date, but I'm excited!! What would you like to discuss about it? I'm all for discussing!! I agree about the faun, he was very ambigious at the beginning, and I both loved/hated that. It made it hard to tell if he really was trying to help Ofelia or just doing things for his own selfish desires. I really loved the fairy tale part of it too, and I do think that it was real and not just Ofelia imagining things.

I got the soundtrack from the library the other day, and I definately recommend getting ahold of it. Its BEAUTIFUL music, the lullaby in particular. Its so haunting and pretty! Go listen to it everyone!

Yeah, I don't quite get how the DVD comes out 2 months later in America than Europe (at least, some parts of it). I've been nagging people to get it but they keep having to remind me that it's not out yet! :D

I'm not quite sure what to discuss but the first question I always ask people is if they thought what happened to Ofelia was real or was she just imagining it. There is evidence to support both theories, I suppose, but I think it's clearly real because there is a lot more evidence to support that than there being evidence to support it wasn't real. The only one I can think of actually is when Vidal ran into the labyrinth and saw Ofelia with her brother talking to something that wasn't there (from his point of view). I figured this was either because he was heavily sedated (how he managed to orientate himself in a labyrinth in the dark after being drugged and heavily stabbed, I have no idea), or maybe Ofelia could see it because she chooses to believe it, and only those who believe in fairy tales will be able to see them (like the narrator says at the end that Ofelia left little signs on Earth, known only to those who know where to look).

After watching it, erm, 8 times since last Tuesday I've grown to like the Faun more and more. I think the only real reason he appears dodgy is because he comes out of nowhere and tells an innocent 12 year old girl that she's really a Princess and she must do tasks to return to her home. I don't know about you, but if a Faun told me that, I'd be slightly suspicious, but I guess in Ofelia's situation anything would be better than her current living conditions.

And, yeah! I got the Soundtrack last Friday. I need to have all the merchandise, I'm a tad obsessed! I'm looking for posters online but they're £20! *groans* But yeah, the soundtrack is brilliant haunting and I keep humming the lullaby wherever I go. Mercedes Lullaby and A Princess are my favourite tracks on the OST, but I think you've got to listen to it all the way through to appreciate it for what it is: a masterpiece!

(I think this has been my biggest post ever o_0 )

:lmao: Don't worry, long posts are awesome! Okay, lets start from the beginning!

I don't know how the release dates work either. You'd think that they would release them all at the same time everywhere, but apparently not. :blink: I HATE waiting for things to come out, and it angers me when someone else somewhere has it already, but I have to wait longer!! I've only been able to see the movie once, since its no longer in theatres here, so correct me if there's any small details I'm off on.

Well, personally myself, I believe that the fantasy aspect of the movie was real. There's a lot of things to support it, particularly the thing with the mandrake root. It was supposed to keep Ofelia's mother safe and protected, but when she throws it into the fire and it starts to burn, that's when she immediately starts to have pain over the baby. Then there's the thing with Ofelia being trapped in her room. Her step father gave orders for the guard to kill her if she tried to escape, or if anyone tried to rescue her. If the magic was all in her mind, how did she get out? She used her magic chalk! As for Vidal not being able to see the Faun, I always figured it was either because he's an adult and doesn't believe in magic, or the Faun made himself invisible to everyone but Ofelia, or he was just too drunk to notice. I like the idea that only those who believe in the fairy tales can see the truth though. ^_^

I think you're right about the Faun. If some creepy critter told me that I was a Princess, I'd probably laugh at him. But, as you said, Ofelia doesn't really have much to lose with her crappy living situation. Also, I think another reason is the audience isn't clear about the real motivation behind the Faun's actions. I remember when he slapped Ofelia I was so furious and sure he was evil! But then later when he hugged her, it was so sweet and looked like he really cared about her. That's probably the best thing about the Faun's character, he keeps you guessing!

Mercedes is also really interesting. She reminds me of a grown up version of Ofelia. The trials she goes through are sort of similar to the ones that Ofelia has to do. Like protecting her brother from Vidal, retrieving supplies to pass to the rebels and all that stuff. Kinda interesting, huh?

I know what you mean about getting all the stuff! One of my friends got one of those Pan's Labyrinth keys, and I'm sooo jealous! It looks really neat! I want the posters too, but I'm so broke! :sad: I think my favorite tracks on the CD are Long, Long Ago, Mercede's Lullaby, and Princess. I get the lullaby stuck in my head and I keep humming it too, lol.

Yay! People have watched it too! :w00t:

I love this movie so much! I have this love for fantasy, and even more so for the messed-up/freaky kind. Pan's Labyrinth totally satisfied that love. XD Eerily enough, I liked the gore and how it made me shiver - the frog throwing up its insides, the Pale Man, and how brutal the captain was.

Well. I don't think it was really open for the audience about whether the events occuring were Ofelia's imagination or not. Like with her dress (how did it get muddy?), the book, the magic chalk, and the others Alantie said.

I loved the ending the best though. It was dramatic really - the captain asking the rebels to tell his son when he died, despite how awful he was to them, and then Mercedes flatly telling him that his son would never know who his father was. And then the rebels killed him. :lol: Watching that made me cackle.

And of course, the ending was when Ofelia was reunited with her family! That part was really gorgeous - with the faun, her family, and the whole court (right?) being there. It was really cool.

Throughout the movie, I was also suspecting that the faun would do something bad. I mean, after all, Pan is a god of chaos, isn't he? (But I guess that was just a mistranslation or something.) I was expecting that he was using her to get something, but I was also hoping that he really was good. So yeah. I was happy when it turned out he was good. :)

Although I'm surprised you guys would act so cool around the faun. I'd be screaming and having a panic attack if I ever met a creepy-looking monster like him!

LOL, if I met a faun, I'd be over the moon! I would LOVE that! Meeting a mythical creature?! Yes plz!

Well Pan is the God of Nature in Greek mythology, and is indeed a faun, but the faun in Pan's Labyrinth isn't Pan (the original title of the movie being El Laberinto Del Fauno (notice no "Pan")). Bad translating on their part. Infact, the faun never even gets a name in the movie since it says only the mountains, the trees and the earth can say it (or something to that effect!).

The open for the audience thing...the more I watch it, I think you're right. There's just too much to believe otherwise. I just think because no other characters saw any of the mythical creatures or Ofelia doing the tasks that there was no real confimation that what she was doing was real. And Vidal not seeing the faun at the end added to that, even though I've already stated up there somewhere what I think that was about.

The part where Ofelia joined her kingdom again was beautiful and it was great to see her smile for about the first time in the movie! The faun was celebrating with the fairies! I just didn't like how it cut back to her last breaths and Mercedes humming the lullaby again, I think they should have ended the film with Ofelia happy and not with a shot of her dead body.