Movies From the Hat: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

 Recommended by Chris

 

“A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the brightness blinded her and erased every trace of the past from her memory. She forgot who she was and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness, and pain. Eventually, she died. However, her father, the King, always knew that the Princess’ soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place, at another time. And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning… ” – Pan

Number of Times Seen – 2 (17 Feb 2007 and 16 Sep 2014)

Brief Synopsis – A young girl living in Spain during WWII encounters a fairy tale world which helps her escape from the harsh realities of the real world.

My Take on it – Guillermo Del Toro did an amazing job with this movie. He successfully integrated two seemingly distant genres to give a fresh and new feeling to both genres.

This movie is proof that there are still film makers out there with original and groundbreaking ideas to entertain us over and over again.

I love how despite the depiction of two completely different worlds, the melding works extremely well.

Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not the biggest fan of non-English language movies, but I was so mesmerized by the look and feel of this movie that I didnt care or even notice that fact most of the time.

Bottom Line – Excellent example of a movie that successfully blends two divergent genres together. Del Toro is a genius in his creation and execution of both worlds depicted. Highly recommended!

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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