Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth ★★★★ El Laber-into del Fauno 2006 (R)
When her loving soldier father dies in combat during Spain's civil war, young Ofelia (Baquero) is stuck with Captain Vidal (Lopez), a brute of a stepfather, when her mother, Carmen (Gil), remarries. Ofelia sees an escape from her miserable situation when she stumbles upon a garden labyrinth that leads to a freakish-yet-bewitching underground fantasy world inhabited by strange creatures led by Pan (Jones), who is part goat, part man. He tells Ofelia that she might be their lost princess but must perform three tasks in order to prove herself worthy of the crown. Despite feeling guilty about abandoning her mother, whose difficult pregnancy leaves her bedridden, Ofelia takes on the risky, off-the-wall missions. Eventually the line between the two worlds blurs, causing dire consequences. Complex and entertaining fairy tale mixes vivid scenery with computer-generated effects, but its violence and adult themes are too intense for the kiddies. In Spanish with subtitles. 112m/C DVD, Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD . MX SP Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Alex Angulo, Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Roger Casamajor; D: Guillermo del Toro; W: Guillermo del Toro; C: Guillermo Navarro; M: Javier Navarrete. Oscars ‘06: Art Dir./Set Dec., Cinematog., Makeup; British Acad. ‘06: Costume Des., Foreign Film, Makeup; Ind. Spirit ‘07: Cinematog.