BRILLIANT SCORE ALERT:
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Best of the Decade #9: Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
With his spark of imagination and his knowledge of the craft of cinema, Guillermo Del Toro seamlessly integrated a tragic historical drama and a dark fantasy (borrowing elements from ancient mythology), filled it with unfathomable images, and topped it off with an ending Shakespeare couldn't have written better himself. The result is an uncontestable masterpiece. Del Toro's story is one loaded with allegory and double meaning, worthy of - nay, requiring - dissection and multiple viewings. It is movingly conveyed by a talented assembly of actors in which it is just impossible to find a standout; they're all too good.
But to only say Pan's Labyrinth is an expertly told story would be a disservice to the film, for it is also a thing of utter beauty. Eugenio Caballero's production design is BRILLIANT, brimming with more thematic details and subtleties than can possibly be detected even if you watched the film a hundred times. It is exquisitely shot by Guillermo Navarro (note his excellent use of the trees in the forest scenes), and provided with a gorgeous and unforgettable musical score by Javier Navarrete. Some sequences are quite scary, so or full effect, watch it in the dark.
