Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

A Dark and Violent Unicorn.

What fairy tales and unicorns have brought untill now is a fantasy world. Those stories start with 'Once upon a time' and end with 'happily ever after'. What Pan's Labyrinth does is pushes it further by not just connecting with the real time but interfering with it. Set in 1944 this is a story of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who is reading a fairy tale and is on a quest to find the clues to unlock a mystery. While doing so she is following her pregnant mother on a journey to meet her new father, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Vidal is a Captain of Spanish army. While Ofelia and her mother visit Vidal, Ofelia finds a layrinth located close to the mill where they have stationed. An insect takes Ofelia to the labyrinth where she meets Faun/Pan who explains her purpose over there. The colorful trip that follows their conversation is a fantastic journey.

Kudos to Mexican writer/director/producer Guillermo Del Toro. He has come up with a great new narrative to a fairy tale. This fairy tale has all the classic ingredients of mystery, clues, fantasy and beautiful visuals. The blending of reality and fairy tale is quite clever. Before you comprehend the connections the story goes further and opens up new horizons to explore. Anymore I will say and it will spoil the movie watching exprience.

Ofelia and Captain Vidal are the most memorable. 11 year old Ofelia is perhaps a package of innocence and a lot of energy who is not so happy with her step father. Her eyes speak of the curiosity and anxiety at every single point in the movie while lighting up the screen with her smile. Captain Vidal is a self-sufficient Fascist who polishes his own shoes. He is an intelligent, shrewd and ruthless Captain. Sergi Lopez has brought an attitude that will fear every character around him. A fine performance.

The character of Faun has a striking makeup that got Pan's Labyrinth one of the three Academy Awards, the other two for cinematography and costume. In one scene a soldier points Captain to a hill and then as Captain looks through binoculars all we see is green jungle and a trail of smoke coming out of the woods. The panning of the camera during the introduction of Faun is also fantastic. The cinematography by Guillermo Navarro is on the top of the list of things to look forward to.

This is a fairy tale from a whole new point of view that will open up questions and the answers to those will create memorable thoughts.

7/10.