Pan's labyrinth review

Pan's Labyrinth, by Guillermo del Toro, is a critique of fascism during the period after Spain's civil war. The main protagonist: a young a girl called Ofelia is representative of the rebels, who are still resisting the fascist take-over. The main antagonist is the commander, who personifies the evil and ruthless natures of fascism. Throughout the movie, Ofelia is in a struggle against the tyrannical figure of the general.

The film is set in a remote district of Spain, where a force of Franco’s soldiers has been deployed to kill the rebels hiding in the district. It follows the exploits of a very imaginative Ofelia, who meets a faun in the middle of a labyrinth. She finds out from the faun that she is actually the daughter of the lord of the underworld, and that she must complete three tasks to be reunited with her father. These tasks supposedly take place in a fantasy world that only Ofelia can see, but the resulting outcomes of this fantasy world can be felt by anyone and everyone. The swipe transition of Ofelia crawling in the tree’s roots to soldiers riding in the forest shows in a technical manner that these parallel worlds are intertwined. And it is through these tasks that Ofelia rebels against the commander.

In the first task, Ofelia has to retrieve a key from a giant toad by feeding it three specific rocks. This toad living under the root of an old tree, and is the tree to slowly wither and die. The toad in this case could be symbolic of the fascists, and their infestation of another country. It symbolizes the slow decay of an economy and society.

The second task is to save her mother from being killed in child-birth by using a mandrake root. However, this is foiled by the commander, who views Ofelia’s mother purely as a way to give him a son and otherwise finds his wife expendable.

Even the third task, which is actually a test of Ofelia’s self sacrifice, shows that she would rather give up her chances of being “immortal” than hurt her brother, the act of which would essentially make her like the very person whom she abhors. Ofelia's very moral choice turns out to be the right one, and in her death , she is immortalized. The shot of Ofelia's death is especially interesting, because it is also the first shot. However, the first shot is Ofelia's death, but rewound at normal speed. The first shot is similar to the opening of Citizen Kane. The opening shot of Pan's labyrinth matches the character of the princess in the story told just after we see Ofelia's death in backwards motion. But, other than that, I don't see the reasoning in putting the last thing to chronologically happen as the opening of the movie - at least in Citizen Kane, it emphasized the enigma of Charles Foster Kane, and the difficult task of finding out about Rosebud.

Although Pan's Labyrinth shares some qualities of the classic fairy tale, the movie seems to more closely resemble a nightmare. The menacing nature of the faun and even the fairies is not at all reminiscent of the cutesy magical creatures embedded in our minds from numerous Disney movies. Additionally, each of the three tasks required of Ofelia had some grotesque aspect about it. But, this departure from traditional fairy-tale trends suits the film's serious message and keeps it seeming original. The nightmarish fantasy aspect of the film from the perspective of a little girl even emphasizes the purity and justness of the rebels’ cause.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I think the combination of fascist critique and creepy fairy-tale gives the movie a very new and fresh look. However, at some points, it was frustrating to see Ofelia make some bad decisions. An example is when she places the piece of “magic” chalk on the commander's desk. Not only does this make the commander suspicious, but it also destroys her fastest and most undetectable means of escape. If this hadn't have happened, Ofelia most like wouldn't have died. But, then again, if she had used the chalk to escape from the commander's room, he wouldn't have followed her and she wouldn't have fulfilled the "self sacrifice" part of her third task. So, I guess it did have some literary value, but it was still just frustrating to watch her just throw her magic chalk away.

Critque the Critic

When I first saw the trailer of Juno, my immediate intuition told me that it would just be some meaningless chick flick comedy. However, after learning of its nomination in the Best Picture category for the Oscars, my curiosity was immediately sparked. From the little knowledge I possessed of movies - since I only ever watched mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, and some anime films - I found it surprising for a comedy starring "Shadowcat" from X-men and Evan from Superbad to be nominated for the Best Picture award. But, since it had been nominated, I gullibly assumed that it must be a good movie, and I decided to see it.
It turns out that I was right. Juno was definitely not the kind of movie I expected to see.
So, for this assignment, I had to critique a critic. I don't really know any critics at all, so I chose the only source that I recognized to be "credible" on Metacritic, which comes in the form of A. O. Scott from the New York Times, which can be found here.

In the first fifteen minutes of the movie, I was becoming ever more convinced that the academy awards may have made a mistake about Juno. The jokes and sarcasm seemed very crude and full of innuendos - not that I have anything against that, but it just didn't seem Oscar material.

At first her sarcasm is bracing and also a bit jarring — “Hello, I’d like to procure a hasty abortion,” she says when she calls a women’s health clinic — but as “Juno” follows her from pregnancy test to delivery room (and hastily retreats from the prospect of abortion), it takes on surprising delicacy and emotional depth.

But, this opinion started to change after Juno ran out of the abortion clinic. I felt that it portrayed a kind of seriousness and maturity that was different from the first ten minutes.
I then started to see how:

“Juno” ... respects the idiosyncrasies of its characters rather than exaggerating them or holding them up for ridicule. And like Juno herself, the film outgrows its own mannerisms and defenses.

As the movie progressed, I noticed a dip in the sarcasm as the plot became more oriented towards Juno's emotions about having the baby and her feelings towards Paulie Bleaker. The initial heavy use of sarcasm from Juno seems to act as a kind of barrier, which is replaced, by a:

naïveté that peeks through her flippant, wised-up facade is essential, since part of the movie’s point is that Juno is not quite as smart or as capable as she thinks she is.

But, although the humor and sarcasm may have initially seemed rather distracting, I do feel that it was a necessary part of the film.

The snappy one-liners are a brilliant distraction, Ms. Cody’s way of clearing your throat for the lump you’re likely to find there in the movie’s last scenes.

The contrast between serious and comedic aspects of the film is what made Juno entertaining as well as a touching. Juno's progression from being overly sarcastic to one of her final scenes lying on the hospital bed with Bleaker is a very unpredictable but also welcoming change.
So, in conclusion - stated by Scott, which I totally agree with - the underlying them is:

not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood. It follows its heroine — and by the end she has earned that title — on a twisty path toward responsibility and greater self-understanding.

Although I didn't really critique the critic, I don't really think I could have very much anyway. I agree with what Scott has to say about "Juno", and I do believe it was a very good movie - enough to be Oscar worthy.

first post!!!

The most recent movie I saw was Juno. I actually really enjoyed the movie, since it seemed humerously believable. However, I guess I can't really describe why I liked the film very much. Hopefully taking this class will remedy that. I find watching movies enjoyable, but i could never really understood what about them makes them enjoyable. I also wish to become a more active film-viewer, and actually judge films critically rather than just sitting back and passively enjoying them. Additionally, I guess this class will help me decide whether I would like to undertake a career in film.