Pans Labyrinth

Beauty in a Labyrinth of Darkness

 

Pan’s Labyrinth takes the viewer on an adventure through a maze of the fantastical.  It is a rich mix between the harsh realities of everyday life and the beauty in imagination.  The movie captures the beauty of a dark fantasy movie in the form of a fairy tale.  From director Guillermo Del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is the epitome of a great dark fantasy movie highlighted with spectacular graphics and outstanding acting.

    The story begins with Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl who has lost her father and is now being forced to live with her atrocious step-monster, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez I Ayats), at his army base.  Her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) is accompanying Ofelia on this journey, as the Captain wants to be present when his son is born.  When Ofelia reaches the base, she discovers a labyrinth of stones and bushes.  As Ofelia is a daydreamer, constantly obsessing with fairy tales, she is naturally intrigued by this discovery.  At night, she is summoned by a fairy to come to the labyrinth where she meets the Faun (Doug Jones).  The Faun believes that Ofelia is the reincarnated Princess Moanna from another realm.  The Labyrinth is the only way back, but to prove herself, Ofelia must perform three tasks before the moon is full.  Ofelia’s tasks help her escape the difficulties she must face in every day life.  When she is not flirting with the realm of the fantastic, she must come back to the perils of guerrilla warfare, her mother’s illness, and the cruelty of her stepfather.  As the movie progresses, Ofelia has to rely even more on her tasks to help her cope her difficult conditions.  Throughout the movie, Del Toro successfully blurs the line between reality and fantasy.   The viewer cannot be sure if the fantastical events are real or in fact fabricated by Ofelia’s imagination.  This uncertainty adds another dimension to the movie.  It makes the viewer speculate the meaning of reality.   Its captivating plot adds to Pan’s Labyrinth’s brilliance.

Aside from its brilliant plot, the high quality of acting and directing contributed to the beauty and flow of the film.  I was incredibly impressed with Segri Lopez’s role as Captain Vidal.  He turned his character into the perfect antagonist, one with not the slightest hint of hospitality.  Equally impressive was Ariadna Gil’s performance as Carmen.  Carmen’s personality goes through ups and downs as she suffers from her difficult pregnancy.  Gil does a wonderful job of conveying the psychological strain Carmen is under.   Although these actors clearly demonstrated their wonderful skills, Doug Jones brought the movie to a whole new level.  Doug Jones plays two fantastical characters in Ofelia’s world.  As the faun, he manages to walk on stilts, covered in make up while still portraying the personality of his character.  For his second role, as a child-eating being, he is able to bring to life the gruesome monstrosity of his character without speech.  Of course, this movie would not have even come to being without the director, Guillermo Del Toro.  Since childhood, Del Toro was fascinated with fairy tales, much like Ofelia.  I consider him a master of dark fantasy, as he has demonstrated in Pan’s Labyrinth.  Many of his other movies are also astounding dark fantasy films.  My favorite of which is Hellboy, a popular movie about the life of a devil struggling with his identity in the human world.  With his background in make up artistry, Del Toro was able to bring his fantastical characters to life in both of these films.  He truly understands the elements of a dark fantasy films as well as its link to fairy tales.

In addition to outstanding acting and directing, graphics, set design, and music all came together to create the mood of the movie.  I have a deep appreciation for the graphics in Pan’s Labyrinth.  All the fantastic creatures are somewhat distorted.  For example, the Faun comes out of the Labyrinth as if he is part of the earth.  He is dark brown and earth green in coloration.  The setting is yet another contributing aspect to the mood of the film.  In every realistic scene, the area is dark and gloomy.  However, in many fantastical scenes, the setting is bright and beautiful.  The music also contributes to the mood of the movie.  For instance, when Ofelia is in danger, the music is ominous. 

The movie in general is a spectacular example of a dark fantasy movie.  It contains all the characteristic of a dark fantasy movie with its own twist.  Pan’s Labyrinth surpassed my expectations and I would highly recommend it to all adult viewers.  (The violence may be too much for a young audience.)  In a nutshell, Pan’s Labyrinth is a harmonious dance between reality and fantasy backed up by wonderful performances.  I give it three and a half out of four fairies!

The New Immortal

In-Between

Where am I? That is my first thought as I awaken from a haze. I can’t remember where I came from or how I got here. I stand up and take in the scene around me, as gruesome as it is. Policeman and medics are everywhere. The whole area I’m standing in has been blocked off with caution tape. There has been a bad accident on the freeway, where I have miraculously appeared. I think the accident was caused by a drunken truck driver. I heard somewhere that drunk drivers usually survive the car crashes they cause because their bodies are in a relaxed state. He looks pretty guilty and is currently being interrogated by the police while the medics treat his mild lacerations. It is the innocent victims that usually die, which seems to be the case for the poor women at my feet. Her body is stiff and her face, completely mangled. I wonder how anyone could identify her. Her body has deteriorated beyond all recognition. She looks almost as bad as her car. It appears to be a jumble of metal. The next thing I see shocks me. I feel my stomach drop. I think I’m going to puke.

“Erica!” I scream. Her face is riddled with cuts. Her arm is in a sling and she wears a look of horror on her face. The police man tries to console her, but he can’t stop her from sobbing profusely. “Are you okay? Oh dear God, how did you get in this accident?”

“Mom! Mom. I want my mom! MOM!” she screams at the top of her lungs in-between sobs. Did she not hear me? How can she not realize I’m here? Maybe she is too distraught.

“Oh, honey. It’s okay. Mommy’s right here,” I say as I move over to hug her, but my hand goes straight through her skin. What just happened? I try it again, but my hand glides through effortlessly. She didn’t even flinch. “Erica, can you hear me. Say something if you can her me!” I shout in peril. Erica doesn’t react, but keeps on sobbing. A wave of fear comes over me. Who was that women on the ground? Slowly, as if walking on glass, I maneuver my way to the dead body. Her face is mangled, so I can’t identify her that way. There is only one way to tell. I crouch down to take a closer look at her left wrist. She’s wearing a silver bracelet that I know all too well. I don’t even have to read the inscription to know what is says. “Sandra Smith. Allergic to bees. In case of emergency, administer Epi-pen.” Well that seems insignificant now. Epinephrine is not going to save me now.

I’m dead! The mangled body covered in blood and glass used to be belong to me. But if that’s true, why am I still here?

Then comes the guilt. My daughter is motherless. She is going to live the rest of her life with an empty space where I should be. Jack can’t take care of her alone. Heck, he can’t even take care of himself! Does he know how to cook? How are they going to survive? I can’t believe I died on them. I am never going to see my daughter graduate high school or be at her wedding. This is horrible! To top it off, my poor baby girl is going to be traumatized from this experience. She must have watched me die right in front of her face! I’m not sure why I can’t remember the accident, but it must have been gruesome.

I come out of my thoughts and back to reality, or what reality must be to the deceased. I think the medics must have given Erica something to calm down because she is now sitting on the curb of the road in some type of trance. I have to find a way to communicate with her. First, I need to find out what I can do. I don’t feel any different. In fact, my whole body looks just like it did before the accident. I should see if I can move anything. When I was alive, I heard somewhere that ghosts could move small objects. Maybe if I could find something small and light, I could draw my daughter’s attention. Then at least she’d know her mom is here and watching over her. I can see it working just like in the movie Ghost, with Patrick Swazie. I always loved the part of that movie when Patrick’s character picks up a penny and at that moment, his wife knows that he is there with her. That’s what I need, a penny.

I search the area looking for small change. It looks like money fell out of my purse during the accident. I search around for a penny. I find one close to the curb where Erica is sitting with her head bowed. I am going to have to get the penny right underneath her to catch her attention. I put a light amount of pressure on the penny and push it. It moves a few inches! Oh my god, this is going to work! I keep pushing in until it is right underneath Erica’s feet. She sees it move and sits up with her eyes bulging out of their sockets. Yes, I got her attention. Now I need to make sure she believes what she is seeing. Slowly, I use the curb to move the penny on top of my finger. To her, it must look like it’s floating. Suddenly, she understands and begins crying. I can’t tell if they are tears of disbelief or happiness.

“Mom,” she says in-between tears, “is that you?”

"Nothing in the Dark"

"Nothing in the Dark" touches on all the primary facets of dark fantasy.  Dark fantasy is primarily concerned with fear, disease, and death.  It also contains elements of the supernatural.  In "Nothing in the Dark", the main character is an old women who is afraid of death.  To her, death comes in the form of a young man.  She hides within her house so "Mr. Death" cannot find her.  In the end, he finds her none the less.  

My Top Dozen

Kristen Nardone

Mr. Bailey

Science Fiction Honors

2/4/2010

My Top Dozen

 

12. 28 Days Later- In an age of horribly made horror films, I hardly even hear blood curdling screams anymore.  One exception of this rule is 28 Days Later.  Something about diseased blood hungry zombies taking over England freaks me out.

11. The Terminator- “I’ll be back!” Who doesn’t know that terminology?  The terminator is action packed and exciting.  The main character must fight to change the future of humanity.  If he fails, all human beings will be exterminated. 

10. I Robot- this movie is in my top dozen because I can relate with the main character.  Will Smith plays a paranoid cop who loathes robots.  Ironically, he discovers that robots are plotting to overpower the human race.  Unfortunately, no one believes him. 

9. Star Wars- How can you not love a classic tale of good versus evil?  This is the essence of Star Wars. Who will prevail in the end: Luke Skywalker and the power of the light side or Darth Vader and the dark side?

8. Bruce Almighty- We have all wondered what it would be like to be God.  In this movie, a kindhearted news reporter takes God’s place while he goes on a vacation.  He discovers that being God is not all that its cracked up to be. (Besides walking on water.  That’s pretty awesome.)

7. Hellboy- I’ll admit, there are aspects of Hellboy that are somewhat “cheesy”.  After all, how can you make a crime-fighting version of Satan seem human?  However, the graphics are truly amazing.  The setting and mood come together to create a realm of underworld creatures.

6. Harry Potter- I first saw the movie when I was eleven or twelve.  After watching it, I waited for a letter from Hogwarts telling me that I was actually a witch with superhuman powers.  Being a witch or wizard is every child’s dream: magic powers, adventure, and individuality. 

5. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory- Did I mention that I’m a chocoholic?  Seeing Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory was my childhood dream.  Not only does it involve rolling hills of candy, but is also whimsical, mysterious, and fun.

4. Twelve Monkeys- Twelve Monkeys is a time travel movie characterized by twists and turns.  It plays up on the question of whether or not we can change the future.  Twelve Monkeys made it to the top four on my list because I couldn’t guess the ending.  It kept me on the edge of my seat.

3. The Lord of the Rings- Lord of the Rings is a heroic movie of epic proportion. The main characters embark on a quest to save Middle Earth from the reign of evil sorcery.   The movie is riddled with Elves, Orks, Ents, Hobbits, and other imaginary beings.

2. Avatar- People often shun Avatar for being an alien version of Pocahontas.  That is actually why I love this movie so much.  Avatar combines elements of reality and imagination to create an altogether new visual experience.  Although Avatar is about blue aliens from Pandora, I could relate with their feelings as if they were my own ancestors.

1. The Matrix- I would need all my hands and feet to count the number of times I have seen The Matrix.  The film touches on the most basic of human fears and feelings. It is presented as a war between man and machine, in which people are imprisoned in a virtual world.  I love the underlying motifs of hope, destiny, and “knowing thyself”.  

My SciFi Blog Introduction

I think we will explore the subjects of science fiction, high fantasy, and dark fantasy. We will most like read short stories relating to these subjects as well as outside reading books. I believe we will be posting our homework, poerty, and essays on our blogs.