Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth (2 Disc Set) [2006] [DVD]
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

Price:

£6.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Reviews
Inspired by the Brothers Grimm, Jorge Luis Borges, and Guillermo del Toro's own unlimited imagination, Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale for adults. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) may only be 12, but the worlds she inhabits, both above and below ground, are dark as anything del Toro has conjured. Set in rural Spain, circa 1944, Ofelia and her widowed mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil, Belle Epoque), have just moved into an abandoned mill with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergi López, With a Friend like Harry). Carmen is pregnant with his son. Other than her sickly mother and kindly housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú, Y Tu Mamá También), the dreamy Ofelia is on her own. Vidal, an exceedingly cruel man, couldn't be bothered. He has informers to torture. Ofelia soon finds that an entire universe exists below the mill. Her guide is the persuasive Faun (Doug Jones, Mimic). As her mother grows weaker, Ofelia spends more and more time in the satyr's labyrinth. He offers to help her out of her predicament if she'll complete three treacherous tasks. Ofelia is willing to try, but does this alternate reality really exist or is it all in her head? Del Toro leaves that up to the viewer to decide in a beautiful, yet brutal twin to The Devil's Backbone, which was also haunted by the ghost of Franco. Though it lacks the humour of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth represents Guillermo Del Toro at the top of his considerable game. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Synopsis
Accompanied by her parents, Ofelia moves from a large Spanish city to a more rural area in the North of the country. Faced with the upheaval of moving home, an abusive stepfather and the general unpleasantness surrounding Franco's victory in 1944, Ofelia enters an imaginary world of creatures and demons, in a bid to escape. From Guillermo del Torro, the visionary director of THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE and CRONOS comes this frightening, yet fantastical film.

Buy & read user review