Pan's Labyrinth

Director: Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro

Overview

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's Backbone with this haunting fantasy-drama set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and detailing the strange journeys of an imaginative young girl who may be the mythical princess of an underground kingdom. Her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), recently remarried to sadistic army captain Vidal (Sergi López) and soon to bear the cruel military man's child, shy young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is forced to entertain herself as her recently-formed family settles into their new home nestled deep in the Spanish countryside. As Ofelia's bed-ridden mother lies immobilized in anticipation of her forthcoming child and her high-ranking stepfather remains determined to fulfill the orders of General Francisco Franco to crush a nearby guerilla uprising, the young girl soon ventures into an elaborate stone labyrinth presided over by the mythical faun Pan (Doug Jones). Convinced by Pan that she is the lost princess of legend and that in order to return to her underground home she must complete a trio of life-threatening tasks, Ofelia sets out to reclaim her kingdom and return to her grieving father as Vidal's housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú) and doctor (Alex Angulo) plot secretly on the surface to keep the revolution alive.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/01/2019
UPC:	0883929672011
Original Release:	2006
Source:	New Line Home Video
Format:	Blu-ray

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ariadna Gil	Carmen
Ivana Baquero	Ofelia
Sergi López	Vidal
Maribel Verdú	Mercedes
Doug Jones	Pan / Pale Man
Alex Angulo	Doctor
Manolo Solo	Garces
Cesar Vea	Serrano
Roger Casamajor	Pedro
Ivan Massague	El Tarta
Gonzalo Martin Uriarte	Frances
Eusebio Lazaro	Father
Paco Vidal	Priest
Juanjo Cucalon	Mayor
Lina Mira	Mayor's Wife
Mario Zorilla	First-Aid Boss
Sebastian Haro	Civil Guard Captain
Mila Espiga	Doctor's Wife
Pepa Pedroche	Conchita
María Jesús Gatoo	Jacinta
Ana Saez	Paz
Chani Martin	Trigo
Milo Taboada	Young Man
Fernando Albizu	Engineer
Pedro G. Marzo	Manager
Jose Luis Torrijos	Sergeant Bayona
Inigo Garces	Young Guerrilla 2
Fernando Tielve	Young Guerrilla 2
Federico Luppi	King
Chicho Campillo	Old Man
Brittney Bush	Insect
Elizabeth Irastorza	Fairy/Ballerina
Shirley Cheechoo	Stick Insect
Chong Che Leung	Stick Insect
Mario Klemens	Conductor

Technical Credits

Guillermo del Toro

Carmen Soriano

Guillermo del Toro	Director,Costumes/Costume Designer,Producer,Screenwriter
Reyes Abades	Special Effects Supervisor
Guiomar Alonso	Stunts
Alex Angulo	Costumes/Costume Designer
Belen Atienza	Executive Producer
Alvaro Augustin	Producer
Leire Aurrecoechea	Production Manager
Ivana Baquero	Costumes/Costume Designer
Jeff Barnes	Executive Producer
Sara Bilbatua	Casting
Marc Blanes	Sound Mixer
Eugenio Caballero	Production Designer
David Jiménez Cambón	Stunts
Diego Herberg Canela	Stunts
Jose Manuel Cerdan	Stunts
Alfonso Cuarón	Producer
Angel L. Gómez De La Torre	Stunts
Ivan Baena Delgado	Stunts
Domenic DiGiorgio	Animator
David Dominguez	Camera Operator
David Ebner	Executive Producer
Alejandro López Estaci	Stunts
Angel L. Gómez Fernandez	Stunts
Juan Francisco García	Stunts
Carlos Giménez	Set Decoration/Design
Martin Gómez	Camera Operator
Alvaro Hernandez	Stunts
Martin Hernandez	Sound Editor
Lala Huete	Costumes/Costume Designer
Doug Jones	Costumes/Costume Designer
Eusebio Lazaro	Costumes/Costume Designer
Chris LeDoux	Songwriter
Michael Elvis Lines	Stunts
Antonio Arnalte López	Stunts
Enrique López	Stunts
Sergi López	Costumes/Costume Designer
Elena Manrique	Executive Producer
David Marti	Makeup Special Effects
Szymon Masiak	Animator
Fernando Millan	Stunts
Juan Montoya	Stunts
Eduardo Moratilla	Stunts
Guillermo Moreno	Stunts
Javier Mateos Morillo	Associate Producer
Javier Navarrete	Score Composer
Bertha Navarro	Co-producer
Guillermo Navarro	Cinematographer
Ivan López Nieto	Stunts
Jorge López Nieto	Stunts
Juan Carlos López Nieto	Stunts
Akira Orikasa	Executive Producer
Miguel Polo	Sound/Sound Designer
Jose Quetglas	Makeup
Juan J. Rodríguez	Stunts
Emilio Rubio	Stunts
Julia Bonilla Sabina	Stunts
Bruce Saintclaire	Camera Operator
Enrique Salvador	Stunts
Cesar Solar	Stunts
Carmen Soriano	Screenwriter
Adam Stern	Consultant/advisor
Marcos Lorente Talens	Stunts
Sandra Tejedor	Makeup
Frida Torresblanco	Producer
Justo Usin	Stunts
Maribel Verdú	Costumes/Costume Designer
Paco Vidal	Costumes/Costume Designer
Bernat Vilaplana	Editor
O.D. Welch	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

While the darkness of Grimm's Fairy Tales has been gradually sanitized by both the passage of time and the growing desire to shelter youngsters from the cruelty of the outside world, Guillermo del Toro has cut away the safety net woven by the overprotective powers that be to craft an intoxicating and original fable with the power to simultaneously enchant and repulse. After seemingly perfecting the melding of historical fact and imaginative fantasy with The Devil's Backbone, a horrified del Toro realized that whatever he thought he knew about war and death had been immediately rendered void when, just two days after the film made its debut at the Toronto Film Festival, the world was forever changed along with the New York skyline. In the aftermath, the filmmaker would escape grim reality by crafting an entertaining pair of CG-heavy Hollywood actioners that, despite outward appearances, still weren't entirely devoid of the political commentary expressed in his most serious-minded work. Now, after proving that he is capable of producing a slick hit despite a frustrating false start in blockbuster-land, del Toro has returned with a companion piece to The Devil's Backbone (a "sister" film in the director's own terms) which delves headlong into the subjects of fascism, brutality, and innocence with an insight he simply didn't have before the modern world plunged into darkness. Just as a film such as The Devil's Backbone couldn't have existed with the Spanish Civil War, a film such as Pan's Labyrinth couldn't exist without the apocalyptically titled War on Terror. It would be impossible to tell a tale as brutal as Pan's Labyrinth without the balance of great beauty, and in the lens of cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, del Toro has found a collaborator capable of carrying his ambitious vision. The composition, color, and stylistic texture of Pan's Labyrinth suggest a fevered child's hallucinatory interpretation of an amalgamation of fairy tales. Of course, in order to achieve such a dramatic effect, the frame demands to be filled not only with phantasmagorical imagery but an exceptional selection of talent as well, and in Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, and Doug Jones, del Toro has found the ideal cast. The initial innocence and subsequent shattering of a young girl who gradually comes to comprehend the inhumanity that surrounds her is heart-wrenchingly realized by Baquero, while Lopez inspires fierce loathing from his initial appearance and Verdú beautifully embodies the spirit of furtive, gentle righteousness right up until the moment she unleashes the fury that has been silently building inside. In his duel roles as the playfully menacing titular faun and the downright terrifying Pale Man, formally trained mime and noted contortionist Doug Jones continues the collaboration with del Toro that began with Mimic to striking effect. If there is truly a modern heir to the Karloff throne, it is almost certainly Jones, whose chameleon-like ability to disappear into a character allows him to instill them the kind of depth and personality that would be near impossible to achieve with even the most advanced computer-generated creation. From del Toro's perfectly balanced screenplay to his assured skills as a visual storyteller, the fearless performances of an immensely talented cast, the sleepy lullaby that forms the foundation of Javier Navarrete's score, and special effects that have the power to dazzle and horrify, all the elements in Pan's Labyrinth fall beautifully into place to form an genuinely affecting adult fairy tale.

All Movie Guide - Jason Buchanan