Pan's Labyrinth

Sunday evening found me at an early screening of Pan’s Labyrinth at the IFI, a feature as part of their Horrorthon festival. Directed and written by Guillermo del Toro, I think that the fact that this movie got made at all is great. It’s not exactly aiming for the widest demographic. A dark, earthy fantasy picture set in the Spain of 1944. Filmed in Spanish too, of course. I guess it would be OK for children if it wasn’t interspersed with really graphic violence. So I’m not really sure who they meant to go see it, but I hope it does well. Wonderfully different. The fantasy was almost a sideline to the civil-war struggle in a remote mill in the mountains.

There was some confused discussion after the film about the nature of Pan (alright, it was me who caused the confusion). My impression was the he was a mischievous god but I’ve just now realised that I was mixing him up with Puck the trickster. Pan was originally the Greek god of shepherds although it’s an easy mistake to make; they are both usually depicted as fauns.

I hadn’t been to the IFI in years. It was nice to go to a real screening in a real cinema where the entire audience is actually interested in watching the film. I don’t think the door opened once after the lights went down. I will try and make it a habit to go more often. Visiting the multiplexes can be a shitty experience.

Check out Pan’s Labyrinth when it goes on release in late December. I enjoyed it. For the moment, watch the trailer. Sorry about the silly voiceover.