Guillermo del Toro is a bloody genius. The Devil’s Backbone is one of my favorite movies ever, and I can’t wait to see Pan’s Labyrinth — I have to wait until January 12 for it to even open here though. Argh!
Click the poster below to see delToro’s sketchbook …
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I stumbled in this movie when i was in Italy in November (the title in Italian is “Il labirinto del fauno”). I actually didn’t know anything about the movie; I picked it because it seemed a good movie to see with my mother.
I found it strong and incredibly touching. The entire time watching the movie I was thinking about my mother, who during WWII was the same age as Ophelia, and lived through the same horrors (her father died when she was 5, and the experience of the war was a dark and scary shadow that never left her).
Pan’s labyrinth is the opposite of a Hollywood movie: fantasy doesn’t save you or let you escape in a comforting world. My husband was shocked by the violence, the hopeless ending, and the meanness of Captain Vidal. I was struck by the resilience of the characters and the ability to resist hopelessness and to go on (even when they fought forces infinitely stronger than them).
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