Hey folks, Harry here... I've heard that PAN'S LABYRINTH received the longest sustained standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival this year, nearly 25 minutes. I can't imagine an audience doing that. The longest Standing "O" I've seen was about 8 minutes for Peter Jackson at the BNAT where he appeared with RETURN OF THE KING. But then, this is Cannes - and those folks love to do everything big. Here's our second review of PAN'S LABYRINTH...
Hi Harry,
Just touched back in Australia after a gruelling but kick-ass Cannes and wanted to
drop you a review of Pan's Labyrinth to provide an alternate view than CS
lover's slate.
----
When the credit's came up on Pan's Labyrinth I had the deep sense that I had
seen one of the best, and without a doubt best made film's of my entire, film
obsessed life. Wiping teary eyes. I immediately went back into the Palais,
swiped my badge and snatched another ticket for the afternoon session for
myself and my equally obsessive DOP and later on watched with pure jubilation
and Del Toro and his cast came back down the red carpet to a standing ovation
which didn't stop. A film with this much heart, inventiveness and superlative
craft... well for me, that is everything film should stand for.
Early in the film, Ofelia and her pregnant mother come up through the forest
towards the facist captain who is to be her new father. As they pause to
accomodate her mother's morning sickness, Ofelia is drawn towards a ancient
stone and then a big which may or may not be a fairy. Del Toro moves his camera
like a ballet dancer, using steadycam as gracefully and innovatively as anything
I've ever seen from PTA or Scorcese, combined with twinkling sound design
drawing us into a world which is both magical and real.
And this is the triumph of the film, throughout Del Toro gracefully passes us
between the fantastical and real. Ofelia's new reality is horrific. A new
"father" who shoots real and imagined rebels in the face and will readly
sacrifice her mother for a son. The fantasy world, where a magican "faun" sets
her three tasks to become eternal princess of the underworld, is equally
magical and horrific. Amonster with eyes in his hands, and blood dripping from
his mouth makes Regan seem like a pussy cat. And this isn't the Neverending
story where the real world just serves to narrate the compelling fantasy world,
both worlds are just breaths apart, sometimes occupying the same place and
always breathtaking.
If the greatest cinema expands the medium in both content and craft, Pan's
Labyrinth surely fits this bill. In Cannes I heard plenty dismiss it because it
is fantasy or because it is visual luxurious or because it wears it's heart
proudly, but I think great films sometimes creep up on you. I'm not a fantasy
person, nor was I particularly a Del Toro fan and going into the festival it
wasn't at the top of my must see list (Southland Tales, Marie Antoinette, Babel
and Suburban Mayhem were) but this is a film which has really touched me... to
write my first review for the site.
If you use this, Harry you can call me Lonely Royal or Rohan (which is my real
name).
