A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to see some footage from Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and I was absolutely floored by it. It was vicious, delicious stuff and the logical evolution of the man’s work through years of ingesting fantasy and horror like a glutton and honing his craft with amazing stuff like Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and Hellboy. This film is a sister to The Devil’s Backbone but where that film was softer this one is jagged and filled to the rim with menace. This thing will break your heart, make you gasp, and for a few hours you’ll be absorbed into another world entirely. It was treated to a 21 minute minute standing ovation at Cannes this past week and now that the cat’s out of the bag I want you to be aware that I am not just tooting Guillermo’s horn when I say that this is the real deal.
But my opinion’s worth shit, right? I mean, the guy’s my friend. So, screw my opinion. Look at what these LEGIT folks have to say and tell me you’re not jazzed:
Salon.com – "Hands down the most exciting and original film I’ve seen here, and the
one that had me in tears during its final scenes. Mexican director
Guillermo del Toro is best known as the director of such fanboy
classics as "Hellboy,"
"Mimic" and "Blade 2," which are cool enough in their way. "Pan’s
Labyrinth" is something else again, and something far more powerful and
original."
Hollywood Reporter – "Engrossing."
Variety – "a richly imagined and exquisitely violent fantasy."
…and this one had to really float Guillermo’s knickers, as I know he absolutely worships Buñuel….
Richard Corliss (Time) – "Lewis Carroll meets Luis Buñuel."
That’s some impressive stuff, and even though Cannes is the place where standing ovations are dished out like candy, you don’t hear of ones that long. This year apparently had mucho love for this movie and Clerks 2 above all else. If that’s the case we’re in store for a nice remainder of 2006.
Now that it’s been seen we can start discussing this sucker with a little more meaty information, maybe some cool images and stuff and leading up to the film’s release let’s just say a few of you folks may want to scoot down to CHUD HQ in Atlanta if you really want to be ahead of the curve with this flick. That’s all I’ll say on that.
Now, spread the word. This is gonna kick your tender little asses.
To see some footage from the film in exotic other languages, click here.
Discuss Pan’s Labyrinth on CHUD’s message boards right here.