So with the AP Government exam over I've segued into a film unit with my bright juniors and I'm enjoying the shit out of it. I went into film history, film theory, the difference between an editor and a cinematographer, etc. etc. and then switched into actually watching films. We talked about horror and watched Freaks, which didn't go over well. I forgot how little actual "horror" the film is composed of, and the students were bored. We then discussed thrillers and watched A Simple Plan, which went over very well. But now, after a discussion of fantasy films and the Spanish Civil War, we're watching Pan's Labyrinth, and they're loving it.

Just as watching a movie with people who aren't receptive to it can spoil your appreciation of the film, showing a movie to a rapturous audience can remind you of every way a movie is great. And man oh man is Pan's Labyrinth an amazing film. It's so visionary in every sense of the word. Never before, and likely never again, will Del Toro--or frankly, many other people--make a movie this good.

Depending on my mood, it's either the best movie made since 2000 or the second-best. What say you?

It's a damn fine film and I loved it, but I don't know that I find it to be the very best film since 2000.

I definitely liked it when it came out, but I've always thought the Spanish Civil War scenes were much stronger and more interesting than the fantasy sequences. It's been a while, I should watch it again.

This is one time that the Oscars got it almost all correct. Pan's Labyrinth is a fine film which won for Makeup, Cinematography, and Art Direction (and should have won Original Screenplay among that competition), and lost Best Foreign Language Film to The Lives of Others, which is a greater film (but not in those three categories).

I really, really need to get around to watching this...

It's definitely one of the best. I can't think of an outright better film than Pan from the last decade.

Time classic ingredients are there. The themes of childhood innocence, loss, the purity of human spirit under the boot of tyranny (in this case fascism, but it could just have easily have been any other kind).

The aesthetics are striking and also well balanced between fantasy and cold, real-life brutality.

It's a real work of art.

I think it's phenomenal. I'm not drawn towards fantasy at all, but this moved me the first time I saw it in a way that few films have. I do believe that it's pretty close to flawless... everything from costume design to the look of the Faun to story arc to beginning and ending are beyond reproach.

Honestly, every time I watch it, I'm staggered that Del Toro made it. Not that I can imagine anyone else doing it, I simply mean that it's just so so much better than his other work that it's mindblowing.

It's not my favorite film of the previous decade, but I'm not convinced that it's not the best. It's such a joyous experience to watch a film that sets its goals clearly and high, and achieves them all.

I think it's universality is its greatest strength. It's a cliche to say you can watch it without subtitles if you don't know the language, but it's really true in this case. Additionally, the fantasy elements are not tied to the traditions of Magical Realism in Mexican art, it's simply the proper way to tell this story.

Man oh man it's a great film.

First time I saw that movie I simply was floored, blown away. I will get my hands on a copy and watch it again ASAP.

There is so much atmosphrere and philosophy in there. Lots of "high octane nightmare fuel" (Ken: your cue, it's a trope!!!) and so much insight plus badly needeed food for the mind.

Yes there are other great movies with similar images/themes/atmospheres: David Lynch anyone? David Cronenberg anyone?

But this is : Simply brilliant! Because it doesn't get lost in the nightmare images and cleverly used historical events plus the political comments which come with them. It is pro-human (does that word exist?) and not just about itself.

A true masterpiece.

I know, right? I have barely even liked the other stuff he's done. I think The Devil's Backbone is the only one I would even give an unqualified recommendation to. And yet he's made this one blazingly original, utterly magnificent masterpiece. Go figure.

I really like the two Hellboy films. They may not be as profound as Pan's Labyrinth but they're well-made and a lot of fun.

Agreed, I also quite enjoyed Mimic and Blade 2.

Dudes... we're not saying his other stuff is bad, there's elements and films that can be enjoyed on their merit... but something like Blade 2 (which I really like) certainly won't be enjoyed by anyone who doesn't actively want to see it, you know? It's good genre work, but it's genre work. Del Toro making Pan's Labyrinth is like if Brett Ratner's next film was a searing family drama that was one of the decade's best films.

I don't see how either of you can be surprised, since Del Toro was out from under the heels of Hollywood execs when making PL. It's not a coincidence that most of a foreign director's best works come *BEFORE* they try their luck in Hollywood. Just look at directors like John Woo and Wolfgang Petersen for other examples of directors who were castrated by Hollywood studios after turning out great films in their native countries.

With PL, Del Toro was basically saying to the world, "Yes, I am a good director when some asshole Hollywood douchebag producer isn't giving me notes on how to direct my films.". Hell, let's take it a step further and speculate: what do you think PL would have been like had Del Toro made it under the auspice of a major Hollywood studio? I'm willing to bet that scenes like the following wouldn't have made it into the final cut:



I'm also willing to bet that the ending would have been a lot less ambiguous in terms of being happy.

I thought Blade 2 was poor.

If I was being a pedant I would say the existence of Devil's Backbone negates Pan's originalty.

But I get your point

That's reductive, not pedantic. They're set in the same war and involve a child, but that's all they have in common. Would you say that Schindler's List negates Saving Private Ryan's originality?

No I wouldn't.

But I would definately say that The Devil's Backbone has much more in common with Pan than Schinder does with SPR.

I think to dismiss the similar themes of Devil's Backbone and Pan as merely "a child" and the "Spanish Civil War" is reductive. For instance the experience of the consequences of the said War as seen by children is a significicant part of each film, rather than mere incidental occurances. The experiences of Oskar Schindler and Captain Miller are nothing alike, despite them broadly sharing the same conflict.

Even if they have a little more in common, I really don't think that The Devil's Backbone in any way diminishes the originality of Pan's Labyrinth. The Devil's Backbone goes for pure allegory, while Pan's Labyrinth tells a full-blown story that sucks you right into its world. They're like Animal Farm and 1984: they have similar themes and the same author, but they don't detract from each other, they complement each other.

I don't think it diminishes Pan in any way at all. When I first watched the Devil's Backbone last year I reviewed it on here and stated something along the lines of it being a dress rehearsal for the themes that would be explored in Pan.