Most of us grew up on adaptations of fairy tales; on stories of princesses, animal companions, and ultimately a happily ever after ending.
Guillermo del Toro successfully interprets and deconstructs the fairy tale in his 2006 masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth, by blending a nightmarish fantasy world of fauns, fairies and quests, with a similarly nightmarish real world of war, fascist regimes and evil stepparents with beautiful practical effects and make-up.
Disobedience is often seen as "wrong", but in this story, disobedience is framed as the right thing to do. Ofelia disobeys and follows her own gut and suffers the consequences. Mercedes and Doctor Ferriero disobey Captain Vidal to help the rebel fighters. Ofelia's disobedience and choices shape the morals of this story - that evil is bad, innocence is good and that faun's are never completely trustworthy.
Everything about this beautiful, dark, twisted fairy-tale is perfectly realised on screen. I truly believe this is del Toro's magnum opus, and a movie everyone needs on their to-watch list.
I would love to hear your thoughts on Pan's Labyrinth!
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Thank you to all the patrons Simon E, Sade, Jardiel, Claudia, Simon B, Laurel, Derek, Jason, Kristin, Cat, Andy, Mike, Griff, Luke, Emily, Michael, Scott, Mark, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Dan and Sam!
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EPISODE THANKS TO....
Most excellent patrons:
Andy from Geek Salad for his Patron thoughts. You can find Geek Salad @geeksaladradio on Twitter
Derek and Laurel from The Midnight Myth for his Patron thoughts. You can find The Midnight Myth @TheMidnightMyth on Twitter and their Pan's Labyrinth episode is here
Sam from Movie Reviews in 20 Q's for his Patron thoughts. You can find Movie Reviews in 20 Q's @MovieReviewsIn on Twitter
And to Ian and Brendan for their Patron thoughts as well!
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Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studios.
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
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