I was quite looking forward to seeing a film at the Curzon Soho again and Pan’s Labyrinth (El Labirinto del Fauno) made a fantastic debut to the UK cinemas this week, with a few magical write-ups under its belt. Saddly, I can’t say I agree with these reviewers.
In general, I found the story (or should I say two storylines) a little disjoined - whilst a cruel reality gave the heroine the perfect reason to indulge herself in a fantasy world, there weren’t enough linkages between the two. The post-civil war storyline was predictable but I cared for some of the characters, such as the caring female spy Mercedes and the stammering hostage. I was fascinated by the dark and mysterious fairy world but wasn’t particularly bothered about the little girl or whether she could finish the three tasks to re-claim her crown in the fairy kingdom.
The main problem with the movie was that without an obvious link between the two stories, I found it hard to feel warm about either of them. Perhaps it would be less distracting if the background story (the cruel reality) was less prominent. The interruptions of switching from one plot to another eventually broke my concentration and I ended feeling the movie was far too long.