Disturbing Film
Jan. 21st, 2007 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
logisticsladIn the evening, I went with my friend L. to a showing of Pan's Labyrinth, which I found to be very well done, but deeply disturbing. I didn't know much about it, other than it was a Spanish film with magic realism set during WWII that was recommended by Neil Gaiman in his blog, and that was enough for me. While I was glad I saw it, I had a lot of trouble actually watching many of the gory scenes in the film and am still chewing over my interpretation of its meaning in my head.
MAJOR SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUT...
Watching this film was like watching Hamlet, in that most of the main characters die tragically. It is definitely not a feel good movie, although it has inspiring elements. I saw many parallels between the heroine's fantasy world and the grim reality that she was enduring, the scariest of which was the monster chase scene (that was evoked by the Captain's chase of her at the end). The story that she tells her unborn brother is incredibly depressing and must have a parallel elsewhere in the film, but I haven't figured it out yet. The Doctor's final words were quite moving and summed up the story of the resistance quite nicely. I thought that the final scene of her reaching her magical goal could be interpreted to mean that the altruism that the resistors showed was ultimately inspired by their belief in something greater than themselves, which is a form of magical thinking. I see why it has received critical acclaim, but I also see why there were not many people in the theater to see it.
MAJOR SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUT...
Watching this film was like watching Hamlet, in that most of the main characters die tragically. It is definitely not a feel good movie, although it has inspiring elements. I saw many parallels between the heroine's fantasy world and the grim reality that she was enduring, the scariest of which was the monster chase scene (that was evoked by the Captain's chase of her at the end). The story that she tells her unborn brother is incredibly depressing and must have a parallel elsewhere in the film, but I haven't figured it out yet. The Doctor's final words were quite moving and summed up the story of the resistance quite nicely. I thought that the final scene of her reaching her magical goal could be interpreted to mean that the altruism that the resistors showed was ultimately inspired by their belief in something greater than themselves, which is a form of magical thinking. I see why it has received critical acclaim, but I also see why there were not many people in the theater to see it.
