Anyone seen pan's labyrinth? (Spoilers)

[TheyCallMeBruce]

I have mixed feelings about this movie. On one hand I was impressed by the direction of the movie, on the other hand, I thought the story was a bit disjointed and lacking.

I'm sure many will wonder if Ofelia fantasy was real. I suppose it is up to the viewer to decide that. If you believe it is real, the ending is a happy one. If you believe it is all in her head, then the ending is a bit disturbing.

After careful consideration, I am still not sure how I feel about this movie. I want to like it, but I can't bring myself to do so. I want to hate it, but there's not enough elements of suckage for me to work with as well.

btw, did anyone think that is the scariest faun you've ever seen?? Nothing like the gentle pedophile faun in narnia.

[Staypuft]

I saw Pan's Labryinth and absolutely loved it.
I thought for the visuals alone the movie was worth the price of admission (They can bill me, I downloaded it).
I thought the story was very solid actually, and the small intermissions of fantasy were well placed and not so long as to forget the real story.
Not sure why you thought the story was disjointed...I thought it flowed together well, with ample character development especially for Ofelia, The Captain and the maid (her name escapes me).
I would certainly recommend the movie to anyone who doesn't mind subtitles.

[Igottago]

I thought it was very good. You bring up a good point about the possibility of different perspectives on the ending...but that's what I like about it..its contrasting the perspective of child/adult. To me it was more or less the girl's imagination allowing her to deal with the brutality around her.

[Weiser Wonder]

I loved it. It was an deeply moving exprience. I'm also not sure if it's all in Ofelia's mind or not. When I came out of the movie, I was confident it was not in her mind. But, my friend was sure it was all in her mind. It seemed to me that the things Ofelia did through "magic" had consequences that were felt by others. For example, breaking into the Captain's room by making a door with chalk to take her brother or the mandrake root making her mother better. Then again, the Captain didn't even change expression when finding Ofelia talking to the Faun. It thought-provoking ending and brilliant film nonetheless.

[AC]

Originally Posted by Weiser Wonder

Then again, the Captain didn't even change expression when finding Ofelia talking to the Faun.

I'm pretty sure when that happened, they made it clear that the Captain did not/could not see the faun. It looked like Ofelia was talking to herself.

Thus supporting the idea that it was all in her mind.

Either way, it was a really good movie and I loved it.

[Alpha_Q]

I saw it on opening night in a packed theatre and thought it was the best movie made in the last couple of years. Very original and compelling. I've heard people say that both parallel stories did not relate to each other, but they are two sides of the same coin IMO. Ofelia escapes from her solitude by visiting a violent world with magic keys and potions (in fact she uses her fantasy world to justify her decisions in the real world), while Mercedes, at the end, is able to escape her violent world (Her world has it's keys and potions as well.).

It's easy to picture the two girls as the same woman at different ages, one having that childhood sense of fantasy, the other having that fantasy completely removed becasue of the realities of a violent world.

I do believe Ophelia made it to her fantasy world. Though the fairy tale was in her head (as we see her without the faun from the Capitan's point of view) it still does not change he fact that she made it to the throne.