Film: Pan's Labyrinth

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Written by: Guillermo del Toro

Year: 2006

Starring: Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, Sergi Lopez, Ariadna Gil

Language: Spanish

Cost: $19 million

I had no idea that Guillermo del Toro was close friends with Alfonso Cuarón. It used to be back in the day, top Mexican film talent would come to America. Now, there is no need. Mexico may have just supplanted Spain as my third favorite country for film (after America and France).

I was also surprised to see none other than the gorgeous Maribel Verdú in a powerful role in Pan's Labyrinth, secondary to the role of Princess Moanna, played by a young Ivana Baquero. Although Verdú didn't exactly look her best in this film.

Pan's Labyrinth is a fantasy written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, set during the Spanish Civil War in the 1940s. Ofelia, a young girl and recent daughter-in-law to a fascist jerk, learns that she may have had a past life as Princess Moanna.

We get to appreciate a story within a story, a Gothic/Pagan fantasy set against the backdrop of the ugliness of a brutal civil war. Two worlds collide, and we find not everything is so black and white. The fantasy world becomes not so perfect as the real world, despite the brutality, is not so bad.

One thing I've always appreciated about Spanish film is that Spain can write strong women better than any other country, something America rarely can pull off. Thelma and Louise? Verdú could bitch slap them both. Mexico seems to have inherited those traits, for del Toro pulls it off perfectly with two strong female leads in Baquero and Verdú.

Baquero had a natural charisma to her. I'll readily admit, I'm strongly prejudiced against child actors, but Baquero's an exception, for she fails to bore. And Verdú plays something other than a sex goddess, a role so different for her that I failed to recognize her until the credits came up. She also sang the most haunting lullaby I've ever heard.

If you like fairies and fantasy tales, you should like this one. But be warned, the violence is graphic and in your face. Watch it before you decide if your kids should. I didn't really like Hellboy or Blade II, but I'll definitely have to watch del Toro's other works. 9 dead zombies. Go see it.

Reviewed by The Zombieslayer