With the Spanish Civil War raging all around her, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) escapes into a horrific yet beautiful fantasy world of fantasy and horror.
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Whenever Pan's Labyrinth comes up in conversation (which is actually quite often if you're a film lover and love Guillermo Del Toro) I'm always surprised to hear, "Oh yeah, I love that movie!" It seems that regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, education, etc. people have seen and adore this movie. And it's not like this is Roadhouse which gets shown five times every weekend on cable either. This is a foreign film, with weird creatures, a political subtext and a less than happy ending. Nothing about that last sentence screams, "mass market appeal!" Yet my highly informal research method doesn't lie: People love this movie. So what is it that keeps them coming back? Maybe it's as simple as the extremely well-designed creatures, or maybe it's something more primal? Perhaps it has something to do with our collective unconscious? I don't really have any answers and I'm kind of glad I don't. To over-analyze the appeal of this film seems like a sure-fire way to make the magic disappear. All I know for certain is that Guillermo Del Toro struck gold with this one. From an astounding and ever expanding filmography, this is the one he will be remembered for.
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