Pan's Labyrinth - VGF

**Sean P Kelly** · 01-03-2007, 09:56 PM

Today I took a break from the usual hollywood films that fill my schedule and I went to the lone downtown Toronto theatre it was playing at to see this Spanish-lanuage film by Guillermo del Toro (whose Enlish films include Blade II and Hellboy).

The film is advertised as a fantasy, but in truth, the fantasy only takes up about a third of the film. The rest is a post-Spanish civil war drama. The film was still good though.

ShyGuy727 · 01-26-2007, 02:46 AM

Anyone else see this Spanish film that got 106 positive reviews out of 109 reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes? I thought it looked really awesome and was ready for a complete mind trip, but that wasn't really what I got at all. Still a good movie, even though I hate endings like that.

**Sean P Kelly** · 01-26-2007, 01:05 PM

Didn't you notice my 3-week old topic that I now merged with yours?

t3hDarkness · 01-26-2007, 01:32 PM

This is probabbly the only nominee that I plan to watch.

ShyGuy727 · 01-26-2007, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean P Kelly

Didn't you notice my 3-week old topic that I now merged with yours?

Obviously not, considering it was 3 weeks old and had no replies.

ShyGuy727 · 01-27-2007, 12:22 PM

Oh, and did anyone else think the Faun sounded like Watto from Star Wars?

**Sean P Kelly** · 01-27-2007, 03:12 PM

Not really. He did sound like an American speaking Spanish though (which he was)

**Wyborn** · 01-28-2007, 02:56 PM

Man, saw this movie yesterday, it was great.

What the hell were you people expecting out of it? It's billed as a sort of more modern fairy tale and that's exactly what it is.

And the Faun was awesome - the creature design in this entire movie was awesome. One of the best movies you coul bing out to say "see, THIS is why we don't need CGI to make cool-ass monsters"

**Sean P Kelly** · 01-28-2007, 03:03 PM

^ The trailer over-emphasises the fantasy elements, so I think some people would be disapointed to see more "war stuff" than "fantasy stuff"

It's funny you make that comment about the Faun, since Doug Jones, the actor in the suit, is playing a CGI character is his next role (he did the motion caputre for the Silver Surfer for the next Fantastic Four movie)

Speaking of Doug Jones, he's pretty much the main "Man in Suit" guy in hollywood. In this film he does both Pan (the faun) and the Pale Man. Some other recent roles included Abe Sapien in Hellboy (though David Hyde Pierce did the voice) and some of the Imps in Doom

**Wyborn** · 01-28-2007, 03:19 PM

I was aware he did Abe, didn't know he was doing the Surfer. Or that he was the Pale Man. Man that guy was freaky. More points for non-CGI monsters.

I'm curious as to why the localization team insisted on referring to the Faun as Pan, even changing the title of the movie to reflect that, when that name is never used - not once - throughout the entire movie.

**Prince Toad** · 01-28-2007, 03:24 PM

^There's some explanation on IMDB. Basically, faun sounds like fawn, and they didn't want people getting the impression that it was a baby deer's labyrinth. So they changed it to Pan. The faun may or may not actually be Pan.

Anyway, I loved the movie. I did want more fantasy stuff rather than war-movie stuff, but it was all excellent.

**Sean P Kelly** · 01-28-2007, 03:25 PM

Pan is the name of the Greek God, who was pretty much a Faun. I guess the producers thought it's a name that North American audiences would recognize.

According to IMDB the actual title of the movie is "El Laberinto del Fauno", which roughly translates to "The Labyrinth of the Faun"

**Prince Toad** · 01-28-2007, 10:53 PM

...yeah, that's what I was saying, but not as clearly. He's got it right. They thought people would be confused by The Labyrinth of the Faun, so they changed it to Pan's Labyrinth in the title, but not in the subtitles.

**Wyborn** · 01-28-2007, 11:19 PM

I know that much, it was shown rather clearly when they clsoed the movie with the title (original and translated).

I have to admit "Pan's Labyrinth" is an infinitely cooler name.

**Prince Toad** · 01-28-2007, 11:32 PM

True. (Remember when posts like this didn't take up three quarters of your computer screen?)

**Kargath** · 01-31-2007, 05:16 PM

Spoiler Below

So who here thinks it was all in her head?

EDIT: Add spoiler tags when talking about stuff in the plot. - SK

Greenpee · 02-04-2007, 08:30 PM

I finally saw this last night. I thought it was good, but not as good as it's been hyped to be. The cinematography and especially the sound were amazing. I didn't like that it was sort of a one note movie, my emotions remained in the same state through the whole film. Dark. But worth seeing on the big screen. Spoiler Below

Yeah, I think it was all in her head.

EDIT: Some people haven't seen the movie people. - SK

Prince Phaeral · 07-25-2007, 02:10 PM

Well, my spouse and I just watched this last night, and I must say it left such an impression on me that I had to say something about it. To put it simply, I thought it was...very awesome. But what I thought was the most interesting was when he and I came up with some comparisions between the film we saw and what we would have seen if it had been an American movie.

1. The lead female character would not have been a preteen girl, she would have been a woman in her twenties with breast/lip implants. Probably whiney too. And they'd have taken every chance possible to show her skin.

2. It would be much less about riddles and logic, and much more about gore and special effects.

3. The monster about mid-way through was so disturbing I actually dreamt about it. If an American film company realized they had a design that terrifying, they wouldn't have had it in only one scene. They wouldn't only make it reoccur, they'd stick it in at every possible oppurtunity. Maybe more.

4. There would be a romance angle between said 20-year old cosmetic surgery-chick and some muscular soldier guy. Probably a forbidden one, too.

5. NO SUBTITLES. EVERYTHING HAS TO BE IN ENGLISH, BECAUSE AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO READ. IT'S NOT ENTERTAINING.

6. Less realistic drama, more monsters and magic.

I can probably come up with more, but not off the top of my head at the moment. Anyone who's seen the film, whether you share my opinion or not, feel free to say it here.

The Joker · 07-25-2007, 02:36 PM

I saw it with my fiancee as well and we loved the movie. Its one of those films that makes you glad to know that it wasn't made in the United States.

**Sean P Kelly** · 07-25-2007, 08:15 PM

I merged this with my original topic, so you can see my thoughts.

Though Phaeral, I have to disagree that American's are incapable of these types of movies. Look outside the mainstream and you'll see what I mean.

01-03-2007, 09:56 PM	#1
Sean P Kelly SMBHQ Mod Movies Mod Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Gender: Posts: 3,245 Thanks: 9 Thanked 41 Times in 32 Posts Points: 177,954.94 Bank: 65,034.45 Total Points: 242,989.38 Donate	Pan's Labyrinth Today I took a break from the usual hollywood films that fill my schedule and I went to the lone downtown Toronto theatre it was playing at to see this Spanish-lanuage film by Guillermo del Toro (whose Enlish films include Blade II and Hellboy). The film is advertised as a fantasy, but in truth, the fantasy only takes up about a third of the film. The rest is a post-Spanish civil war drama. The film was still good though.

01-26-2007, 02:46 AM	#2
ShyGuy727 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: O-H! I-O! Gender: Posts: 10,026 Thanks: 35 Thanked 59 Times in 44 Posts Points: 27,322.16 Bank: 11,389.34 Total Points: 38,711.50 Donate	Pan's Labryinth Anyone else see this Spanish film that got 106 positive reviews out of 109 reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes? I thought it looked really awesome and was ready for a complete mind trip, but that wasn't really what I got at all. Still a good movie, even though I hate endings like that.

01-31-2007, 05:16 PM	#16
Kargath Vibrates On Command Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: kargath64.deviantart.com Gender: Posts: 4,421 Thanks: 364 Thanked 104 Times in 88 Posts Blog Entries: 1 Points: 9,484.00 Bank: 183,741.44 Total Points: 193,225.44 Donate	Spoiler Below So who here thinks it was all in her head? EDIT: Add spoiler tags when talking about stuff in the plot. - SK __________________ Why is it drug addicts and computer afficionados are both called users? -Clifford Stoll Last edited by Sean P Kelly; 01-31-2007 at 05:27 PM.

02-04-2007, 08:30 PM	#17
Greenpee Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 69 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Points: 7,782.75 Bank: 510.00 Total Points: 8,292.75 Donate	I finally saw this last night. I thought it was good, but not as good as it's been hyped to be. The cinematography and especially the sound were amazing. I didn't like that it was sort of a one note movie, my emotions remained in the same state through the whole film. Dark. But worth seeing on the big screen. Spoiler Below Yeah, I think it was all in her head. EDIT: Some people haven't seen the movie people. - SK Last edited by Sean P Kelly; 02-04-2007 at 09:35 PM.

07-25-2007, 02:10 PM	#18
Prince Phaeral Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Sephiroth's arms. Gender: Posts: 278 Thanks: 19 Thanked 13 Times in 9 Posts Points: 2,360.68 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 2,360.68 Donate	Pan's Labyrinth Well, my spouse and I just watched this last night, and I must say it left such an impression on me that I had to say something about it. To put it simply, I thought it was...very awesome. But what I thought was the most interesting was when he and I came up with some comparisions between the film we saw and what we would have seen if it had been an American movie. 1. The lead female character would not have been a preteen girl, she would have been a woman in her twenties with breast/lip implants. Probably whiney too. And they'd have taken every chance possible to show her skin. 2. It would be much less about riddles and logic, and much more about gore and special effects. 3. The monster about mid-way through was so disturbing I actually dreamt about it. If an American film company realized they had a design that terrifying, they wouldn't have had it in only one scene. They wouldn't only make it reoccur, they'd stick it in at every possible oppurtunity. Maybe more. 4. There would be a romance angle between said 20-year old cosmetic surgery-chick and some muscular soldier guy. Probably a forbidden one, too. 5. NO SUBTITLES. EVERYTHING HAS TO BE IN ENGLISH, BECAUSE AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO READ. IT'S NOT ENTERTAINING. 6. Less realistic drama, more monsters and magic. I can probably come up with more, but not off the top of my head at the moment. Anyone who's seen the film, whether you share my opinion or not, feel free to say it here.

01-26-2007, 01:05 PM	#3
Sean P Kelly SMBHQ Mod Movies Mod Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Gender: Posts: 3,245 Thanks: 9 Thanked 41 Times in 32 Posts Points: 177,954.94 Bank: 65,034.45 Total Points: 242,989.38 Donate	Didn't you notice my 3-week old topic that I now merged with yours?

01-26-2007, 01:32 PM	#4
t3hDarkness Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: I've been lost here before Gender: Posts: 4,153 Thanks: 43 Thanked 109 Times in 87 Posts Points: 12,283.81 Bank: 84,629.27 Total Points: 96,913.07 Donate	This is probabbly the only nominee that I plan to watch.

01-27-2007, 12:22 PM	#6
ShyGuy727 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: O-H! I-O! Gender: Posts: 10,026 Thanks: 35 Thanked 59 Times in 44 Posts Points: 27,322.16 Bank: 11,389.34 Total Points: 38,711.50 Donate	Oh, and did anyone else think the Faun sounded like Watto from Star Wars?

01-27-2007, 03:12 PM	#7
Sean P Kelly SMBHQ Mod Movies Mod Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Gender: Posts: 3,245 Thanks: 9 Thanked 41 Times in 32 Posts Points: 177,954.94 Bank: 65,034.45 Total Points: 242,989.38 Donate	Not really. He did sound like an American speaking Spanish though (which he was)

01-28-2007, 02:56 PM	#8
Wyborn Zelda Mod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: All over the place Gender: Posts: 12,325 Thanks: 86 Thanked 438 Times in 269 Posts Points: 15,054.55 Bank: 72,951.74 Total Points: 88,006.29 Donate	Man, saw this movie yesterday, it was great. What the hell were you people expecting out of it? It's billed as a sort of more modern fairy tale and that's exactly what it is. And the Faun was awesome - the creature design in this entire movie was awesome. One of the best movies you coul bing out to say "see, THIS is why we don't need CGI to make cool-ass monsters"

01-28-2007, 03:03 PM	#9
Sean P Kelly SMBHQ Mod Movies Mod Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Gender: Posts: 3,245 Thanks: 9 Thanked 41 Times in 32 Posts Points: 177,954.94 Bank: 65,034.45 Total Points: 242,989.38 Donate	^ The trailer over-emphasises the fantasy elements, so I think some people would be disapointed to see more "war stuff" than "fantasy stuff" It's funny you make that comment about the Faun, since Doug Jones, the actor in the suit, is playing a CGI character is his next role (he did the motion caputre for the Silver Surfer for the next Fantastic Four movie) Speaking of Doug Jones, he's pretty much the main "Man in Suit" guy in hollywood. In this film he does both Pan (the faun) and the Pale Man. Some other recent roles included Abe Sapien in Hellboy (though David Hyde Pierce did the voice) and some of the Imps in Doom

01-28-2007, 03:19 PM	#10
Wyborn Zelda Mod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: All over the place Gender: Posts: 12,325 Thanks: 86 Thanked 438 Times in 269 Posts Points: 15,054.55 Bank: 72,951.74 Total Points: 88,006.29 Donate	I was aware he did Abe, didn't know he was doing the Surfer. Or that he was the Pale Man. Man that guy was freaky. More points for non-CGI monsters. I'm curious as to why the localization team insisted on referring to the Faun as Pan, even changing the title of the movie to reflect that, when that name is never used - not once - throughout the entire movie.

01-28-2007, 03:24 PM	#11
Prince Toad PC Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,404 Thanks: 43 Thanked 56 Times in 47 Posts Points: 43,373.19 Bank: 18,304.68 Total Points: 61,677.87 Donate	^There's some explanation on IMDB. Basically, faun sounds like fawn, and they didn't want people getting the impression that it was a baby deer's labyrinth. So they changed it to Pan. The faun may or may not actually be Pan. Anyway, I loved the movie. I did want more fantasy stuff rather than war-movie stuff, but it was all excellent.

01-28-2007, 03:25 PM	#12
Sean P Kelly SMBHQ Mod Movies Mod Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Gender: Posts: 3,245 Thanks: 9 Thanked 41 Times in 32 Posts Points: 177,954.94 Bank: 65,034.45 Total Points: 242,989.38 Donate	Pan is the name of the Greek God, who was pretty much a Faun. I guess the producers thought it's a name that North American audiences would recognize. According to IMDB the actual title of the movie is "El Laberinto del Fauno", which roughly translates to "The Labyrinth of the Faun"

01-28-2007, 10:53 PM	#13
Prince Toad PC Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,404 Thanks: 43 Thanked 56 Times in 47 Posts Points: 43,373.19 Bank: 18,304.68 Total Points: 61,677.87 Donate	...yeah, that's what I was saying, but not as clearly. He's got it right. They thought people would be confused by The Labyrinth of the Faun, so they changed it to Pan's Labyrinth in the title, but not in the subtitles.

01-28-2007, 11:19 PM	#14
Wyborn Zelda Mod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: All over the place Gender: Posts: 12,325 Thanks: 86 Thanked 438 Times in 269 Posts Points: 15,054.55 Bank: 72,951.74 Total Points: 88,006.29 Donate	I know that much, it was shown rather clearly when they clsoed the movie with the title (original and translated). I have to admit "Pan's Labyrinth" is an infinitely cooler name.

01-28-2007, 11:32 PM	#15
Prince Toad PC Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,404 Thanks: 43 Thanked 56 Times in 47 Posts Points: 43,373.19 Bank: 18,304.68 Total Points: 61,677.87 Donate	True. (Remember when posts like this didn't take up three quarters of your computer screen?)

07-25-2007, 02:36 PM	#19
The Joker You see, my father was a drunk and fiend..... Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: The Planet of Eternal Darkness Gender: Posts: 9,956 Thanks: 1,102 Thanked 252 Times in 184 Posts Points: 843.05 Bank: 10,072.61 Total Points: 10,915.67 Donate	I saw it with my fiancee as well and we loved the movie. Its one of those films that makes you glad to know that it wasn't made in the United States. __________________ Now every post can have headbangy goodness

07-25-2007, 08:15 PM	#20
Sean P Kelly SMBHQ Mod Movies Mod Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Gender: Posts: 3,245 Thanks: 9 Thanked 41 Times in 32 Posts Points: 177,954.94 Bank: 65,034.45 Total Points: 242,989.38 Donate	I merged this with my original topic, so you can see my thoughts. Though Phaeral, I have to disagree that American's are incapable of these types of movies. Look outside the mainstream and you'll see what I mean.