The Case for Pan Demon (Ium)

Pan’s Labyrinth, the Spanish film that won the best foreign language film at the last Academy Awards, is an incredible film (actually it was just nominated for an Academy, as Morgue points out in one of the comments - I apologise for my error! But it did win a BAFTA fpr Best Film not in the English Language). So amazing in fact, that it was even screened at Readings, which normally does not dabble in foreign language films. So amazing that the session I went to was almost totally sold out, apart from those awful seats that are far too close to the screen. So amazing that it polarised the audience, as its graphic violence left little to the imagination.

Yes, what at first may have sounded like a tribute to a 1980s David Bowie film lived up to its R16 classification. It was less a fantasy film, and more a film about happenings during the Spanish Civil war. And, even though the film was populated with children-eating eyeless beasts and vomiting gargantuan toads, it also showed that sometimes the cruellest monsters can wear human faces. The Captain in particular was disturbing in his single-minded fanaticism, a cruel and merciless person who unfortunately one cannot really describe as inhuman, as we see those traits all too often in the real world.

With stunning visuals, and amazing cast, and well subtitled (white subtitles on white backgrounds used to be all too common), it was an amazing experience. I am not sure that I would rush to see it again, as it was fairly harrowing and also a bit depressing, but it was definitely a good film.

Verdict: Gracias, Espana