Pan’s Labyrinth Movie Trailers and Reviews

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Starring: Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Release Date: December 29th, 2006
Release Date: 24th November, 2006

Synopsis: In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she’s a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

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Pan’s Labyrinth Movie Trailer

About the Movie

Pan’s Labyrinth is a 2006 Spanish language fantasy film, written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films. The film was selected by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas to represent the country in the Oscars in the category “Best Foreign Film”.

Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in Spain, in May and June, 1944, after the Spanish Civil War, during the Franquist repression. The narrative of the film interweaves this real world with a fantasy (possibly imaginary) world centred around an overgrown abandoned labyrinth and a mysterious faun creature, with which the main character Ofelia interacts. Ofelia’s stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, viciously hunts the Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fight against the Franco regime in the region, while Ofelia’s pregnant mother grows increasingly ill. Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become central to her story, leading her through the trials of the old labyrinth garden. The film employs make-up, animatronics and CGI effects to create its creatures.

Del Toro stated that he considers the story to be a parable, influenced by fairy tales, and that it addresses and continues themes related to his earlier film The Devil’s Backbone (2001), to which Pan’s Labyrinth is a spiritual successor, according to del Toro in his director’s commentary on the DVD. The original Spanish title refers to the mythological fauns of Roman mythology, while the English, German, and French titles refers specifically to the faun-like Greek character Pan. However, del Toro has stated that the faun in the film is not Pan.

The film premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. It was released in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2006. In the United States and Canada, the film was given a limited release on December 29, 2006, with a wide release on January 19, 2007. Pan’s Labyrinth has won numerous international awards, including three Academy Awards, the Ariel Award for Best Picture and the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. The movie was filmed in a Scots Pine forest situated in the Guadarrama mountain range, Central Spain.