This is a spectacular film, a narrative that holds stories within stories. No holes barred, it is uncompromising the imagery that communicates the brutal and magical messages. As the film was interpreted by my little brain its about authority and the importance of freedom, creativity and art in a world where rules and sure-thinking is crystalising around everyone (in the form of Nazis encamped in a Spanish mountain). The young Ivana Baquero and Maribel Verdu put in beautiful performances, holding the audience throughout. Guillermo del Toro has pushed the boat out here, if you are not too sqeamish then this is a must-see.
Perhaps due to me reading Richard Dawkin's new book, 'The God Delusion' what I gained most from Pan's Labyrinth is the relationship between science and art and the idea that perhaps that's what the religious texts (e.g. bible, koran) have been an attempt at capturing; and the only mistake is that the authors/ followers thought knowledge had been captured once and forever.
Art provides science with the patterns they can structure data with. Only through the metaphors artist create can we think ourselves into new realms of understanding. We have to hold complex patterns to deal with complex data.
Just a thought.
