Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Starring Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, and Álex Angulo.
SYNOPSIS:
Umbrella Entertainment has released Guillermo del Toro’s classic Pan’s Labyrinth on Blu-ray in Region B, but it worked in all my American players, so I assume it’s actually an all-region release. This disc collects most, but not all, of the bonus features in editions from Criterion and others.
Say “Let’s watch a movie based on a fairy tale” to someone and they’ll likely think of a Disney animated movie, such as Snow White or Cinderella. But with Pan’s Labyrinth, director Guillermo del Toro created a modern day fairy tale that’s rooted in the true origins of fairy tales, which were often darker and more menacing than the Disney-ified versions most of us are used to. (Check out the original “The Little Mermaid” for an example of that.)
Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in Spain in 1944, as World War II is nearing its end but a war between fascists controlling the country and the guerrilla fighters seeking to liberate it wages on. Eleven-year-old Ofelia and her pregnant mother move in with the sadistic Captain Vidal, who is her new stepfather. Vidal is the father of Ofelia’s unborn sibling, and he is just as cruel and demanding with her new family as he is when dealing with the guerrilla fighters hiding in the nearby woods.
One day, Ofelia meets a fairy who shows her a nearby labyrinth, where she encounters a faun who gives her three tasks. If Ofelia can complete them, she will prove that she is the reborn form of Princess Moanna, daughter of the underworld’s king. Her new magical friends provide her with an escape from Vidal’s cruelty, but she begins to think that perhaps she can’t trust them as much as she wants to.
Meanwhile, Vidal begins to grow suspicious of Ofelia and his housekeeper, Mercedes, whose brother is a freedom fighter. His investigation into what’s been happening in his home triggers a chain of events leading to a bittersweet ending that’s an homage to those aforementioned early fairy tales. The first time I watched it, Pan’s Labyrinth haunted me for days, and the same held true with my latest viewing. It’s easily one of del Toro’s best films.
This new Blu-ray is a Region B release from Australia’s Umbrella Entertainment, but it worked in all my Region A players, including my Sony ones, which are notoriously finicky. I can thus assume that it’s actually an all-region release, but I can’t guarantee that it will work in every player in the world.
Pan’s Labyrinth last appeared on Blu-ray in a 2016 edition from Criterion, which ported over most, but not all, of the extras found on previous discs. Nothing new was created for this release, and not all the bonus features from prior editions are found here.
- 2007 audio commentary with del Toro: This guy is a lot of fun to listen to. He’s what I would call an “anti-Kubrick” director, in the sense that whereas Stanley Kubrick was reclusive and let his movies speak for themselves, Guillermo del Toro is happy to put it all out there. This track is a must-listen for fans of the film.
- Video prologue by del Toro (37 seconds): A hold-over from the old DVD, this is a quick introduction to the film.
- The Power of Myth (15 minutes): As the title implies, this bonus feature digs into del Toro’s interest in fairy tales and how he drew from that well when creating Pan’s Labyrinth.
- El Fauno y Las Hadas (“The Faun and the Fairies,” 31 minutes): This extra covers the creation of the faun and the other fairies seen in the film.
- The Colour and the Shape (4 minutes): Del Toro talks about the film’s color palette, which he says served as a code for the film.
- Storyboards and thumbnail comparisons (11.75 minutes): This featurette walks through four of the film’s sequences, with comparisons between del Toro’s original hand-drawn sketches, the storyboards, and the final footage.
- VFX plate comparisons (1.5 minutes): A quick look at Ofelia being led into the labyrinth by the fairy, with a comparison between del Toro holding a stand-in fairy on a stick and the finished version.
- Director’s Notebook (16.25 minutes): This opens with a 36-second introduction by del Toro. The rest of the entries in this section have del Toro showing various aspects of the film, including characters and locations, as shown in notebooks he created going back to 1993.
- The Melody Echoes the Fairytale (2.75 minutes): Del Toro talks about his desire to create a lullaby that would form the film’s central theme.
- Mercedes’ Lullaby (2.25 minutes): This demonstrates different versions of the lullaby.
Also included are four prequel comics that give back stories on the giant toad, the fairies, the Faun, and The Pale Man. Each one is shown as a comic book page with moving graphics, sound effects, and captions that appear one at a time to tell the story. None of the comics are key to the film, but they’re a nice glimpse into the rich world del Toro created.
Theatrical trailers from the UK and US round out the disc.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
