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Kangaroos and Pan's Labyrinth
This was going to be a nice, reflective post about the film Pan's Labyrinth but while I was driving home a kangaroo jumped in front of my car and I nearly hit it so now I'm kind of hysterical because I've never almost-hit-a-kangaroo-while-I've-been-driving before.
I feel like I've undergone a right of passage...ish.
Anyway, the film is excellent. Set in Spain in 1944, a young girl named Ofelia travels with her pregnant mother to the base camp of her new step-father, a cruel and vicious captain in Franco's army searching for Republican Militia in the mountains. Once there, she escapes into a fantasy world where she is told that she is the lost daughter of Hades and must complete three quests in order to return to his magical kingdom. The quests are dangerous and horrifying but nothing compared to the real world she so desperately wants to escape.
The acting is wonderful, the special effects are great and the film is beautifully shot. However, this is not a family film. More time is spent in the real world than the fantasy one, and the real world is dark and depressing. Lord of the Rings, despite it's huge battles, is more appropriate for kids than this.
( Very mild spoilers and character discussion )
If you like your fairy tales truly fractured, don't mind subtitles and can stand some violence then go and see this film. But I say again, DON'T TAKE THE KIDS!
I feel like I've undergone a right of passage...ish.
Anyway, the film is excellent. Set in Spain in 1944, a young girl named Ofelia travels with her pregnant mother to the base camp of her new step-father, a cruel and vicious captain in Franco's army searching for Republican Militia in the mountains. Once there, she escapes into a fantasy world where she is told that she is the lost daughter of Hades and must complete three quests in order to return to his magical kingdom. The quests are dangerous and horrifying but nothing compared to the real world she so desperately wants to escape.
The acting is wonderful, the special effects are great and the film is beautifully shot. However, this is not a family film. More time is spent in the real world than the fantasy one, and the real world is dark and depressing. Lord of the Rings, despite it's huge battles, is more appropriate for kids than this.
( Very mild spoilers and character discussion )
If you like your fairy tales truly fractured, don't mind subtitles and can stand some violence then go and see this film. But I say again, DON'T TAKE THE KIDS!