The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent

Anybody seen El Laberinto del Fauno / Pan's Labyrinth?

<< < (2/3) > >>

mvansand76:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on April 28, 2007, 01:11:27 pm ---It was just unrelenting. Every time you thought things couldn't get worse...they did.



--- End quote ---

I agree, I totally agree and it's the one reason why I would not be able to watch it again. Or they have to make a less violence version. I just thought that some of the violence or gross things weren't necessary and only served to shock the viewer. How they kept on shooting the guys in the head and showed that. How they showed how the doctor amputated the leg, the torture scenes.

ednbarby:
I've seen Pan's Labyrinth, too, Melissa - I just replied to your post about it over at the Resurrecting the Movies thread.  As I said there, (and I hope this doesn't sound too trite) I thought it was magical.

For some reason, the violence didn't put me off of it like excess violence does in a lot of movies.  For example, I cannot stomach Tarantino/Rodriguez movies.  You couldn't pay me to watch Grindhouse, as good in a stylistic way as many critics say it is.  Or Saw.  Or Hostel.  I just can't stand gratuitous violence.  And yet like I say, for some reason the violence in Pan's didn't bother me all that much.  I think I was just so captivated by the world the little girl created - too busy being overwhelmed by it to be fazed by much else.

I do deeply respect directors who use restraint in such things.  There is a horrific scene in the beginning of "Disturbia" that could have been played to the hilt of goriness.  But the director chose to show one character reacting to what he saw only, and to not show what he saw.  It was so much more powerful that way.  And again, I respected that he didn't stoop to that level and show it.  Same goes for "The Lookout" that I saw a few weeks ago.  A story about some very violent people, and a very violent car crash to boot, but again the director left most if not all of the gore to our imaginations.  And the car crash scene in the latter one and the first scene in the former have stayed with me like they have because of that restraint - because our imaginations are so much more powerful than any special blood-like effects some FX artist can show us.

opinionista:

--- Quote from: Snavel del Snuit on April 28, 2007, 01:17:50 pm ---I agree, I totally agree and it's the one reason why I would not be able to watch it again. Or they have to make a less violence version. I just thought that some of the violence or gross things weren't necessary and only served to shock the viewer. How they kept on shooting the guys in the head and showed that. How they showed how the doctor amputated the leg, the torture scenes.

--- End quote ---

I haven't seen the movie yet. I know I should have being in Spain and all. But oh well. Anyway, I have heard a lot about the movie and one of the reason why it's so violent is because Gillermo del Toro wanted it to be some sort of Fairy Tale, and Fairy Tales are utterly violent.

On the other hand (this is an assessment of mine), the Spanish Civil War was apparently very violent and crude, at least it is remembered like so over here. I know all wars are terribly violent but there seem to be a tendency here to present that historical moment as the most violent episode in Spain's history. Everything I have read or seen about the civil war include excessive violence . I read a novel Los Girasoles Ciegos (The Blind Sunflowers), and some scenes are hard to read. They're unrelenting. Sometimes I wonder if those stories are told in a crude manner to remind people how bad it was so it won't happen again.

opinionista:

--- Quote from: opinionista on April 29, 2007, 07:32:47 am ---I haven't seen the movie yet. I know I should have being in Spain and all. But oh well. Anyway, I have heard a lot about the movie and one of the reason why it's so violent is because Gillermo del Toro wanted it to be some sort of Fairy Tale, and Fairy Tales are utterly violent.

On the other hand (this is an assessment of mine), the Spanish Civil War was apparently very violent and crude, at least it is remembered like so over here. I know all wars are terribly violent but there seem to be a tendency here to present that historical moment as the most violent episode in Spain's history. Everything I have read or seen about the civil war include excessive violence . I read a novel Los Girasoles Ciegos (The Blind Sunflowers), and some scenes are hard to read. They're unrelenting. Sometimes I wonder if those stories are told in a crude manner to remind people how bad it was so it won't happen again.

--- End quote ---

I rented it to watch it tonight so I'll let you know what I thought of it Mel.

opinionista:
I just saw El Laberinto del Fauno, and it is defnitely one of the most original movies I have ever seen. I totally loved it, though it was so terribly sad. I didn't think violence was too crude. Perhaps it was stereotyped but I have read similar stories about the civil war. The post war was even more crude, especially out in the mountains. Franco was a very cruel dictator. Just recently, in Piedrafita, Leon, a common grave was found with hundreds of bodies belonging to members of the resistance. It was worse in the mountains, than in the cities as shown in the movie. And it lasted 40 years.

I think it is a thought provoking movie, and the fantasy enhances the reality of the war and violence. Something like Magic Realism. It is magical yet earthy.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page