Pan’s Labyrinth, Children of Men
Watched two Mexican-directed movies recently.
First, del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (Laberinto del Fauno). Most reviewers seem to be in love the film; it got 96% on rottentomatoes — an incredibly high score. However, I must disagree with the film critics. In my opinion, the movie is definitely overrated. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad film; it’s quite watchable. But it suffers from a number of problems. First, the bad guy, Capitán Vidal, has no redeeming qualities. He kills, tortures, refuses to admit mistakes, mistreats his wife, beats his stepdaughter, and in every single case where he has a choice, he makes a choice that would make the audience hate him. In other words, he is boring. As a general rule of thumb, interesting characters have to be conflicted; they may be evil, but they need to have an aspect that the audience could sympathize with. As it is, Capitán Vidal’s role was wasted. Similarly, the Doctor, Mercedes, and the guerrillas are pure good. Which, if anything, is even more boring. Then there is the needlessly repetitive motif — Faun’s horns, the arch at the entrance to the Labyrinth, the carvings on the wooden bed, the branches of the toad tree… Yes, we get it, magic everywhere, it’s not necessary to rub it in so much. How hard would it have been to come up with more than one visual motif for a 2-hour movie?
Then there is the magic. I am not sure how to characterize this — the magic failed to engage me. Remember Mirrormask? Girl trapped in a magical world, stunning visuals, a 21st century Alice in Wonderland, etc.? Same problem. I could admire the CGI and the costume design, but I didn’t feel anything. There was never any suspense. Never any feeling of danger (don’t tell me you felt the Pale Man had any chance of catching Ofelia). No emotions, from her or from the viewer. Just going from point A to point B. Of course, Faun’s third quest did engage me, but the first two? Meh.
Maybe I’m just desensitized.
Now, as for Cuarón’s Children of Men: that was more to my liking. Compared to Labyrinth, the basic idea is quite primitive: guy escorts vulnerable woman through hostile territory, encountering a host of crazy characters along the way. Yet somehow the pacing is just right, everything comes together nicely, and the movie Just Works. Plus, the movie is full of neat touches. There are constant references to today’s politics (a witch hunt for illegal immigrants, Homeland Security prison buses, detainees in black hoods, angry demonstrators chanting “Allahu akbar”, arguments over legalization of marijuana, tanks in city streets, etc.) There is the absurd humor: a Pink Floyd-style inflatable pig; Theo’s constant problems with shoes; Kee’s crazy names for her baby; today’s luxury car (Vel Satis) turned into a piece of junk; government-issued suicide pills, etc. And it’s nice to see foreign characters played by actors of the correct nationality: the Polish terrorist Tomasz is played by a real Polish actor, the Gypsy is played by a Romanian, and the Russian grandmother sings her lullaby with no hint of an accent. Oh, and people suffer and die. People that the movie makes you care about. This is hardly a happy-end Hollywood flick.
The only real downside of the movie is that several important characters — Kee, the hippie Jasper, the Gypsy Marichka — are pretty much flat stereotypes. And the dialogue is a bit clichéd in a couple of places. Fortunately, the movie moves fast enough, and introduces new characters often enough, that one quickly gets over the less-polished parts. Overall, I must say it’s an excellent film.