El laberinto del fauno (2006)

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writer:

Guillermo del Toro (written by)

Release Date:

19 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

What happens when make-believe believes it's real?

Plot:

In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

Plot Keywords:

Spain | Fairy | Faun | Princess | Task

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 68 wins & 58 nominations

Cast

Ivana Baquero	...	Ofelia
Sergi López	...	Captain Vidal
Maribel Verdú	...	Mercedes
Doug Jones	...	Fauno / Pale Man
Ariadna Gil	...	Carmen Vidal
Álex Angulo	...	Doctor
Manolo Solo	...	Garcés
César Vea	...	Serrano
Roger Casamajor	...	Pedro
Ivan Massagué	...	El Tarta
Gonzalo Uriarte	...	Francés
Eusebio Lázaro	...	Padre
Francisco Vidal	...	Sacerdote (as Paco Vidal)
Juanjo Cucalón	...	Alcalde
Lina Mira	...	Esposa del alcalde
Mario Zorrilla	...	Jefe de botiquín
Sebastián Haro	...	Captain of Civil Guard
Mila Espiga	...	Esposa del doctor
Pepa Pedroche	...	Conchita
María Jesús Gattoo	...	Jacinta
Ana Sáez	...	Paz
Chani Martín	...	Trigo
Milo Taboada	...	Joven
Fernando Albizu	...	Maquinista
Pedro G. Marzo	...	Encargado
José Luis Torrijo	...	Sargento Bayona
Íñigo Garcés	...	Young Guerrilla
Fernando Tielve	...	Second Young Guerrilla
Federico Luppi	...	Rey
Chicho Campillo	...	Anciano
Pablo Adán	...	Narrator / Faun (voice) (as Pablo Adan)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chema Ruiz
Eduardo Aránega	...	Captain Vidal's Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Guillermo del Toro

Writing credits
Guillermo del Toro		(written by)

Produced by
Víctor Albarrán	....	line producer
Belén Atienza	....	executive producer
Álvaro Augustín	....	producer
Alfonso Cuarón	....	producer
Edmundo Gil	....	co-executive producer
Elena Manrique	....	executive producer
Bertha Navarro	....	producer
Guillermo del Toro	....	producer
Frida Torresblanco	....	producer

Original Music by
Javier Navarrete

Cinematography by
Guillermo Navarro

Film Editing by
Bernat Vilaplana

Casting by
Sara Bilbatúa

Production Design by
Eugenio Caballero

Costume Design by
Lala Huete

Makeup Department
David Martí	....	sfx makeup artist
José Quetglás	....	key makeup artist
Arjen Tuiten	....	special makeup effects artist: DDT

Production Management
Víctor Albarrán	....	unit production manager
Leire Aurrekoetxea	....	unit production manager
Mandy Goldberg	....	post-production supervisor
Javier Mateos	....	location production manager
Michael Toji	....	post-production supervisor
Javier Ugarte	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jorge Calvo	....	first assistant director (as Jorge Calvo González)
Borja Grandio	....	second assistant director
Karin Marzocchini	....	third assistant director
Alberto Terrón	....	second assistant director (as Alberto Terron)
Jorge Vega	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Javier Alvariño	....	set draftsman
Alicia Castro	....	assistant art director
Patricia Cuevas	....	property master
Héctor Gil	....	property master
Carlos Giménez	....	sketches
Gabriel Liste	....	assistant art director
Raúl Monge	....	set draftsman
Raúl Monge	....	storyboard artist
Pilar Revuelta	....	set designer
Iñaki Rubio	....	key props buyer
William Stout	....	conceptual artist
Raul Villares	....	set draftsman
Carlos Zaragoza	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Jaime Baksht	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dana Blanco	....	sound effects editor
Michelle Couttolenc	....	sound recordist
Sergio Diaz	....	first sound editor
Martín Hernández	....	sound designer
Martín Hernández	....	supervising sound editor
Miguel Ángel Polo	....	sound (as Miguel Polo)
Alejandro Quevedo	....	first sound effects editor
Roland N. Thai	....	co-sound designer
Roland N. Thai	....	sound effects editor
Carlos Zamorano	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
César Abades	....	special effects technician
Óscar Abades	....	special effects technician
Reyes Abades	....	special effects supervisor
Javier Aliaga	....	special effects crew: DDT SFX
Ángel Alonso	....	special effects coordinator
Arturo Balceiro	....	special effects makeup
Xavi Bastida	....	special effects makeup
Nelly Guimaras	....	special effects makeup
Raquel Guirro	....	special effects assistant
Pau Loewe	....	special effects crew
David Martí	....	special effects makeup
José M. Meneses	....	special effects technician: DDT
Pablo Perona Navarro	....	special effects makeup: DDT SFX Crew
Montse Ribé	....	special effects makeup
Jose Manuel Rodrigo	....	special effects technician
Sergio Sandoval	....	creatures
Juan Serrano	....	special effects technician: DDT SFX
Aleix Torrecillas	....	special makeup effects: DDT
Joaquin Vergara	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Lindsay Anderson	....	roto/paint artist
Jeff Barnes	....	production executive: CafeFX
Ryan Bozajian	....	rotoscope artist
Mike Bozulich	....	lead compositor: CafeFX
Everett Burrell	....	visual effects supervisor
Kirk Cadrette	....	technical director
Jen Cantwell	....	rotoscope artist
Krishnamurti Costa	....	character animator and rigger: CafeFX (as Kris Costa)
Krishnamurti Costa	....	texture artist: CafeFX
Doug Cram	....	digital compositor
Steve Dellerson	....	visual effects
Dariush Derakhshani	....	effects animator
Domenic DiGiorgio	....	technical animation supervisor
David Ebner	....	associate producer
David Ebner	....	production executive: CafeFX
Alex Friderici	....	visual effects lead
Ron Friedman	....	animation supervisor
Vicki Galloway-Weimer	....	visual effects executive producer: CafeFX (as Vicki Galloway Weimer)
Phillip Giles	....	lighting technical director (as Phil Giles)
Soo Youn Han	....	character animator
Joseph Hoback	....	modeler (as Joe Hoback)
Wendy Hulbert	....	visual effects coordinator
Steve Hutchins	....	paint/roto artist
Vange Ingan	....	office staff: CafeFX
Edward Irastorza	....	co-visual effects supervisor
Edward Irastorza	....	visual effects producer
Tracy Nicole Irwin	....	character rigger (as Tracy Irwin)
Grzegorz Jonkajtys	....	lead animator (as Greg Jonkajtys)
Michael Kaelin	....	rotoscope artist
Michael Kennen	....	digital compositor
Alisa Loren Klein	....	lighting technical director
Derek Krauss	....	digital paint & roto artist
Scott Krehbiel	....	character rigger
Aaron Kupferman	....	digital compositor: Cafe FX
Chris LeDoux	....	digital compositor
Neil Lim Sang	....	animator: CafeFX
Debi Lyons	....	technical director
Chris MacKenzie	....	digital opticals
Szymon Masiak	....	effects animator
Laura Maynadé	....	scanning coordinator
Toby Newell	....	roto artist
Akira Orikasa	....	CG supervisor: CafeFX
Desi Ortiz	....	visual effects senior editor: CafeFX
Chris Pinto	....	rotoscope artist
Fernanda Plana	....	visual effects set coordinator
Lance Ranzer	....	paint/roto artist: CafeFX
Cory Redmond	....	lead CG artist
Richard R. Reed	....	digital compositor: CafeFX (as Richard Reed)
Ruben Rodas	....	paint/roto artist: CafeFX
Bernardo Rodriguez	....	assistant visual effects editor
Emilio Ruiz del Río	....	miniature supervisor
Patrice d.S. Saenz	....	technical director (as Patrice Saenz)
Mag Sarnowska	....	dustbuster
Aaron Singer	....	digital compositor
Eddie Soria	....	paint/rotoscope artist
Adam Stern	....	digital compositor: Cafe FX
Robert Stromberg	....	matte painting supervisor
Robert Tesdahl	....	lead software developer
Robert Tesdahl	....	software development supervisor
Jason Thielen	....	character animator
Danny Torres	....	systems engineer
Leigh van der Byl	....	lighting technical: CafeFX
Leigh van der Byl	....	technical director
Leigh van der Byl	....	texture painter: CafeFX
Tina Wallace	....	rotoscope artist
O.D. Welch	....	executive producer: CafeFX
W. Kale Whorton	....	visual effects editor
Melissa Widup	....	roto/paint artist: Cafe FX
Todd Widup	....	digital animator
Todd Widup	....	lead creature technical director: Cafe FX
Tom Williamson	....	compositing supervisor
Motassem Younes	....	digital opticals
Paul Griffin	....	animation supervisor: pre-production, CafeFX (uncredited)
Phillip Moses	....	production operations: CafeFX (uncredited)

Stunts
Guiomar Alonso	....	stunt double: Maribel Verdu
Eduardo Aránega	....	stunts
Nuria Bueno	....	stunt double
Ricardo Rocca	....	stunts
César Solar	....	stunts
Cuco Usín	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Sergio Delgado	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
David Domínguez	....	camera operator: "d" camera (as David Dominguez)
Jon Elizegui	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Alvaro Garcia	....	second assistant camera
Paco Laso	....	first assistant camera: "d" camera
David Lee	....	gaffer
Juan Leyva	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera (as Juan Leiva)
Rodrigo López	....	first assistant camera: "c" camera
Pavel Proisl	....	grip
Bernardo Rossetti	....	additional Steadicam operator (as Bernardo Rosetti)
Bruce Saintclaire	....	camera operator: "c" camera
Isabel Seco Velasco	....	video technician
Jaromir Sedina	....	Steadicam operator: "b" camera
Bruce St. Clair	....	camera operator: "c" camera (as Bruce Saintclaire)
Rick Stribling	....	key grip
José Luis Torrecilla	....	rigging gaffer
Tom Williamson	....	effects photography

Animation Department
Angie Jones	....	animator: CafeFX

Casting Department
Cristina Perales	....	casting assistant
Macarena Pombo	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Usue Peña	....	costume assistant
Yolanda Urquiza	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Joe Fineman	....	post-production consultant
Francisco Amaro Gómez	....	assistant editor
Nick Iannelli	....	digital intermediate producer
Dave Muscat	....	digital intermediate editor
Laura Sanchez	....	film scanner
Evan Schiff	....	assistant editor
Chris Wallace	....	digital intermediate colorist
D. Todd Deeken	....	post-production services: New Line (uncredited)

Music Department
Brian Howard	....	conductor
Marc Blanes Matas	....	music recordist
Marc Blanes Matas	....	score mixer
Chema Ruiz	....	conductor
Miguel Sanchez	....	conductor

Other crew
Silvia Alonso	....	production assistant
Cristina Campos	....	production assistant
Marc De Blas	....	production assistant
Ana C. Izquierdo	....	production assistant (as Ana Izquierdo)
Yuriria Montero	....	assistant: Guillermo Del Toro (as Yuri Montero)
George Nicholis	....	publicist
Fernanda Plana	....	production assistant
Vivien Quetglas	....	production secretary
Carmen Soriano	....	script supervisor
Sally Steele	....	publicist
Tania Zarak	....	production assistant

Thanks
Jesus de la Vega	....	thanks
Alejandro González Iñárritu	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Tequila Gang
• Esperanto Filmoj
• Estudios Picasso
• OMM
• Sententia Entertainment
• Telecinco

Distributors

• Culture Publishers (CP) (2007) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Paradiso Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2007) (Thailand) (all media)
• New Line Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Senator Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Senator Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• CafeFX (visual effects)
• DDT Efectos Especiales (special effects) (as DDT)

Other Companies

• DeLuxe Toronto  digital intermediate (as Deluxe EFilm Toronto)
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Marcella C. Public Relations  DVD publicity
• Mi Casa Multimedia  DVD/Blu-ray audio mastering 5.1, 7.1
• Milan Records  score album released by
• Penélope Producciones  extras casting
• Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, The  orchestra

Also Known As:

Pan's Labyrinth (International: English title)
The Labyrinth of the Faun (International: English title) (informal literal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic violence and some language.

Runtime:

UK:119 min | Finland:120 min | Canada:112 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Spain | Mexico | USA

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R | UK:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Ireland:16 (theatrical rating) | Italy:VM14 | France:-12 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:R21 | Norway:15 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KNT | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Taiwan:R-12 | Germany:16 | Argentina:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Spain:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | New Zealand:R16 | Malaysia:18PL | Netherlands:16 | Mexico:C | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Iceland:12 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Belchite, Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain

Company:

Tequila Gang

Trivia:

According to the director, the scene involving the giant frog was going to be shot in an extravagant dome "tree" set. Three days prior to shooting, he realized that the frog wouldn't seem so giant in the massive set. The tree tunnel set was constructed in 2 days.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Ofelia bites her finger under her mother's bed, you can see the tube she is squeezing the blood out of.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pan: A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside...

Movie Connections:

References Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Soundtrack:

Pan's Labyrinth Lullaby (Nana del Laberinto del Fauno)

A fey, beautiful and dark masterpiece

Set during Franco's mopping up exercise after the Spanish Civil War, Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is a wonderful, dark fairy tale that, in a metaphor for Spain itself, teeters on the edge of nightmare dreamscapes of corruption, violence and the death of innocents.

This film is definitely not for young children. Although the fantasy sequences are gorgeously realised, and are fairy tales in the truest sense (in that they are dark, fey, dangerous and violent), most of the story (about three quarters of it, in fact) exists outside of the dreamland, in the even more frightening (and sometimes shockingly violent) world of a real life struggle of ideas and ideology.

Sergi Lopez is excellent as the brutal (and possibly sadistic) Falangist Captain tasked with routing out the remaining leftists from the woods and hills of Northern Spain. Into this precarious situation come his new wife (a widow of a former marriage, who is carrying his son) and his stepdaughter Ofelia (played to absolute perfection, by the then 11 year old, Ivana Baquero).

Uncomfortable with her new surroundings, suspicious of her stepfather and desperately concerned about the worsening condition of her mother, Ofelia uncovers a strange alternative world, and the chance to escape forever the pain and uncertainty of her everyday life.

Thus the film alternates between the world of Civil War Spain and the increasingly bizarre, dark and frightening world of the Pan's Labyrinth. As the twin plots progress, they intertwine, with the tasks of Ofelia becoming the choices faced by a Spain at the crossroads. The poignancy of the film lies partly in the fact that the victories of the child are reflected so starkly by the failures of the adult world.

Apparently Pan's Labyrinth won a 20-minute standing ovation at Cannes, when it was shown. This may be a little bit over the top. I suspect when the furore has died down some will choose to swing the pendulum back and criticise it for its more obvious faults. Much of the film is derivative. There are few ideas in the film's magical dreamworld that haven't been seen before. There are also few ideas in the film's depiction of the Civil War that can't be read in Satre or Orwell; can't be viewed in Picasso's Guernica; or can't be watched in Land and Freedom.

For all the evident truth of these observations, to accept them would be to entirely miss the majesty of Pan's Labyrinth, which doesn't lie in its originality but its absolute mastery of execution. People will watch Pan's Labyrinth in a way that most won't watch Land and Freedom. In doing so, they will also discover a world of fairy tales which existed before Disney sunk its claws into them: a dangerous world, where nothing is as it seems and every step is a possible death – a place which may leave even adults shivering under the duvet, part in terror, part in wonder. And all this backed up by the finest cinematography I've seen.

The only real faults I am prepared to allow for this film is a slight tendency (particularly at the end) for a Narnia-like moralism, and the fact that the faun is, perhaps, is not quite wild enough! These are eminently forgivable, though. This is easily the best film I've seen this year, and a must see on the big screen.