muscadine | Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth was a good movie, but I don't want to own it for similar reasons to why I would never want to own Boys Don't Cry or Silence of the Lambs. If I were to want to watch any of it again, it would be only clips of the fantasy elements, but that seems a little like cheating. I cannot handle sociopathic violence, and that's a prominent feature of this film - sociopathy and/of war and torture.

One possible criticism of the film is that, at least for me, there were not really many surprises or much suspense. I guess to turn it into a compliment, the foreshadowing was clear and ever-present in all its aspects, yet not overbearing. As appropriate for a fairy tale. The only place where it was a problem for me was the grapes - I couldn't suspend disbelief for that scene. And it could have been made so much more believable given one of the storyline elements dealing with the storeroom. Ah well. A minor blemish.

Recommended. As if you needed me to.