Tetro

Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Tetro is the story of a reunion between brothers in Argentina as they deal with their dysfunctional family as well as the expectations to become geniuses. Told in a film-noir style, the film is an exploration of family dealing with the past and brothers trying to get away from the shadow of their composer father. Starring Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdu, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Rodrigo de la Serna, and Carmen Maura. Tetro is a ravishing and provocative film from Francis Ford Coppola.

The film follows a reunion between two brothers in Buenos Aires where they deal with the direction their lives had been in as well as being estranged from their renowned composer father who had made it hard for one of the brothers to succeed as a writer. It’s a film that explores the expectations of a family and the rivalries that was put upon for generations of families to succeed and outdo the previous generation as these two brothers not only deal with the past but also their own relationship. Francis Ford Coppola’s screenplay follow the lives of these two brothers as the 18-year old Bennie Tetrocini (Alden Ehrenreich) arrives to Buenos Aires having learned his older brother in Angelo (Vincent Gallo) has been living there for years under a new name in Tetro where he lives with a former nurse in Miranda (Maribel Verdu) he met when he was hospitalized.

The script showcase the tension between the brothers who hadn’t seen each other in years as Tetro was poised to become this great writer but went insane as he prefers to do lighting for a local theatre. Bennie has heard about a book that Tetro had been trying to write but it is believed to be gone until Bennie found it as it was written in code as it would prompt him to try and fix it while giving Tetro credit. Tetro doesn’t know what Bennie has discovered during the film’s first half as he has a hard time dealing with Bennie’s presence as well as news about their father Carlo Tetrocini (Klaus Maria Brandauer) who is rumored to be ill but Tetro wants to hear nothing about his father. The film’s second half revolves around what Bennie is creating as well as what he does to Tetro’s work which is based on Tetro’s own life as a child which includes the death of his mother and how he lost his girlfriend to his father who would eventually become Bennie’s mother.

Coppola’s direction is definitely stylish for not just setting the film almost entirely in Buenos Aires and shoot much of it in black-and-white in a film-noir visual style. It’s also for the fact that he gives the film a tone that does look like a film from the past though it’s set in modern-day Argentina. While Coppola would use some wide shots for some of the locations, many of his compositions rely on style in the way he would put his actors into a frame or to focus on a certain object on a table as it play into this world that is quite surreal but also entrancing. Much of the film is shot in a 2:35:1 aspect ratio yet Coppola would shoot some flashbacks relating to Tetro’s early life in a different aspect ratio as well as being presented in a colorful yet straightforward photography style. It would play into a world that felt normal but also unsettling as Tetro would reflect on these moments with sadness and anger. The usage of color photography would play into surreal yet theatrical sequences as it would reimagine a few things in Tetro’s life as well as Bennie’s own interpretations of these events during the third act. The sequences are obviously inspired by the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann as they’re both referenced in a scene.

The direction also has Coppola use some unique camera angles for some scenes as well as create something that is playful in the way Bennie reacts toward some of his surroundings. Especially as Coppola would create something where it is obvious where it’s going but it’s more about the aftermath as well as everything Tetro and Bennie had been through. Coppola’s wide and medium shots would capture so much as well as some of the plays that are presented including an offbeat take on Faust to show a world that Tetro is reluctant to be involved in while Bennie knows he can contribute to that world. Notably as he would have a chance for him and Tetro to get out of the large shadow cast by their father in the hope that the next generation of Tetrocini would make something of their own and not give in to expectations. Overall, Coppola creates a rapturous film about two brothers reuniting to deal with the massive expectations of their artistic family.

Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. does incredible work with the film’s cinematography from the noir-like black-and-white photography style for much of the film with its rich approach to light and shadows to the more colorful look of the flashback scenes. Editor Walter Murch does excellent work with the editing as it is stylized with its approach to jump-cuts and other cutting styles to play into the offbeat yet entrancing tone of the film. Production designer Sebastian Orgambide, with set decorator Paulina Lopez Meyer and art director Federico Garcia Cambero, does brilliant work with the look of Tetro’s apartment that he shares with Miranda as well as the stage sets for the plays that Tetro is lighting.

Costume designer Cecilia Monti does fantastic work with the costumes from the clothes worn for the play as well as some of the clothes the characters would wear at social gatherings. Visual effects supervisors Ryan Bozajian and Viktor Muller do superb work with the visual effects as it relates to a few scenes for some of the exteriors as well as the fantasy-play scenes. Sound editor Juan Ferro does amazing work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the some of the locations as well as the sound effects in the play and other aspects in the fantasy scenes. The film’s music by Osvaldo Golijov is phenomenal for its mixture of Argentine tango and folk music with some orchestral elements as it play into the world of Argentina while the music soundtrack would also include some classical and opera music that play into Tetro’s past.

The casting by Walter Rippel is great as it feature some notable small roles from TV talk show host Susana Gimenez as herself, Francesca De Sapio as Tetro and Bennie’s sister Amalia, Ximena Maria Iacono as Bennie’s mother Naomi from a flashback, Lucas Di Conza as the young Tetro, Adriana Mastrangelo as Tetro’s mother, Erica Rivas as Jose’s girlfriend Ana, and Mike Amigorena as the theater director Abelrado as someone Tetro somewhat despises for actually being successful in creating mediocre plays. Rodrigo de la Serna is superb as the theater owner Jose who is a friend of Tetro as he tries to ensure that Tetro doesn’t cause any trouble while Leticia Bredice is wonderful as the actress Josefina as someone who if full of life and charm as she is also Jose’s lover. Sofia Gala is terrific as Josefina’s niece Maria Luisa who would take part in Bennie’s play as she would also become his lover later in the film. Carmen Maura is excellent as the famed art critic known as Alone as this enigmatic woman whose opinion matters as she was a mentor to Tetro as she is someone that looks and feels important as it’s just a fun performance from Maura.

Klaus Maria Brandauer is fantastic in a dual role as Bennie and Tetro’s father Carlo Tetrocini and their uncle Alfie as Brandauer provides this sense of importance and bravado as Carlo as a man who is this great composer while Brandauer provides a more low-key performance as Carlo’s twin brother Alfie. Maribel Verdu is amazing as Miranda as a former nurse who is Tetro’s girlfriend as Verdu provides a maternal warmth towards Bennie as well as being someone who is aware of the secrets Tetro is hiding but knows when she needs to step in. Alden Ehrenreich is brilliant as Bennie as an 18-year old cruise waiter who arrives to Buenos Aires to meet his estranged brother as he would try to learn about why his brother disappeared while learning more about his family and the book that his brother never finished. Finally, there’s Vincent Gallo in an incredible performance as the titular character as this once-promising writer who succumbed to madness as he is trying to stray from that life while carrying some dark family secrets where Gallo displays this sense of anguish in him while not being afraid to be unlikeable.

Tetro is a spectacular film from Francis Ford Coppola that feature great performances from Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, and Maribel Verdu. Along with its gorgeous cinematography, top-notch art direction, sumptuous music score, and a compelling story on family legacies and the shadows cast by previous generations. It’s a film that showcases two men trying to re-forge their bond as brothers and deal with the troubled legacy of their family. In the end, Tetro is a sensational film from Francis Ford Coppola.

Francis Ford Coppola Films: (Tonight for Sure) – (The Bellboy and the Playgirls) – Dementia 13 - (You’re a Big Boy Now) – (Finian’s Rainbow) – (The Rain People) – The Godfather - The Conversation - The Godfather Pt. II - Apocalypse Now/Apocalypse Now Redux - One from the Heart - The Outsiders – Rumble Fish - The Cotton Club – (Peggy Sue Got Married) – (Garden of Stone) – (Tucker: The Man & His Dreams) – New York Stories-Life Without Zoe - The Godfather Pt. III - Bram Stoker's Dracula - (Jack) – (The Rainmaker) – (Youth Without Youth) – (Twixt)

© thevoid99 2017

Y Tu Mama Tambien

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and written by Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron, Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too) is the story of two teenage boys who go on a road trip through Mexico with a Spanish woman in her late 20s. There, the young boys deal with the rules they have created as they fall for this woman as they all try to reach a secret beach. The film is a coming-of-age film of sorts set in 1999 Mexico where the political landscape was changing. With narration by Daniel Gimenez Cacho, the film stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Andreas Almeida, Ana Lopez Mercado, Maria Aura, and Maribel Verdu. Y Tu Mama Tambien is a dreamy yet powerful road drama from Alfonso Cuaron.

With their girlfriends Ana (Ana Lopez Mercado) and Cecilia (Maria Aura) leaving for a trip to Europe, their respective boyfriends in Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal) figure out what to do for the summer. Hanging out with their friend Saba (Andreas Almeida), the two have no idea what to do as they become bored until Tenoch’s sister is getting married as his father is a high-ranking government official. With the middle-class Julio also attending, the two meet up with a beautiful woman from Spain named Luisa (Maribel Verdu) whose novelist/professor husband Jano (Juan Carlos Remolina) is Tenoch’s cousin. After chatting with Luisa about a mysterious beach called la Boca del Cielo (Heaven’s Mouth), the two decide if they want to go to that beach.

After learning that Jano had been cheating on her, Luisa decides to go to the beach with Tenoch and Julio as they borrow Julio’s sister station wagon for this long road trip. There, Luisa learns about the boys’ manifesto that is filled with lots of rules as they drive through rural parts of Mexico as Luisa is still hurt over Jano’s confession. After the car’s radiator gets overheated as they stop in a town, the depressed Luisa would have sex with Tenoch to Julio’s confusion where makes a startling confession. Things start to get tense between the two friends as Luisa would also have sex with Julio where Tenoch would also make a confession driving a wedge between the two friends.

After Luisa eases the tension and taking over, the three finally land on a beach where they meet a fisherman named Chuy (Silverio Palacios) and his family who takes them to la Boca del Cielo where they hang out with his family and have a great time. There, the three would ultimately have the time of their lives while the two boys would face an uncertain future in the trip‘s aftermath.

The film is essentially a road drama where two teenage boys and an older woman travel through Mexico to go to a mysterious beach as they would deal with personal issues about themselves while the friendship of the boys is also tested by temptation and startling confessions. Throughout this coming-of-age journey through rural Mexico, there’s a lot that is happening around them told through a narrator who reveals bits about the lives of the characters as well as the surroundings where things are changing.

The screenplay that Alfonso and Carlos Cauron creates is a story that bends genres where it’s a coming-of-age film of sorts with elements of the road movie as well as a melodrama of sorts that concerns the character of Lucia who is dealing with a lot of things including her husband’s infidelity. It’s also a film about sex where Tenoch and Julio each have girlfriends but neither of them are very experienced as indicated by their many rules including their own sexual moments with Lucia. During this journey, the friendship between Tenoch and Julio starts to disintegrate because they each broke the rules that they and their other friends made. By the time they arrive at the beach and things seem to calm down between the three, there is an uncertainty over what will happen.

The screenplay also succeeds in not just creating characters that are very interesting as well as flawed but also manage to find a way to utilize the narration to be part of the story. Notably as it unveils some details into the lives of its characters while providing insight to the places the main characters encounter. Some of it involves a lot of the political changes that is surrounding Mexico as the film is set in 1999 as its penultimate scene reveals the end of the PRI party reign. Throughout the narration and the dialogue of the character, there is also an element where the Cuaron brothers take shots at the chauvinistic attitude towards homosexuality. Notably as Tenoch and Julio reveal that one of their friends is gay and they have a hard time dealing with it because homosexuality was sort of frowned upon in Mexico at that time. It’s a very complex and drawn-out script that does a lot while not straying into conventional ideas of drama.

Cuaron’s direction is truly entrancing in the way he presents the film through its wandering images and uncompromising ideas towards sex. Notably as the film opens with Tenoch and his girlfriend having sex as they make a vow to not stray into their relationship. Cuaron doesn’t shy away from the fact that the sex will be open and exposed though it doesn’t stray too far into explicit content. Plus, it’s presented with humor as there’s a scene of Tenoch and Julio masturbating on diving boards where a shot of semen is dropped onto the pool. It’s among the many uncompromising ideas Cuaron wants to display in his approach to sex as well as making it feel real.

Since the film is shot on location in various place of Mexico, there is a cinema verite style to the shoot as it includes a lot of hand-held camera work to get into some crowd scenes or smaller moments in the rural parts of Mexico to focus on something that is actually happening. Notably as the camera is always there to exemplify the beauty that is Mexico from its poorest areas to the rich parties such as Tenoch’s sister’s wedding where the Mexican president is present. Overall, Cuaron creates a truly delightful and hypnotic road film that bends various genres and gives a very uncompromising approach towards sex.

Cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki does amazing work with the film‘s rich cinematography that is filled with amazing natural lights for many of the film‘s daytime exterior shots and locations including the beach along with some gorgeous lighting schemes for some of its nighttime interior shots. Editor Alex Rodriguez, with Cuaron, does excellent work with the editing to play up some the rhythm of some of the film‘s sex scenes as well as hilarious comic montages involving Tenoch and Julio that doesn‘t delve into fast-cuts by emphasizing on a more methodical approach to the pacing. Production designers Marc Bedia and Miguel Angel Alvarez, with set decorator Roberto Loera and co-art director Diana Quiroz, do superb work with the set pieces such as the posh home of Tenoch‘s family to the middle-class home of Julio‘s family with some of the set pieces like a local ceremony Tenoch, Julio, and Luisa encounter.

Costume designer Gabriela Diaque does wonderful work with the costumes from the casual clothing of its characters to the gorgeous white dress that Luisa wears at the wedding party. Sound designer Ruy Garcia does fantastic work with the sound from the atmosphere of the parties to the intimate sounds of the beach locations the characters are at. Music supervisors Annette Fradera and Liza Richardson do brilliant work in creating a music soundtrack that mixes to various genres. From low-key ambient pieces from Brian Eno, Bran Van 3000, Miho Hatori, and Natalie Imbruglia to wild alternative Mexico music from Café Tacuba and Molotov with Dub Pistols. Along with music by Eagle Eye Cherry covering the Bee Gees and Senor Coconut covering Kraftwerk, there’s also ranchero music and a wonderful ballad by Marco Antonio Solis in one of the film’s key moments. Playing in the closing credits is the soaring Watermelon in Easter Hay by Frank Zappa.

The casting by Manuel Teil is incredible for the cast that is assembled as it features appearances from Emilio Echevarria as Tenoch’s dad, Diana Bracho as Tenoch’s mother, Juan Carlos Remolina as Luisa’s husband Jano, and Silverio Palacios as the Campos-loving fisherman Chuy. Other notable roles include Ana Lopez Mercado and Maria Aura as the respective girlfriends of Tenoch and Julio in Ana and Cecilia. The film’s funniest performance comes from Andreas Almeida as Tenoch and Julio’s stoner friend Saba who always likes to get high and be cool with the people.

Maribel Verdu is phenomenal as Luisa, the wife of Tenoch’s cousin who is dealing with her own existential issues as well as her husband’s infidelity as she goes on a trip to escape while teaching the young boys how to seduce women as it’s a very entrancing yet mesmerizing performance from the Spanish actress. Finally, there’s Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna in outstanding performances in their respective roles of Julio and Tenoch. With Bernal as the middle class Julio and Luna as the more posh Tenoch, the two bring a lot of humor and energy to their characters as well as a sense of humility when the two betray each other. In the scenes they have with Verdu, the chemistry between the three is engaging and intoxicating in the way they play each other out as they all give very lively performances.

***Additional Text Relating to DVD Releases Written from 12/31/14-1/4/15***

The 2002 Region 1 DVD for the film presents it in its 1:85:1 theatrical aspect ratio in 16x9 widescreen enhanced for widescreen televisions with 5.1 Surround Sound in Spanish with English subtitles. The special features on the DVD include a TV spot and a trailer for the film’s U.S. release as a feature-length audio commentary track from actors Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Andres Almeida. The commentary is in Spanish where one of its drawbacks is that the commentary doesn’t feature subtitles yet it is quite humorous and lively for the fact that they talk about sex and aspects on the film’s production. The special features also includes 4-minutes of three deleted scenes from the film as two of them are scenes set on the road where they meet an old man and another where Tenoch, Julio, and Lucia talk about sex. The third deleted scene involves a scene where Cecilia tries to give Julio a hand job on their way to the airport.

Two other major special features on the DVD release is a 23-minute making-of documentary on the film as it’s one of the most enjoyable and in-depth looks into making the film. It’s a documentary that explores some of the elements of fun in making the film as well as a few pranks Alfonso Cuaron and his crew would do on Maribel Verdu because she is Spanish and the film is set on location in Mexico. Other things on the documentary involve some of the antics involving Cuaron and producer Jorge Vergara as it’s a very lively and fun making-of doc to watch. The final major special feature is a short film by Carlos Cuaron entitled Me La Debes (You Owe Me One) as this 12-minute short revolves a man returning home unaware that his daughter’s boyfriend is in the house while the man is having an affair with his maid. It’s a very funny short that plays into the world of sex from Carlos Cuaron.

The 2014 Region 1/Region A 2-disc DVD/1-disc Blu-Ray dual-disc release from the Criterion Collection presents the film in a brand new 2k digital transfer for its original 1:85:1 theatrical aspect ratio under the supervision of Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki. Along with a newly remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in Spanish with newly improved English subtitles translation as the film looks and sounds more beautiful in its new remastered presentation. The DVD set retains not just the TV spots, the trailers, the deleted scenes, the making-of documentary, and Carlos Cuaron’s short from the 2002 MGM DVD all in remastered form. It also includes two new special features relating to the film.

The first is a 52-minute section of interviews as it features 11-minutes of old interviews with the Cuaron brothers, Lubezki, Bernal, Luna, and Verdu during its production in 2001. Alfonso talks about the genesis of the idea dating back to the early 90s before he would helm his first feature in Solo con tu Pareja in 1991 as it took years to get the project going. The cast and crew talked about the production while Bernal and Luna talked about their longtime friendship and how they often competed for their roles. Lubezki also discusses his collaboration with Cuaron which dates back to the mid-80s as they both were yearning to evolve in their collaboration. The 2014 41-minute interviews with the same personnel, minus Lubezki, discuss about the film and how it evolved during the production as Bernal and Luna talked about their audition process as the former suggested the latter to Alfonso who was reluctant about hiring Luna because he was a soap star at the time. The biggest coup in the production was getting Verdu on board as she was a major star in Spain as Verdu talked about her experiences as well as the fact that Bernal, Luna, and Alfonso were all fighting each other to get her attention.

She also talked about the slang in the film and Cuaron’s approach to improvisation which she found freeing as an actress. Cuaron also talks about a lot of the film’s influences which were primarily films of Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave which inspired the film’s narration. It’s a very amazing interview segment that includes some rare onset photos as well as to see the cast and crew be quite upbeat about the film and its legacy. The nine-minute interview with philosopher Slavoj Zizek about the film’s political/social commentary on the film is a very enjoyable interview where Zizek discusses a lot of the film’s approach to narrative and why it shot Mexico as it is. Some of Zizek’s comments are quite humorous while playing into the main story about Tenoch and Julio as they each represent different classes and political backgrounds as it relates to some of the events that was happening in Mexico. Yet, Zizek also plays into the theme of maturity and how bitter it can be since the idea of change isn’t something easy to accept.

The DVD features a booklet that features an essay by film critic Charles Taylor of the Yale Review in an essay titled Dirty Happy Things. Taylor’s essay explores much of the film’s sexual content but also the theme of maturity that parallels with the sense of change that would emerge in Mexico. Taylor discusses the film with Cuaron’s other films in how they’re all related as well as discuss some of the political context that is in the background in the film. It’s a very engaging essay that understands the film as a road trip, a coming-of-age film, a political film, and a romantic film. The dual-disc set features character bios by Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron on the three principle characters that explores much of their background as it would be used in the film’s final product. The DVD/Blu-Ray set is definitely one of the finest additions to the Criterion Collection it deserves its place to be among the list of great films in that home video series.

***End of DVD Tidbits***

Y Tu Mama Tambien is marvelous yet evocative film from Alfonso Cuaron featuring top-notch performances from Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdu. The film is definitely not just one of the best films to come out of Mexico but also one of the great international film treasures from the last decade. It’s a film that show Cuaron being fearless in his depiction towards sexuality without going too far as well as a very human drama about a road trip that would be unforgettable. In the end, Y Tu Mama Tambien is an extraordinarily rich and intoxicating film from Alfonso Cuaron.

Alfonso Cuaron Films: Solo con Tu Pareja - A Little Princess (1995 film) - Great Expectations (1998 film) - Prisoner of Azkaban - Children of Men - Gravity - Roma (2018 film) - The Auteurs #11: Alfonso Cuaron

© thevoid99 2012

Pan's Labyrinth

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/21/07 w/ Additional Edits.

Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) is the story of a young 12-year old girl who moves to the countryside with her pregnant-mother and new, militant stepfather. Reveling into a world of fantasy and fairy tales, the girl enters a world where she is the long-lost daughter of a mythic figure where she has to take three tasks to regain a kingdom. A change of pace of sorts into the world of fantasy, del Toro heightens his skill in technical visuals and his gift for storytelling for a film that crosses fantasy and art-house. Starring Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Ariadna Gil, Maribel Verdu, Roger Casamajor, and del Toro regular Doug Jones. El Laberinto del Fauno is an enchanting, visual spectacle from Guillermo del Toro.

It's 1944 Spain just after the Spanish Civil War where a young, 12-year-old girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is going to the northern countryside with her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) to meet her new stepfather Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). On their way, Carmen gets a little sick as Ofelia finds a stone that looked like an eye and when she placed it onto a statue, an insect-like fairy appears. Arriving onto the house, Vidal meets his wife and stepdaughter as he is trying to rid of the last group of rebels in the mountains. Ofelia meets Vidal's maid Mercedes (Maribel Verdu) and Dr. Ferreiro (Alex Angulo) who realizes that Carmen shouldn't have traveled this late in her pregnancy as Vidal insists that he wants his soon-to-be born son with him. While Vidal and his associates Serrano (Cesar Vea) and Garces (Manolo Solo) plan their attack and await supplies, Carmen now rests as she is feeling ill. Ofelia meanwhile, is amazed by the fairy that she enters into an old, abandoned labyrinth that upon walking into it, she meets a 7-foot tall faun (Doug Jones) where he claims that she looks like the old princess of the underworld. In order to fulfill her rightful place to the underworld, she must fill out three tasks.

On the day Vidal is to have a dinner party, Ofelia uses a mysterious book, given by the faun, to do her first task to feed three stones to a toad underneath an big, old tree that is dying. Through the mud, Ofelia succeeds in her task where she retrieves a gold key. Upon her return, Ofelia learns that Mercedes is a spy who is trying to help her brother Pedro (Roger Casamajor), who is leading the rebels. With her mother ill and becoming increasingly ill due to the pregnancy, she is to be sedated by Dr. Ferreiro as the faun helps Ofelia to give her a mandrake root that will help ease the pain of her mother's pregnancy. For her second task, the faun gives her a chalk to create a magical door into a world with limited time where she must retrieve a gold dagger from a pale man (Doug Jones) who is having a feast. With the help of a few more fairies, Ofelia gets the dagger but ignoring the warning of the faun and the fairies, she eats a couple of grapes that awakes the pale man in which she barely escapes.

The ignored warning upsets the faun who decides to no longer help her and tells her that she will be cursed in the real world while her soul will not return to the underworld. With the resistance growing, Vidal captures a soldier where he finds out that there is more than one spy while he also learns about the mandrake in which, Carmen's ignorance towards magic begins to creates tragedy during the birth of her son. After the birth, Vidal begins to make suspicions towards Ofelia and learns that Mercedes is the spy. Yet, after she escapes with Ofelia in tow, she is captured only to escape again as Ofelia is trapped. The faun reappears with a fairy in giving Ofelia one more chance to complete the final task in which is to take her baby brother and take him to the underworld. Yet, the timing becomes crucial as the rebels take charge where Vidal tries to take control and learn what Ofelia is trying to do with his newborn son.

Given to Guillermo del Toro's fascination with fairy tales and fantasy, El Laberinto del Fauno is truly an adult fairy tale of sorts with some parts that is easily accessible for children. While the film has two different stories, one about the resistance in the post-Spanish Civil War and Ofelia's story, it's balanced to contrast the different worlds. Really, this film is about a young girl trying to escape the real world and try to make something better for herself, her mother and brother, and those who want to find something better. Yet, the background of the Spanish Civil War is handled perfectly through del Toro's script as he reveals the resistance against Fascist Spain where the realities of the times were harsh. The politics of those times isn't what del Toro aims for rather than telling this story of a little girl whose love of fairy tales and fantasy come to life as she brings a bit of hope to people who have seem to lost some faith.

While del Toro's writing is wonderfully told with a balance towards the brutality of war and mysticism of fantasy, it's his directing that really gets both films together. The directing is masterful as he manages to get characters to have their own stories where the parallel to Mercedes and Ofelia are similar since they're two females wanting something better. Though there's a cynicism towards things like magic and fantasy, del Toro offers something that is opposite in which audiences can relate to. Not only is del Toro a very gifted director, which was shown in films like Hellboy and Blade 2, but he knows how to tell stories and give characters moments to shine where there's scenes in which Vidal is paying attention to his broken stopwatch which is a reminder about his own father. The characters are fully-developed including the villainous Vidal who is a bit more complex in terms of his attentive to detail and revealing a bit of his own form of mercy. Overall, the directing and the presentation that del Toro brings is amazing and surpasses the film he's done previously.

Helping del Toro out in his visual presentation is longtime cinematographer Guillermo Navarro. Navarro's visual coloring of blue through many of the film's night sequences, interior and exterior, are exquisite including a few sequences in the rain in the day time mixed in with green and red are wonderful. Even some of the daytime exterior settings are wonderfully shot as Navarro's camerawork is some of the best shots ever shown on film. Production designer Eugenio Caballero does amazing work in not just re-creating the country look of Northern Spain circa 1944 but the designs of the stone statue, the labyrinth, and the world of the pale man. Visual effects supervisors Everett Burrell and Edward Irastorza do great work in the film's design of creatures and fairies to give the film a majestic look of fantasy. Makeup artist Jose Quetglas does some spectacular work in having Doug Jones play both the faun and pale man where the make-up for the creatures is great with help from costume designers Lala Huete and Rocio Redondo for the faun suit including the clothes for the other characters.

Editor Bernat Vilaplana does some wonderful job in the editing including the shift from sequences to sequence where a camera shot would move to something black from one location to a different one. Plus, it's done with great rhythm and style as it's not too fast or too slow while giving takes that make the audience aware of what's going on. Sound designer Martin Hernandez and recordist Miguel Angel Polo do great work in bringing the tense atmosphere of the war and fantasy sequences to add a bit of suspense to a few scenes where the sound work is exquisite. Music composer Javier Navarette brings a wonderfully melodic, enchanting score that plays to the film's fantasy moments with such subtlety while bigger arrangements are done during the film's more intense sequences.

The film's cast is brilliant with notable small performances from Cesar Vea and Manolo Solo as Vidal's associates while Roger Casamajor is great as Mercedes' rebel brother Pedro. Ariadna Gil is great as Carmen, the mother who tries to tell her daughter to grow up from her world of fantasy while dealing with her own pregnancy and pain. Alex Angulo is great as the sympathetic, caring Dr. Ferreiro, who doesn't take side on the war other than he believes that loyalty can be misguided in a crucial scene with Sergi Lopez. Doug Jones is brilliant in his dual role as the pale man and the faun who is complex in his strictness while being a sympathetic figure as Jones brings a lot to role, especially being an American actor having to do the film in Spanish, which he doesn't speak prior to this film. Maribel Verdu of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame gives probably one of her best performances as the maternal Mercedes who cares for Ofelia while having to play servant to Vidal and dealing with her own lack of faith. Verdu goes through the biggest development of character as she has to play spy for the resistance while being a woman who has to do right while trying to believe her lost faith in fantasy.

Sergi Lopez is excellent as the malevolent, strict Captain Vidal with his brutal approach to interrogation and violence while having his own strange beliefs of death and destiny. Lopez adds a lot to a character that could've been a caricature but Lopez's charisma and sadism makes Captain Vidal an unforgettable villain. Finally, there's 12-year old Ivana Baquero in what is truly an amazing performance. Baquero brings a joy and innocence to a girl who has a love for fantasy yet can't help but be in awe of this mysterious world in contrast to what's going on in the real world. Baquero adds a lot to the character as she is trying to help her mother while being aware that her new stepfather is someone she can't accept as her father. She is a truly sincere character as Baquero really brings a lot of compassion and weight to this performance.

El Laberinto del Fauno is truly a majestic, imaginative film from Guillermo del Toro and company. With a great cast led by Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, and Doug Jones, this film truly proves of del Toro's talents as a director. While this film does share similar ideas of bleak worlds with other features like Babel and Children of Men, which is both directed by Mexican directors Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Alfonso Cuaron respectively. The film del Toro brings is a bit more accessible in the fact that it's a fairy tale of sorts in the way that children and adults can admire. Though, it should be warned that the film does have some graphic violence that might scare children. Yet, this film has made it clear that Guillermo del Toro is becoming a top international director who has helped make Mexico becoming a leading country for cinema. In the end, El Laberinto del Fauno is a must-see for anyone who loves fantasy.

Guillermo del Toro Films: Cronos - Mimic/Mimic (Director's Cut) - The Devil's Backbone - Blade II - Hellboy - Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Pacific Rim - Crimson Peak - The Shape of Water - Nightmare Alley (2021 film) - Pinocchio (2022 film) - The Auteurs #10: Guillermo del Toro

© thevoid99 2012