Did anyone feel like it had a similar style in story? I know Del Toro was a part of both movies, but the stories led to the "were they imagining the whole time or was it real" question.
I have to admit though, when it showed the little body on the floor and then flashbacked to when she put the poles against the door, I got a little shock. It was pretty cool.
Personally, I felt the two stories to be quite different beside the fact that they are set in the same country and deal with a fantasy vs reality theme. For a start, Pan's Labyrinth seems to suggest that the fantasy is indeed real in a number of key scenes whereas El Orfanato stays ambiguous right to the end- it merely informs us how the characters have interpreted to the events of the story and then puts it to us to make up our own minds. By contrast, in Pan's there is a point halfway through the story where we are given enough information to confirm the existence of the story's fantasy elements. Furthermore, the whole approach to Pan's is comparable to a greek myth wherein the characters are presented as broad archetypes. The protanogist is a child who has a destiny to fullfill and even if she fails in her tasks she is still fated to return to her rightfull place because that's what the prophecy says.
El Orfanato on the other hand has more developed, nuanced characterisation throughout, perhaps because it focuses on fewer characters and primarily on one central protagonist. It is essentially the story of Peter Pan as told from the mother's perspective except in this case the mother is in many ways responsible for the seperation from her child. It's not so much that Laura has a destiny to fullfill; it's more that she has a (troubling)past to come to terms with which she has refused to do right up until the last act of the film. I have the feeling that Del Toro will have more creative control with the american remake and they will put more weight on the spiritual interpretation which is why I dont think it will be as challenging as the original.
Wow. I wish I was as well-spoken as you are :)
Only the ambiguous ending reminded me of Pan's Labyrinth, though Labyrinth is essentially a fantasy movie, while this isn't.
Pan's Labyrinth was a far superior movie. In this one, the little zinger in the end was nice, but the overall plot was weak and the build-up to it just didn't make sense. There was little room for interpretation in this movie, the end scene shows the grave of the woman, so she obviously died and was delusional; but this also pulls into question many of the events that happened prior.
sharehmm, I didn't have a doubt in my mind that the supernatural elements were real in this film.
share