Pan’s Labyrinth and the Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema
Just the other day I went to see Pan’s Labyrinth at Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema at 143 East Houston Street. I was quite thoroughly impressed with this film. The movie blends two story lines, one in the “real” world of post Civil War Spain where Captain Vidal is still fighting with rebels in the mountains of Navarra (a wonderful wine producing region of Spain) and one in the Underground or Fairy World occupied by strange and wonderful creatures that are connected to Ofelia, the imaginative daughter of Captain Vidal’s wife.
The drama of this film spills out in both worlds in absolutely gut wrenching proportions. Expect to see a good amount of blood and be subject to scenes you may not be wholly comfortable with. I will say that I think all violence was done within the limits of good taste.
My favorite parts of the film were those that involved the fantastical creatures of the Underworld. Each creature, which is alike to a meticulously crafted digitalized Muppet, has its very own look and personality, they are both beautiful and frightening at the same time. I have a great appreciation for any entertainment outlet that can correctly interpret and show a fairytale in all its beauty and horror, and this film certainly twines these two aspects together with precision and care. You can tell there was great care taken to make sure that all aspects of the Fairy World seemed to come directly from the mind of a wide-eyed child.
My only real disappointment was there was not more of the movie. When it ended I was hoping for at least another half hour of action. I was also hoping for more scenes of the Underworld, but then, I am a bit of a glutton for this type of thing. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is not squeamish or prone to nightmares, most especially if you have a fondness for Grimm’s Fairytales.
In keeping with my ongoing critique of various movie theatres, here is my take on Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema. It is a lovely little theatre that caters to a more artsy crowd. The particular theatre I saw this movie in was in the basement and had stadium seating and quite a nice sized screen. The cinema also has other theatres above ground that are not stadium seating, but the screens are at a height where the person’s head in front of you doesn’t make a large difference. The theatre also boasts more than your usual snacks at the concession stand, including juice drinks and freshly made cookies, yum. The box office of the cinema is outdoors, so the wait can get cold in the dead of winter, and for some reason a lot of the these artsy folk don’t know how to purchase tickets. What should take a person 1 minute of “I want 2 tickets for the 8:15 show of Pan’s Labyrinth” turns into 5 minutes of who knows what, just a lot of needless back and forth. You can, of course, cut the line and go inside to the automated ticket booths, an highly recommended suggestion. I must congratulate the audience members on having no crying babies, no extra large strollers blocking the aisles, and no cell phone interruptions, a major plus. I do have a complaint to make, and that is that after the movie is over you have to listen to every “I took a film critique class in college” wannabe film critic discussing their likes and dislikes of the film before any normal human has had time to digest the movie itself. So there you go, an uninterrupted film in a nice theatre, just beware the faux film buff who knows everything there is to know about operating a boom mic.