Back in 2006, long before Guillermo del Toro won the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for The Shape of Water, the filmmaker made an announcement of the highest order with his Pan’s Labyrinth. The beautiful, wickedly creative film has just gotten the most visually pleasing and sonically succulent upgrade to 4K Blu-Ray … and it’s out now!
The film centers on Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl who has survived a blood soaked civil war in her native Spain. She goes from the frying pan and into the proverbial fire when cruelty arrives in her immediate world, courtesy of her new stepfather. The military officer, seeks to run his home the way he orders around his soldiers. It doesn’t exactly endear himself to his new stepdaughter, not does he care. For Ofelia, life takes a turn (for the better? It is too early to tell) when she simultaneously finds a cryptic labyrinth and a faun. Both catapult her on a path that could save herself and most importantly for this young lady … her mother.
When the firm separation that exists between the make believe and the real world starts to blur, our young heroine finds herself in the middle of an epic, all-out fight between the forces of good and those consumed by evil.
You have to adore and appreciate a movie that plays up the joyous nature and expansive potential of a child’s imagination. It’s something that del Toro has long been fascinated with, even expanding that exploration into adults’ creative fantastical potential and at what point that fades in life, or hopefully, it never does. But there is something specifically majestically magical about the fantastical richness of a child. It’s innocent, sure, but it goes deeper than that and in the hands of a filmmaker of del Toro’s talent, stature and visual command, the entire endeavor is one to treasure, celebrate and most importantly visit and revisit often.
Pan’s Labyrinth was written and directed by del Toro and its reception was immediately one of absolute praise. The Cannes Film Fest audiences were the first to witness its cinematic power and the audience was so overtaken with what they had just witnessed that they gave the filmmaker a 22-minute standing ovation. The salutations did not stop there. The phenomenal fantasy flick went on to win three Oscars—Cinematography, Art Direction and Makeup.
That wider color spectrum that is just one feature of 4K resolution making it a worthy upgrade, is on full display with the palette that the filmmaker utilizes. It is nothing short of a visual marvel and if there is a film that should serve as a showcase of the benefits of taking that plunge and getting a 4K Blu-Ray player and matching Hi-Def television, it is Pan’s Labyrinth. The thing is, we were already at a starting point that was eye-popping in its original format. That transfer to Blu-Ray, first in 2007 and then with a Criterion version in 2016, moved the visual needle further into utter eye candy. This 4K edition … let’s just say if movies were football teams, those charged with the 4K upgrade have lit up the scoreboard.
The Pan’s Labyrinth 4K release comes with a two-disc set with brand new cover art that is sure to please longtime appreciators of this instant classic. Bonus features, well there’s nothing new, but for those of us that didn’t have this film in our collection, it’s all new to me!
Given his artistic investment in the film, the Director’s Prologue and Audio Commentary with director Guillermo del Toro are both priceless experiences for fans of this film. Hearing his insight throughout, especially while witnessing his artistic brilliance, with the audio commentary track is like a masterclass in filmmaking. There is also a feature, entitled Enhanced Visual Commentary which is exactly as it sounds … and it is amazingly awesome.
The Power of Myth featurette is especially fascinating as it allows our writer-director to wax poetic about what it is about myths that have commanded our collective attention as long as people have told each other stories. For the man who is an absolute expert in the art of myth and movies, this bonus feature is simply incredible. Pan and the Fairies, The Color and the Shape and The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale are all equally as impressive in their ability to add layers of literal and figurative color to what is already a colorful cinema experience.
Fans of del Toro will get a kick out of The Director’s Notebook. Between his use of notes and sketches, storyboards and a terrific look at VFX Plate Comparison, you will be mesmerized by a filmmaker teasing brilliance that we know in a decade’s time, will exponentially grow. That, above all else, may be the most impressive thing about the entire Pan’s Labyrinth 4K Blu-Ray.
Film Grade: A
Bonus Features: A