Pan’s Labyrinth

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This is an adult fairytale told against the backdrop of 1944’s Fascist Spain.  A young girl (Ofelia) and her pregnant mother travel to live with a sadistic Spanish Captain.  Ofelia’s mother has recently remarried the Captain and her unborn child is his.  The Captain is fighting a personal war against rebels in the surrounding hills.  Ofelia begins to interact with a fantasy world of faeries and fauns, discovering she is herself a faerie princess.

Pan’s Labyrinth is very clearly two intertwined stories.  A compelling drama of rebellion, betrayal and loss in a bloody war and an equally compelling tale of a young girl seeking to escape the harsh reality of her new life.

The viewer is challenged to decide if Ofelia’s story is real or imagined, in some ways to make the same choice those around her are forced to make when she reveals the truth.

The film is in Spanish with English subtitles, is shot with del Toro’s now trademark brilliance and vision, and as mentioned, is compelling viewing.  The contrast between the real world and it’s rebellion and the faerie world somehow makes both seem even more solid.  The characters are believable and engaging, and in a very short space of time empathy is built for Ofelia and the adults around her.

Ivana Baquero plays Ofelia and brings life to the role, her performance is truly memorable.  The cast around her is superb as well.

Pan’s Labyrinth is not an easy listening fantasy tale, or something you can just put on in the background, it’s a challenging and interesting story which encourages you to think and believe.  Well worth the effort.

Update from the snot-front

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Grete’s still pretty ill, she had a mix of sickness-bug and cold yesterday, her temperature got up over 102 last night.  We spent the early part of the night just trying to keep her cooled down, she’s a little better today.  I’ve still got a cough (and the associated headache) and generally snot-issues, also feel like I still have a temperature.

Really sucks the energy from you – the house looks like a bomb site which is a real shame since it was really clean when our friends visited.  We’ve been existing on whatever food is in the house or takeaway.  We managed to get out today and pick up some food though so that should help.

With the lack of energy comes a lack of writing for NaNoWriMo, but I’m confident I’ll start up again in a few days, despite now being three days behind.

And today is the 4th November, which means Americans get out to vote (in case you hadn’t noticed).  Good luck Obama.  Good luck America.

The Incredibles

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Well, what a thoroughly entertaining and all round excellent film.  Amazing animation, funny characters, interesting story.  I half intended to see this in the year it was released (2004) but as usual things got in the way, and since then it’s just never been the right moment or time.

I found myself laughing, crying and cheering in equal amounts, considering the characters on the screen are totally animated it’s impressive how much emotion they manage to generate.

There’s clearly not much to be said about the deep plot or the meeningful dialog, but this is an animated hero comedy for grown ups and it delivers.  Go rent it.  Watch it.

No Connection

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No Internet connectivity from work today due to a mess-up with a user ID expiring.  I managed to survive though.

In the car on the way in this morning I thought up a couple of story directions for the NaNoWriMo story, which is hopeful.

Grete’s absolutely terrible today, both a cold and some kind of sickness bug it would seem.  I’ll be working from home as much as possible this week.

NaNoWriMo: Day 2

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No progress on the novel today, in fact, negative process.  I don’t like the story, I don’t like where it’s head and I’m not sure I even like the genre.

Or the hero.

That can’t be good huh.

Motivation

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Not long got back from a delicious Sunday lunch out with friends, really enjoyed it.

Both myself and Grete are still feeling pretty grotty, Grete’s got the cold full on now, I’m on the tail end.

Don’t feel very creative, only just over 6 hours to go before I need to have written another 1600 words, think I’ll sit in the other room for a bit and try and absorb some ideas from the TV.

Well you never know, it might just work.