I saw it twice in 24 hours. It is, in my opinion, incredible. The surreal setting almost appears shakespearian and could be mistaken for the dramatic, dark and beautiful grace of a live play. Ofelia's external life is violent and far too obscene for a child of such innocence; which greatly contrasts to the mysterious and satisfying inner life that she may resort to, this labyrinth. What is the most thought provoking in this film is the idea of how we perceive our waking lives and what is real. How do we know that when we die on earth, it is the infinate termination of our soul? We don't! This movie allowed me to restore some hope that accompanying every end is an instant beginning. our lives are eternal and we are constantly rebirthing our souls. It's great.

I saw it at the weekend and my thoughts are somewhat mixed. It is, above all, a technical achievement in film-making the likes of which we have not seen in many years. The dark, moody palette is getting its fair share of use these days but that does not diminish the lush weirdness of the photography used here. The story itself is a take-what-you-need arrangement with the real and fantasy worlds never fully divided and purposely, uncomfortably so. The ending is either happy or sad depending on your world-view. My biggest issue with Pan's Labyrinth was that there was no safe place to inhabit within the film. The real world we are shown is a tableau of horror after horror and the fantasy world, well, it's ain't much cosier. I could not get close to any one character in the story, not even the wonderful child who plays Ophelia. Her film-negative Alice In Wonderland left me cold. Why does she do the things she does? Why can I feel almost nothing for her as she does them? I may have to see it again. The imagery is seriously Jungian and frightening on levels I am not used to experiencing in modern film but compelling all the same. Must see.