Movie Review: Pan's Labyrinth

Last night, I saw Pan's Labyrinth, and whoa, it was DARK. Good, but really, really dark. The main character is Ofelia, an imaginative girl who loves books and fairytales. She is thrilled to encounter an actual fairy, who takes her to a labyrinth where she meets Pan. She learns that she is the reincarnated princess of an underground kingdom, and Pan gives a her series of tasks to complete that will allow her to return to her kingdom. In the real world, however, Ofelia's life is more nightmare than fairytale. Spain's Civil War has just ended, and Ofelia's ailing mother is married to a brutal and vicious fascist captain. He is the leader of a military unit charged with destroying the rebels hiding out in the mountains, unaware that two of his own employees are aiding them. So, basically, it's Jim Henson's Labyrinth meets For Whom the Bell Tolls. In Spanish. With amazing special effects. I just hope that no one brings a kid to see it, thinking it's a fantasy film, because there are some very graphic, violent scenes. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised that the movie has become so popular, because it's both unusual and foreign, but I guess I'm not the only one who liked it.