Thanks to my friend Jason I was able to easily knock watch a foreign film off my list!

I borrowed Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish), Cinema Paradiso (Italian), and Amelie (French). I started with Pan’s Labyrinth and after that monstrosity of a movie I am going to have to wait until another night to check out the other two.

I would highly recommend Pan’s Labyrinth to anyone It is so hard to describe but perhaps the best way is a Fantasy/Drama. It felt like Alice in Wonderland meets some World War II Story meets Stephen King meets The Grimm Brothers. It was beautiful.

As a side note, the subtitles did not bother me at all. I felt as though it flowed well. I rarely thought about the fact it was not in English. Maybe that was particular to this movie, but I suppose I will see when I get around to watching the other two. Also, I happened to read that the director, Guillermo del Toro, did the subtitles himself so that he could have full control over the translation into English.

Regardless, top notch. Go find it! Watch it. And then hide from the underworld and oppressive military captains for the rest of the evening…

Here is a preview if you are interested: Pan’s Labyrinth Trailer. But I don’t think this does it justice. It is weird that it is in English and it slightly diminishes the beauty and surrealism of the actual movie. You will just have to watch the movie to get the real effect.