I went to see Pan's Labyrinth on Saturday, it's a fantastic film. It is about a little girl who has to go to live with a Fascist army captain (her step-father) in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. They go from their life in teh city to a creaky old house in the countryside, where amid the battle between hardened Republican guerrillas and El Capitan's Fascist troops the girl enters a magical world of fairies, fauns and magic. She is told she is the reincarnation of a magical princess and must complete three tasks to prove her worth.
The storys of the battle between the Fascists and the Republicans and the girls quests are intertwined and told alongside each other - the contrast between the magical fantasy characters of the girls world and the brutal realities of the Franco dictatorship is brought out but the stories have parallells as well. The girl's struggles in her quests can be seen as metaphors for the Republicans struggles in the 'war'.
All in all, I thought it was a fantastic film, great performances from each area of the cast. Normally child actors are about as appealing to me as smallpox, but the girl is magnificent, never prissy or sentimental. The Fascist captain is magnificent - the whole construction of the character embodied facism, from his costume, to his lines to his performance. Superb.