Episode 6: Pan’s Labyrinth
Justin:
As I have mentioned a few times over these first episodes, I tend to watch the movies and shows that I do with subtitles in order to have a clearer understanding of the script, catching as much dialogue as I possibly can. This is actually a relatively new habit I’ve formed, as through most of my 20s, I would have avoided subtitles like Ofelia was supposed to avoid the Pale Man’s feast. This of course means that for most of my life, I’ve evaded a great deal of foreign films. It’s a terrible thing to admit and I know it sounds bad, but on the plus side, it means that I get to now experience the wondrousness of movies such as the one we covered tonight. And if I could talk to former me, the one who was resistant to movies such as this simply because I’d have to do a little bit of reading, I would emphasize that the magic of Pan’s Labyrinth lands with a little more oomph BECAUSE of it being told in a tongue other than that of good old ridiculous English. The character of the Faun, in particular, completely enthralled me with his speech patterns and diction and rhythm. I was left wanting so much more of him in as many scenes as possible, and ultimately I was admittedly disappointed in the movie as a whole, as he was absent a tad too much for me. But I can honestly say that whatever flaws this movie has (in my own flawed opinion, of course) it is far better off in Spanish. So for those egocentric Americans out there who would avoid this magical fairy tale simply because of the subtitles, I plead that you go along with me and adjust your beliefs just a little bit, like, say, the compassionate revolutionary Mercedes, who would suggest that once upon a time, we believed in a lot of things that we don’t believe anymore.
