Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth, which was written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, is absolutely spellbinding, whisking you away in a masterful updraft. Del Toro’s Pan has managed to combine of two of my most favorite past times in movies, gore and whimsy, in an artful display of grim beauty. The story is of a young girl, who is set with three tasks in order to return and attain her rightful place as princess of the fairy realm.
Though, thought at first as a Disney tale made flesh instead of cartoon, the setting in 1944 after the Spanish Civil War gives the film a darker, more sinister depth to the plot. The violence is what I thought was the most artistically beautiful, though, albeit morbid. Del Toro manages to make a symphony of blood that ties close to the heart of the plot, frequently being that most everything revolves around harshness, cruelty and violence.