Pan's Labyrinth

So I had a pretty busy, seemingly long day and I am trying to break out of some of my bad habits (ie watching TV all night because I don't wanna deal with the world). I thought I would put on a movie and clean my room. I remembered that I still had all of Adam's DVD's so I was flipping through them and I found Pan's Labyrinth, I had been wanting to see it forever. Well it is not the best choice for cleaning my room because it is subtitled and if your eyes are off the screen you are missing dialog, even I can't read that fast.

I don't know about other army significant others, but I have basically sworn off all war movies, shows that talk about the army, movies that take place in the middle east, and anything talking about or having to do with soldiers or war. Movies are fictional and hit too close to home, and the last thing I need is worrying about Adam in a situation that is so far from reality because it was made in Hollywood. It's just too difficult to separate out what is real and what is not. I know it's silly, but that is an easy way to cope right now.

That said Pan's Labyrinth is a war movie and it really speaks to the kind of community and environment that war creates and promotes. Despite all that the movie was amazing and moving. Very well done, the characters and costumes were perfect, so was the plot. Just far enough out there to be fantasy, but with enough tie in to be real. I have to say that in general I like foreign films because you aren't stuck with the typical "and they all lived happily ever after" ending. I like movies that get their message across without shoving it down your throat. I really like La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful), set in Italy in the same time period. Maybe it is because these wars are so far from me that it doesn't bother me and probably in 60 years people will feel the same way about the war in Iraq.

What really struck me about this movie is how unhappy everyone is. All the soldier are unhappy, obviously all the guerrillas are unhappy, one of the main characters talks about how miserable the world is, this movie seems to embody the sadness war creates. It is almost like all of the people except maybe the captain would rather be dead then be living in the misery that surrounds them. I wonder people in the middle east feel that way? How can you look forward to having a family and watching your children grow up when you live in fear of who you can trust? Or that a bomb could explode next to your house? How do people live that way on a day to day basis? I have heard it makes you numb, I hope I never find out.

I think that you can find some of these same themes in the Iraq war, just the unhappiness, the distrust, the confusion, having to choose polarized sides because there is no obvious middle ground, and having to do things that you don't agree with for your safety, I could go on and on.

Well thats what I think. I loved the movie, but it can be very sad, so as Adam would say, "It was a 3 tissue movie." I am sure the circumstance he lives in are different, but I think that it is safe to say I am feeling less worried about my day to day stuff, and the movie is beautiful, if you are up for a war movie.