Fairytale* - Amy Grant

Hey,

How have you been? It has been a while! Hope things are simply brilliant with you!

Do you like fairy-tales? Everyone likes them, dun they? Been wanting to tell you about this movie i caught not too long ago - erm... there are some spoilers that i'm gonna be revealing - so be warned! :-)

The movie is Pan's Labyrinth. I've been wanting to watch since it was released in London months ago, but never had the chance. yeah, one of the many "unfinished business" when i left in a hurry. But at least i managed to "finish" it by catching it a couple of weeks ago.

It was almost like i wasn't meant to watch it - after missing out on countless opportunities in the UK (i even had a free movie ticket pass which i din use), i walked into the cinema here in M'sia. After a while, the lights went off and i got meself ready. But something wasn't right. As this girl behind me correctly pointed out to her boyfren, it appeared that the lights went off due to a power cut - cuz the emergency lights are on. Yes, she was right, and yes, i din get to watch it that day. The electricity never came back.

Still, i persisted and caught it 2 days later - and it was so so worth it!!!!! What a truly wonderful tale. Yes, it's a fairy tale - but not one for kids!!!! The violence even rattled me (tho not as violent as 300 - but that's another story altogether).

It's the storyline that caught me - wat a wonderful story teller Guillermor Del Toro is!!!! It reminded me a little of how i felt watching Spirited Away.

Me mate din like it very much cuz he said that it was too sad. yeah, it was, but it had a happy ending! Or so i hope it to be!!!

You see, me mate argued that the whole thing - the fairies, the other world, the creatures, etc. - are all in the girl's imagination. It was never true. And she died believing in a fantasy.

Whoa... i did not see that when i watched it. Maybe i willed it to have a happy ending. I wanted so much for one - altho i confess i used to dislike movies wif candy-sweet happy endings. So un-real. But wif so much reality in the world - well, it's all reality, ain't it? - one would like some fantasy feel good ending once in a while.

Still, i understood me mate's point and as much as i mentally agreed with him on the possibility of such a sad ending, i simply refused to. I've got me happy ending - let me enjoy it!

Anyways, do catch it if you can - and lemme know if you think it was all real or otherwise.

If anything, go watch it for the performance of Ivana Baquero. Actually, she's the main reason why i'm writing to you about this movie - she reminds me so much of you, albeit a much younger version of course!

Take care - and here's hoping you'll get a fairy tale ending in watever u r doing now. At least then one of us would!

i hope to see ya soon?

p/s - poster obtained from the Official website of Pan's Labyrinth here.

*Taken from her 2nd album, My Father's Eyes which was the turning point of her career. i remember how we used to be crazy over that album, the wonderful lyrics of the songs, her voice, the great bass lines!