Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth is not a story for children.

Since the passing of the Chusok holiday, there have been one or two English language movies coming out here in Korea about every week. The movies are released on Thursdays. I've seen everything from the completely awful DOA to my new favorite movie of the year, The Departed.

I go to matinees to avoid the ridiculously insane herd of teens that visit the movies on Friday and Saturday nights (Seriously, if you Columbia people thought the Forum 8 was bad at the 7:00 shows on Friday night, come to Korea). The only new movies I heard of coming were Pan's Labyrinth and Saw III. I decided to pass on Saw III, but on the other hand, I had heard that Pan's Labyrinth was in Spanish.

When riding the bus home from Okpo after church, I ran into one of my students from Jisepo. He's English is good and he's one of my favs. He was in town with this younger brother after going to church themselves and were headed to the movies. So, I decided to swing by with them to check show times. I decided to ask the employees about Pan's Labyrinth and had my student as a crutch if I needed a translator.

Long story short, the employees swore that the movie was in English. I specifically asked if it was in Spanish, and they shook their heads no emphatically. So, I went to the movie with my student and his brother. I was disappointed when the subtitles on the bottom of the screen were in Korean, and the language was definitely Spanish.

I was surprised at how much my high school language helped me understand the movie. I got the general idea of what the content of each conversation was from body language, and my elementary Spanish skills. Even though I didn't understand every word, I have to say, the movie was amazing. Probably the third best movie of the year (after The Departed and United 93.)

External Links:
A fellow American in Korea's take on Pan's Labyrinth