10 years from now, open cinema history books and you'll find Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth included in one of filmmaking's best made fantasy films of all time. I assure you, even a dimwit like me could predict it would definitely happen.

This is a magnificent work of talent, art, and exceptional imagination. Pan's Labyrinth is a fairy tale, yet not intended for children. It's dark, gruesome, gory, bloody, and adamantly straightforward since the time Martin Scorcese or Quentin Tarantino introduced how to properly blow or axe someone's head off in front of the camera. Well we never heard that happen in fairy tales because last time we gathered, fairy tales were from the Disney department and we never get to see things that are way out of the PG section. So basically, this is a fairy tale for adults; a great fantasy filled with wonder and dark beauty that ensnares us and transport us back to the childhood days when we were still gaping with amazement and terrified in delectable horror.

Yet, Guillermo Del Toro never cared whether children would give a damn about it. Perhaps some children with slightly mature minds will be fascinated by this (as long as you don;t mind reading English subtitles), and some adults with slightly childish minds will find this a bit simplistic, but we normal people would find this a convincing story about the essence of innocence and the finding of courage to fight for what we believe in amid the world that's hungry for power. In fact, it's a political fable in the shape of a fairy tale, that's what this is.

Set in 1944 Fascist Spain, it tells the story of a young girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who has a very vigorous imagination, moving along with her pregnant mother to an old mill in the forest to meet her step-father, the cold, cruel, brutal, tyrannical Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). She has a compelling knack of imagination and loves to tell stories, and believe in them as well too. Soon she discovers the titular labyrinth hidden in the threshold of the forest, ancient and derelict. It's easy to get lost in it but Ofelia manages to get into it and met the fantastic, wonderfully-created faun Pan (a half-goat, half-human, half-tree trunk or something that looks gnarly and weird), the guardian of the maze. There she discovers about her destiny, as she was told, she was the long lost soul of the Princess who broke free from their kingdom a long time ago and was sought after by the king. It was believed that one day, the soul of this Princess will return to regain what was lost. She was then given three tasks to complete before the rising of the full moon: one, she must go under the giant tree in the forest and find the great toad thriving under its roots, get to feed it with three black stones and retrieve the golden key. Second, she must enter a dungeon beneath her room with a use of a magical chalk, get the specific thing that the key will open into, and never eat anything edible in the long dining table filled with sumptuous food. Third, she must offer the blood of the innocent to complete the task.

So this is just fantasy that we're talking about right now. What Del Toro did was to gorgeously shift from the fantasy sequences to the hard-edged scenes of the real world. In the backdrop, there are resistance fighter lurking in the mountain, continuing to fight the anarchy of Spain, specifically Captain Vidal in the local area. Oh yes, there is blood. One amazing scene was when Captain Vidal discovered two hunters in the forest, apparently hunting for rabbits, yet condemned them to death rather inhumanely. While in one room, there serves a scene in which it presents a crucial and most important point in the film. Ofelia was asked by her mother to tell a story to his brother, and as she tells of a magnificent black rose growing in the top of a thorny mountain that gives immortality to whoever who reaches it, the camera swerves up into the room showing a fantasy sequence, cutting to the moon and shifting back into the room from the window again. This shows that Guillermo Del Toro wanted his audience to connect fantasy to reality. This is Pan's Labyrinth, sometimes we dwell in our own imaginations to gather courage and fight horrible things in which makes it then easier for us to open our eyes and battle the real monsters of our lives.

Without a doubt, this is a very powerful film, visually stirring and emotionally compacted. It's absolutely dark, but beneath its darkness, there we see something that's both beautiful, awe-inspiring and definitely heartbreaking. For soft-hearted people, it might move you into tears and become a better individuals after seeing it. Films must be like this, with a great humanity to boot, and has the potency to change the world for it's own sake. It captivates people because it is enchanting and magical, but also, there is cruel realism in the film. Once our world was bereft with freedom and we all once live in the harsh dominations, yet it's not very different from the world we live in now.

It's also flooded with great, stellar performances. I absolutely salute Ivana Baquero who played the very innocent and courageous Ofelia. Most of the film moments settle heavily on her shoulder and she came out of it impressively, for an actress in her age. Sergi Lopez was unexpectedly delectable, quite surprising. His character, the most cold-hearted villain in movie history since Schindler's List's Amon Goeth played by Ralph Fiennes. He's the epitome of evil and man, he did rocked the role. You just wanted to stab him with hundreds of knives, if you can. Maribel Verdu, from Y Tu Mama Tambien, gave a three-dimensional feel of the very compassionate and determined maid and confidante. Hell, even Pan himself was played smashingly. He's one of the creepiest creatures seen prancing around in the cinema screen, but delightfully fascinating too. The Pale Man was even creepier. Eurgh.

Everything in here is brilliant. The plot, the story, the characters, the villain, cinematography and its message. Del Toro was not daunted to bring into screen the feel of reality and fantasy all mingled into one. Pan's Labyrinth is a masterpiece. It's also, so far, the best film I've seen in 2006 (sorry Children of Men but I am so captivated by Pan's). It's a political commentary yet resolved to be a fine, young adult's fairy tale. There's the legendary resonance as well, like Ofelia had done, there are consequences of all our choices and if we break the rules, there are prices to pay. But who needs these punishments when we have a clear conscience? What else could be evil's greatest enemy but clear conscience? Innocence has a power evil knows nothing of. Oscar voters, this must win for Best Foreign Film. Screw Clint Eastwood for Letter From Iwo Jima or Mel Gibson's Apocalypto.

Rating: A+