ARTIST: Javier Navarrete
TITLE: Pan's Labyrinth
LABEL: Milan
GENRE: Soundtrack
BITRATE: 192kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 13min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-12-19
RIP DATE: 2006-10-28
Track List

01. Long, Long Time Ago             2:14
02. The Labyrinth                   4:07
03. Rose, Dragon                    3:36
04. The Fairy And The Labyrinth     3:36
05. Three Trials                    2:06
06. The Moribund Tree And The Toad  7:12
07. Guerrilleros                    2:06
08. A Book Of Blood                 3:47
09. Mercedes Lullaby                1:39
10. The Refuge                      1:32
11. Not Human                       5:55
12. The River                       2:50
13. A Tale                          1:55
14. Deep Forest                     5:48
15. Vals Of The Mandrake            3:42
16. The Funeral                     2:45
17. Mercedes                        5:37
18. Pan And The Full Moon           5:08
19. Ofelia                          2:19
20. A Princess                      4:04
21. Pans Labyrinth Lullaby          1:47
Release Notes:
One of the supreme musical highlights for me during Fantastic Fest was PAN’S
LABYRINTH (2006) directed by Guillermo del Toro. Throughout his career, del
Toro has paired with two different composers; Marco Beltrami and Javier
Navarette. Beltrami collaborates with del Toro on his Hollywood popcorn
flicks like MIMIC (1997), BLADE II (2002) and HELLBOY (2004) while the
Spanish born Navarette has been called on for del Toro’s more personally
intimate and artistic films like THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE (2001) and PAN’S
LABYRINTH.
The music for PAN’S LABYRINTH captured the characters and tone superbly while
propelling the story through each crooked turn of its maze. This is also a
score that is not melodramatic nor saturating the narrative. It’s simple and
pure with just enough glitter to make it unique and interesting.
Ofelia’s theme is expressed as an uncomplicated childlike melody on the
piano. Although innocent and naïve in tone, its scope is spacious and
majestic as is Ofelia’s own daring imagination. Much of the score is in
triple meter giving a dance-like character to the music. As Ofelia enters and
proceeds deeper into the labyrinth for the first time, falling melodic
fragments of her theme echo like specters in the darkness while slithering
chromatic phrases weave themselves throughout the accompanying orchestration.
A more complete sonic representation of Ofelia entering the labyrinth, I
could not imagine.
However, the music is not all fairies and snowflakes. When The Pale Man
awakens from his statuesque slumber and inserts his eyes into his hands, the
music grunts and wheezes accenting each animated appendage. Navarette scores
this grisly moment as effortlessly as he scores the beautiful moments
throughout the picture.