'Pan's Labyrinth' returns to Cannes 20 years after record 22‑minute ovation

CANNES, France, May 13 – Mexican director Guillermo del Toro received the longest-ever standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival two decades ago for his historical fantasy “Pan’s Labyrinth”, which returns this year to the Cannes Classics section.

Speaking to Reuters, del Toro said the 22-minute ovation given to his Spanish-language film 20 years ago produced a “rush of human emotion.”

“Alfonso Cuaron was there with me because we produced the movie together and he said, ‘let it in, man,'” recalled del Toro on Tuesday. “I’m not very good with praise and he said, ‘let it in, let love go in’ and I experienced it like that.”

“Pan’s Labyrinth” did not win the top-prize Palme D’Or that year, but del Toro went on to win the best picture Oscar for his fish monster love story “The Shape of Water” in 2018.

The film, which has been digitally remastered, is set in Spain under the Franco dictatorship and follows a young girl who is enticed by a magical faun to complete three dangerous tasks while also dealing with her ailing pregnant mother and cruel military stepfather.

The concept for “Pan’s Labyrinth” came when del Toro was at a low point in his creativity following the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.

“I felt really defenceless,” he said, and started to question what the role of a storyteller is in this situation.

“I thought it would be really interesting to have a man of rigidity, a captain, having to face magic – something that seems imaginary, but his own notions of what is right and what is wrong, the captain’s notions, are also imaginary,” he added.

The cult classic, which will also be shown in 3D, is set to be re-released in theatres later this year. REUTERS