Fumarama

In her top ten movies of the year story, Manohla Dargis wrote the following sentence: David Lynch's ''Inland Empire'' isn't for the faint of heart or lazy of thought, notably those for whom moviegoing is simply a more socially acceptable version of sucking on a pacifier. She was saying this about a specific movie and Pan's Labyrinth was not in her top ten movies. But ever since, i have seen the statement as an indictment or a challenge (who knows maybe it was actually meant to be self-congratulatory to New York Times readers who will go to more provocative films, but knowing the types of movies i love it was not a congratulations to me). So I saw Pan's Labyrinth last night, and I have to say, it was nothing like sucking on a pacifier. It was more like an emotional marathon, I squirmed, I covered my eyes, my chest felt all heavy.

Like (or enjoyed) is a strange word to use for this movie. That is the other thing about Dargis, she often does not say whether or not she liked the movie, she just kind of talks about it for 1000 words and leaves whether or not she enjoyed her two hours in the theater up for interpretation. Well, I kind of see her point. Sometimes it is hard to talk in terms of like or dislike for a movie that was so affecting. Sometimes I worry that going to the movies is a cop-out from actually living life, but when I left the theater last night, I felt not like I had passed my evening away, but that I really experienced something.