Pan’s Labyrinth is about a young girl's childhood fantasies set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s attempt at mixing fantasy and reality fails miserably. One reviewer summed it up when he described this film as "too adult for children and too simplistic for most adults - with nothing of serious import to say about war or innocence". I would go as far as to say it is the most simplistic treatment of the Spanish Civil War I have ever seen. Watch Land and Freedom by Ken Loach if you really want to see a film about this subject. I’m no fan of the fantasy genre but there has to be something better than this out there. I’m also aware that this film is very popular and that my view is a minority one. But Pan's Labyrinth relies heavily on special effects and grotesque visual images that today’s commercial cinemagoers have perhaps come to expect. Meanwhile, the dialogue is of little importance and we get heavily stereotyped characters like the army captain - war is about good guys and bad guys, with no shades of grey. Despite this, Pan’s Labyrinth takes itself very seriously. I can't recall one single humourous moment or any other viewer as much as having a chuckle. Yet, it’s all quite laughable really.

This week’s featured song has a double literary connection. French poet Paul Verlaine gets a mention and perhaps inspired the Verlaines’ name. The song is Death and the Maiden - a classical composition by Schubert that inspired a play by Ariel Dorfman which was later turned into a film by Roman Polanski.

The Verlaines were one of a number of decent bands from New Zealand on the Flying Nun label in the 1980’s. Other groups worth a listen include the Clean, the Chills, the Bats and the Straitjacket Fits.

The Verlaines made quite a few albums over the years and I was surprised to hear they are currently back in the studio recording another. The highlight of the Verlaines output was arguably the 1987 singles compilation called Juvenilia.

As this video shows the Verlaines and their fans might not have been able to compete with Michael Jackson on the dancefloor but the grittiness of the song and the surreal simplicity of the video reflects the spirit of the times for those who preferred life outside the eighties musical mainstream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeuy8PD0bFM

I recently had a listen to this very successful early eighties album by the group Japan. I don’t think it stands up too well, due in part to the full-blown eighties’ production techniques. Also, most of the songs are not brilliant apart from the big hit Ghosts. My favourite Japan track is the even more haunting Night Porter. It’s not on this album but see the link below.

The Tin Drum that I would recommend is the book that inspired the album’s name. This is the story of a dwarf called Oskar and his family. It is set against the backdrop of events in Danzig (Gdansk, Poland) in the first half of the twentieth century. Some years have passed since I read this but at the time that it was right up there with the best books I’d read. The Tin Drum remains to my mind one of the great historical novels.

For more info on the plot: http://www.bookrags.com/notes/ttd/SUM.html

Listen to Night Porter: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-CeZVwZay7Q