Café de Nuit

After watching this film a second time, I can't help but think with a little tweaking that its themes and settings fit in perfectly with Ravenloft.

Has anyone else on this board seen it?

I did.
Nice film.
did u see the other fantastic film from G.Del toro?
The name is El Espinazo del diablo, don't know if it has an english name for it, it's a ghost story and it's worth viewing it too.

I've not seen it yet, though I've been wanting to see it for ages now

It's out on DVD in the USA now, I rented it this weekend & I agree; a little tweaking and I could easily see this set in Falkovnia near the border with the Shadow Rift.

Excellent movie. The Captain was almost born to be in Falkovnia!

Love the Shadow Rift idea, too!

What's this about a "Shadow Rift" idea?

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to see the film at the theater and the DVD release is still something to come here, so...

From IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/

"In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again."


Do be aware that the film is in Spanish, with English sub-titles available.

The Nightmare Man wrote:What's this about a "Shadow Rift" idea?

A few posts up, there's an idea to place this so it's based in Falkovnia near the Shadow Rift. The film makes substantial references to fairies and sprites, so that seemed a fairly logical place to put it.

I saw this, just a shame that the title was translated completely wrong from Labyrinth of the Fawn to Pan's Labyrinth

That fawn was soooo sweet though, not like Pan at all. I hope it's not against the PG rating here, but Pan would've raped all the women, killed all the men, then went off on his merry way.

Drusilla wrote:Pan would've raped all the women, killed all the men, then went off on his merry way.

Ah. A romantic comedy then?

I thought the origins of the name "Pan" came from a similar root to "Faun", didn't it? Maybe I'm misremembering things...

HuManBing wrote:

Drusilla wrote:Pan would've raped all the women, killed all the men, then went off on his merry way.

Ah. A romantic comedy then?

I thought the origins of the name "Pan" came from a similar root to "Faun", didn't it? Maybe I'm misremembering things...

Pan (same spelling) originated as a Greek God, he was adopted by the Celts when they passed through and later by the Roman empire. It's odd to think that out of so many Gods adopted by other pantheons, his is one of the very few to have never changed, not even in spelling. The word Faun is Latin in origin, meaning it's some 3000 years younger than the name Pan at the very least, heh

And, for somewhat obvious reasons, Pan usually wasn't very well liked by the other Greek gods.

Hi all,
I just saw this film as well. I too think that this could easily be adapted to Ravenloft. The Captain is definitely Falkovnian, and the fairies come from the shadowrift.

I was wondering about the relationship between Carmen (the wife) and the captain. How exactly did she get pregnant (yes yes, the usual way probably) and did they get married. How did the father die?

During the dinner, from which Ofelia (a name with disturbing connotations) Carmen tells one woman how she and the captain met, and this causes some tension between the captain and his wife. Did she get pregnant before they married, did the captain kill her first husband? This means the story could easily be turned into a ghost story.

Simple husband and wife getting caught up in the war, wife catching the eye of the captain, captain ravishes her, kills his rival. The wife knowing where protection lies in these uncertain times hooks up with the father of her child. but the first husband starts to ahunt the new marriage, to young daughter is particularly susceptible to this haunting.

Jennifer

Wiccy of the Fraternity wrote: Pan (same spelling) originated as a Greek God, he was adopted by the Celts when they passed through and later by the Roman empire. It's odd to think that out of so many Gods adopted by other pantheons, his is one of the very few to have never changed, not even in spelling. The word Faun is Latin in origin, meaning it's some 3000 years younger than the name Pan at the very least, heh

I knew the Greek origins of Pan - in fact, if I remember my schoolboy lessons correctly, he's the offspring of Hermes and a nymph. I didn't know that fauns came from Latin - that's definitely news to me.

And... 3,000 years between Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome? I knew the two civilizations were not contemporaries, but I thought they definitely were closer together than that! I might have to hit the history books again.

Yes, regarding the relationship between the Captain and the mother, it seems that there is certainly an element of elimination of his rival and coercion of the woman. In fact, her entire presence at the castle might be seen as a slightly embarrassing factor for the Captain. After all, he's supposed to be a cruel and ruthless leader, but his men see his wife luxuriously housed in his quarters. Also, he keeps his atrocities from her and from the daughter.

Most interesting to me was his relationship with Ofelia. Related the other Ophelia of literature, this reminded me strongly of Laertes' relationship with Hamlet. Laertes has clearly done evil in the past and is capable of eliminating whomever he pleases... so the fact that Hamlet is even around in the present is a bit of a surprise. Perhaps Laertes liked Hamlet personally? Likewise, the captain seems to grudgingly coexist with Ofelia. Maybe he knows her mother dotes on her, but I didn't think that was it entirely. Maybe he does have some remote spark of affection for her, but he just as easily fights that down and treats her in an overbearing and unpleasant manner.

All in all, a great movie and definitely worth watching.

The Pale Man is almost assuredly making an appearance in one of my campaigns.

Jennifer wrote:Hi all,
I just saw this film as well. I too think that this could easily be adapted to Ravenloft. The Captain is definitely Falkovnian, and the fairies come from the shadowrift.

I was wondering about the relationship between Carmen (the wife) and the captain. How exactly did she get pregnant (yes yes, the usual way probably) and did they get married. How did the father die?

During the dinner, from which Ofelia (a name with disturbing connotations) Carmen tells one woman how she and the captain met, and this causes some tension between the captain and his wife. Did she get pregnant before they married, did the captain kill her first husband? This means the story could easily be turned into a ghost story.

Simple husband and wife getting caught up in the war, wife catching the eye of the captain, captain ravishes her, kills his rival. The wife knowing where protection lies in these uncertain times hooks up with the father of her child. but the first husband starts to ahunt the new marriage, to young daughter is particularly susceptible to this haunting.

Jennifer

I would tend to agree with you on that Jennifer. Luckily I speak french so I watched it this way.(Hate subtitles LOL)

AS for the Captain he would pass easily for a Falkovnian.