With “Pan’s Labyrinth” having reached its 20th anniversary, many of its participants have come together to discuss what went into its making, and of how this particular Guillermo Del Toro masterpiece still holds up to this very day. Among those participants is the film’s director of photography, Guillermo Navarro, who ended up winning the Oscar for Best Cinematography for his wok here. He also served as director of photography on Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” Robert Rodriguez’s “Desperado,” “From Dusk till Dawn” and “Spy Kids,” and also Renny Harlin’s “The Long Kiss Goodnight.”
I was lucky enough to speak with Guillermo Navarro while he was doing press for “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and it was an illuminating conversation about what went on behind the scenes and of how much has changed since this film was released. He shot it on 35mm film and discussed how he manipulated the image by shooting day for night and underexposing the negatives. It was a great look at how filmmakers can manipulate the image on 35mm film and other film stocks, but Navarro also laments how the movie business rarely uses film anymore and prefers to have everything shot on digital. For him, it has taken a lot of the fun out of his job.
Navarro also talks about how difficult it was to make this film as they had very little money to work with, and that they worked with a largely unfamiliar Spanish crew as their usual crew of creatives were working on another project.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” has just been released in a beautiful new 4K restoration, and it is best experienced on the silver screen. I want to thank Guillermo Navarro for taking the time to talk with me. Please check out the interview below.
In addition, I have also included this video of Guillermo Navarro winning the Best Cinematography Oscar at the 79th Academy Awards.
