The stories of three amigos

“Pan’s Labyrinth” opens in area theaters today. But I’ve been hearing raves about the film for quite some time, and from rather distinguished quarters.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s film “Babel” took home best director and jury prizes at Cannes and is up for a slew of Golden Globe awards, including best picture and best director. Alfonso Cuaron’s “Children of Men” is at 91 percent on the critical opinion meter RottenTomatoes.com, making it one of the best-reviewed films of the year.

But during their separate visits to the District this season, both directors took time out from promoting their own films to ask if I’d seen the work of someone else.

Mr. Inarritu assured me I’d be blown away by “Pan.” Mr. Cuaron marveled, “Isn’t it amazing? That ending is so fantastic. … Very powerful.”

These are some strangely uncompetitive filmmakers — and very good friends.

Mr. Inarritu, Mr. Cuaron and “Pan” director Guillermo del Toro all hail from Mexico and all are in their early- to mid-40s. While they’ve left their native land, they remain friends who have established Mexico as a hotbed of film talent.

“It must be the water,” laughs Mr. del Toro.

“There is a fierceness in how we express ourselves that comes from need and hunger,” he says more seriously. “When Alfonso and I started doing films 25 years ago, it was almost impossible to make a Mexican film. It was almost unheard of for a Mexican film to open in America. So we came out of adversity. And I think that makes your voice stronger.”

All three of these men have distinctive voices. Mr. Cuaron’s success directing film and television in Mexico led to work in America helming 1995’s “A Little Princess” and 1998’s “Great Expectations,” both adaptations of British novels. He returned to Mexico for 2001’s “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” a sexually charged road movie that became an international hit and garnered him and his brother Carlos a best screenplay Oscar nomination. His last feature was 2004’s “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” the third in the franchise and reportedly author J.K. Rowling’s favorite.

Mr. Inarritu’s first feature, 2000’s “Amores Perros,” explored Mexican life through interconnected stories involving a car accident. Its success — it received an Oscar nomination for best foreign film — brought him to the U.S. to direct the critically acclaimed “21 Grams,” which again connected three stories through a car accident. Stars Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro received Oscar nominations for their performances.

Director del Toro made his debut with the 1993 horror film “Cronos,” the first of his many collaborations with American actor Ron Perlman. The fantasist went on to make popular comic-book adaptations “Blade II” and “Hellboy” in this country. His last Spanish-language film was 2001’s “The Devil’s Backbone,” a ghost story set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

Mr. del Toro’s voice is everywhere evident in “Pan’s Labyrinth,” the most imaginative film of 2006. “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a piece of magic realism set in Franco’s Spain. Mr. del Toro set out to restore the dark edge of classic fairy tales, influenced by “Time Bandits” director Terry Gilliam, whom Mr. del Toro calls “one of the greatest filmmakers alive.”

The underworld of “Pan” features some remarkable creatures. Mr. del Toro began doing makeup effects for his short films. He was so good, friends asked him to work on their films. “I decided to study it formally as a way to finance my first movie, ‘Cronos,’ ” he says. “All my life circles around monsters.”

The worst monsters in “Pan” are human, though. “Since ‘The Devil’s Backbone’ had come out before 9/11, everything I had to say about brutality and innocence and war and childhood went out the window. So I said I’ll create a sister movie,” Mr. del Toro says. “We try to personify evil. We try to say, ‘Pinochet was evil,’ or ‘Franco was evil,’ or ‘Hitler was evil.’ But it is not only them, it is the society that allows them to exist and the people that support them.”

Individuals, he believes, shouldn’t let themselves off the moral hook. “The movie speaks about the need for disobedience, the need to be your own boss, the need to make your own choices and be responsible for what happens after,” he says.

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