Pan's LabyrinthFairy tales are described as a story about fantastic characters and exciting scenarios that challenge the imagination; they are also a way to describe a story designed to deceive. The story of the Faun (Doug Jones) of Pan's Labyrinth could be perceived as either, as he guides the young girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) to her destined ascension as the reincarnation of Princess Moanna, daughter of the king of the underworld. Though she must prove herself to the Faun by completing the tasks he sets before her, she must do so without provoking the diabolical Captain Vidal (Sergi López), her psychotic stepfather.
|
|
Pan's Labyrinth is an unusual film, primarily because it is a fairy tale intended for adults. While the movie features a main character who is a young girl, pulled into fantastic encounters with otherworldly creature, pixies, and more, the movie is set against the backdrop of Spain's post-Civil War, when tyrannical enforcers under Francoist Spain control the people with an iron grip, and execute citizens with cold swiftness, and torture with a vicious brutality. This is the world which Ofelia lives in, but also doesn't; she has not been exposed to the horrors of war, although it is implied that her father was killed as a result. It seems baffling that her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil) would have relations with Vidal, but one assumes that it was an arrangement meant to bring financial and political stability to Ofelia--it seems as though many would wish for Ofelia to become a princess in some way or another. The Faun first approaches Ofelia after she is led into the heart of the ancient labyrinth just outside of the military compound where Vidal wages his war against the guerrilla resistance, after she restores a forgotten marker near the roadside on the way. The Faun is emblematic of the overall tone of Pan's Labyrinth, a mix of the fantastic and the horrific. The Faun towers over Ofelia on his cloven hooves, his body creaks with the age of thousand-year old trees, and his massive ram's horns give him a sinister edge, belied by his charming smile. It is never one-hundred percent clear just what the Faun intends from Ofelia, even considering we cannot know for sure that all of what is happening with Ofelia isn't simply a part of her imagination. Fauns by nature have satanic associations, and there are numerous moments where one could easily suspect him of lying to her in an attempt to bring her to ruin. For example, when Ofelia greets the fairy disguised as a bug, she indicates that fairies should look like what we have come to expect, like little pixies with wings. The fairy transforms to match her description, but when she meets the Faun, his other fairy friends already resemble their morphed ally. Is this meant to suggest that his appearance--and the fairies--is simply to placate her concept of fantasy, or is it something magical, some kind of connection that lets them know? The book the Faun gives to her is called the "Book of Crossroads"; although there are not descriptions of crossroads in the book--it is, in fact, empty until it is ready to reveal her next task--crossroads are traditionally a locale where encounters with the devil are reputed to take place. On the other hand, if the Faun is the not the devil, he may very well be an agent on behalf of the King of the Underworld, and this challenge to Ofelia's faith--and ours--is meant to be another test. It is not unlikely that Ofelia retreats into her fantasies, considering how horrid her "real" world has become. But if the Faun is a devil, how does he match up when compared with the very human evil that is Vidal?
Vidal wages a reign of terror through his woodland compound, slaughtering suspicious villagers and torturing captive rebels, who are secretly aided by undercover informers like Mercedes (Maribel Verdú). Vidal is the antithesis of Ofelia, a man who has tried to discard any sentimentality--save that for his unborn son--and operates with the absence of conscience. He does carry a secret affectation for the pocket watch of his deceased father, who died in battle. Vidal keeps the watch in perfect running shape, which is ironic as his father intentionally broke the watch so as to remind his son how he died in battle, and when. His meticulous attention to the watch is reminiscent of another film by Guillermo del Toro--Cronos--which also deals with a small mechanism which has a relation to time and vitality. And though Ofelia retreats to the world the Faun introduces to her--filled with fantastic adventures--both realms are entrenched in death; even the stories which Ofelia recalls about a blue rose on the mountain top has to do with mortality. Lots of moments in the film suggest that the fantastic moments Ofelia experiences are but parallels of real events she is recalling and reinventing in her imagination. Take the scene where Doctor Ferreiro (Álex Angulo) advises Ofelia's mother to take "two drops" of medicine with her water; later, the Faun offers her a mandragora, which she must bathe in milk and keep under her mother's bed to keep her well, requiring two drops of blood per day to sustain it. If the creatures in Pan's Labyrinth are a part of Ofelia's imagination, they indicate her dreams are dark and menacing, indeed. If they are real, it portends a world of magic which is beyond simply appeasing our softer sensibilities, instead embracing the kind of horrifying fey like those from Grimm's Fairy Tales, which deal with anything from man-eating monsters to bizarre transformations; there is no "Disney" version here. Interestingly--as far as Disney is concerned--it is ironic that when Ofelia is given a pretty dress to wear, it largely resembles the same dress which Alice wore in Disney's animated classic, Alice in Wonderland, a story somewhat like that of Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro's film also pays homage to another fantasy classic, between the unnerving--even dangerous--setting, coupled with the Faun as a menacing counterpart to the heroine--who resembles a monster but carries himself as a benevolent companion--is not unlike Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. Pan's Labyrinth is a movie for adults; not just because of the violent content, but because it is designed to transport adults into a part of their imaginations--just as the Faun conjures up the fantastic for Ofelia--which is colored by world experience. It may be a magical land, but one which is tainted by the loss of innocence, a casualty in the war of maturity, leaving a chilling husk behind.
Recommended for: Fauns...er, fans of a fantasy movie with fairies and satyrs that is also a movie about the horrors of war. Guillermo del Toro's film is a visually rich and vibrant movie, even when it appears dour and bleak.
Vidal wages a reign of terror through his woodland compound, slaughtering suspicious villagers and torturing captive rebels, who are secretly aided by undercover informers like Mercedes (Maribel Verdú). Vidal is the antithesis of Ofelia, a man who has tried to discard any sentimentality--save that for his unborn son--and operates with the absence of conscience. He does carry a secret affectation for the pocket watch of his deceased father, who died in battle. Vidal keeps the watch in perfect running shape, which is ironic as his father intentionally broke the watch so as to remind his son how he died in battle, and when. His meticulous attention to the watch is reminiscent of another film by Guillermo del Toro--Cronos--which also deals with a small mechanism which has a relation to time and vitality. And though Ofelia retreats to the world the Faun introduces to her--filled with fantastic adventures--both realms are entrenched in death; even the stories which Ofelia recalls about a blue rose on the mountain top has to do with mortality. Lots of moments in the film suggest that the fantastic moments Ofelia experiences are but parallels of real events she is recalling and reinventing in her imagination. Take the scene where Doctor Ferreiro (Álex Angulo) advises Ofelia's mother to take "two drops" of medicine with her water; later, the Faun offers her a mandragora, which she must bathe in milk and keep under her mother's bed to keep her well, requiring two drops of blood per day to sustain it. If the creatures in Pan's Labyrinth are a part of Ofelia's imagination, they indicate her dreams are dark and menacing, indeed. If they are real, it portends a world of magic which is beyond simply appeasing our softer sensibilities, instead embracing the kind of horrifying fey like those from Grimm's Fairy Tales, which deal with anything from man-eating monsters to bizarre transformations; there is no "Disney" version here. Interestingly--as far as Disney is concerned--it is ironic that when Ofelia is given a pretty dress to wear, it largely resembles the same dress which Alice wore in Disney's animated classic, Alice in Wonderland, a story somewhat like that of Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro's film also pays homage to another fantasy classic, between the unnerving--even dangerous--setting, coupled with the Faun as a menacing counterpart to the heroine--who resembles a monster but carries himself as a benevolent companion--is not unlike Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. Pan's Labyrinth is a movie for adults; not just because of the violent content, but because it is designed to transport adults into a part of their imaginations--just as the Faun conjures up the fantastic for Ofelia--which is colored by world experience. It may be a magical land, but one which is tainted by the loss of innocence, a casualty in the war of maturity, leaving a chilling husk behind.
Recommended for: Fauns...er, fans of a fantasy movie with fairies and satyrs that is also a movie about the horrors of war. Guillermo del Toro's film is a visually rich and vibrant movie, even when it appears dour and bleak.