Pan’s Labyrinth
February 17, 2008
Beautiful. Haunting.
Those are two words I would use to describe Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro has produced a masterpiece.
Pan’s Labyrinth is truly one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. It takes the viewer on a journey filled with beauty and horror, emotion and tragedy. Is it a story of politics? Is it a fairy tale? A horror movie? Del Toro is clearly no fan of categorising movies. The movie blurs all boundaries, even those between fantasy and reality.
Our main character is Ofelia, played brilliantly by Ivana Baquero. Ofelia is a little girl - around 10 or 12 years, in Spain. The year is 1944, and fascism is on the rise. Ofelia arrives with her mother Carmen, to a rural area to live with her stepfather, the ruthless Captain Vidal, whose mission is to hunt out the rebels hiding in the nearby forest.
Ofelia is certainly not what you would call the average little girl. She is an epitome of independent thinking. Escaping the horror that is the brutal regime of war, Ofelia escapes to a world that is simultaneously grotesque and enchanting - the faun’s labyrinth. And the story begins.
As tempting as it is, I’m not going to write out the story here. Suffice to say that Del Toro takes us along with Ofelia and throws us back and forth between the real world of Vidal’s brutality and the realm of the faun. Ofelia is both brave and innocent - qualities which are used to build the movie with Ofelia’s rebellion against Vidal, preparing us for the climax.
The emotional journey that is built up during the movie reaches is tipping point as Del Toro mercilessly executes his tragic masterpiece climax. It is powerful enough to shake those who are open to it with an amazing mix of beauty, horror, and utter sadness.
The finale is wonderfully ambiguous. Did Ofelia really find a magical realm? Or did she imagine it all? We don’t really know - after all, we see most of the movie through Ofelia’s eyes. But more importantly, does it matter? What difference is there between the two?
The tapestry on which Del Toro draws his tragedy is rich with colour and mythology. Truly, he is a master of symbology. The creatures that Ofelia find in the faun’s realm - a giant toad, half insect - half fairy little beings, a pale skinny man who has his eyes in two blood sockets in his hands, and the faun itself - along with the rich background of dark forests, carved stones, richly decorated yet gloomy hallways, and muddy underground passages teaming with little insects - and the blood and the gore - are capable of stimulating deep aspects of the human psyche. Not to forget the music by Javier Navarrete - the movie opens and ends with a haunting piece called ‘Mercede’s Lullaby’, which wonderfully sets the background for the journey.
I was surprised to find that the movie had a rating of 98/100 at metacritic - I expected that most people would find the story either confusing or meaningless. Not many people would get the message that Del Toro is trying to tell, because not many would understand nor appreciate the power of the language that Del Toro uses to accomplish his purpose. But then, rich symbology can talk to us even if we’re not aware of it - which could be what happens with this innocent, beautiful and horrifying movie. No wonder the movie received 22 minutes of applause at the Cannes Film Festival.
Trailer
Links
Pan’s Labyrinth - Official Site
Pan’s Labyrinth at www.metacritic.com
El Laberinto del Fauno - IMDB
Awards ( Including 3 Oscars )
Pan’s Labyrinth – Wikipedia
Innocence Has a Power Evil Cannot Imagine
I also saw it and liked it. He did an excellent job in blending both world. i heard the real title was faun’s ladyrinth, but they changed it in the US as pan’s ladyrinth( the name of the greek mythological creature). Great trailer too.
Yeah, the Spanish title is ‘El Laberinto del Fauno’ which should have been correctly translated as ‘The Faun’s Labyrinth’ or ‘The Labyrinth of the Faun’. There really is no relation to Pan. I have no idea why the correct title was not used.
I saw it when it first came out to theatres here in Canada — seems like that was nearly a year ago. I loved it and was mesmerized. You’ve done a very fine job in your review.
Diane
Diane,
Sorry about not approving your comment before. For some reason it was caught as spam so I didn’t see it - I just took a look at the spam comments today and saw it.
The spam filter obviously has some grudge with you…