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Pan's Labyrinth
Directed by: Guillermo del Torro
Starring: Ivana Baquero
Genre:
Fantasy
Run Time: 112
min.
Release Date:
December 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Prepare to be immersed in
PAN’S LABYRINTH, the excellent adult fantasy film by Guillermo
del Torro. Note the words “adult” here, because this is not something
parents should take their little ones to see. Although stunningly
beautiful in presentation, it holds back absolutely nothing when
focusing on the barbarism of mankind. This includes gunshot wounds to
the face, the sawing off of infected limbs, or the torturing of one’s
enemies.
Set against the backdrop of 1944 Spain, Generalissimo Francisco Franco
has his forces set to squash any rebels prepared to inflame Spain into
civil war. Into the woodland areas of Spain’s countryside is sent
Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), a commander so selfish and heartless as to
kill anyone or anything that gets in his way. This is immediately
noticeable when his unhealthy and pregnant wife Carmen (Ariadna Gil) is
sent to live with him at this distant wooded post. Vidal cares not that
she’s ill and shouldn’t be traveling in the late stages of pregnancy,
but only wants his son born where his father can see him. With Carmen
comes her preteen daughter Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), the daughter from a
previous marriage in which the father died at war.
The unabashed horrors of war are close to Ofelia and her mother’s new
war post home. Ofelia, feeling helpless and frightened, goes off into
the woods and discovers strange runes and eventually an old stone
labyrinth of indeterminate age. Soon a faun appears and discloses some
interesting information to Ofelia: she is the princess of a lost
underworld, a world of immortals where her father-king awaits her
return. But in order to find her way back to this wonderland, she must
accomplish three tasks in short order.
But as the battle with the independent fighters draws near to the human
world, the tasks set for her in the magical become nearly insurmountable
...and more dangerous.
The question as to if Ofelia is truly a princess or not is completely
left up to the viewer to decide. Whether all of the fantastical elements
in the film were solely a part of Ofelia’s imagination — and a way to
get away from the horrors of the war — or were real are never given over
to the audience. A definite high point for the movie.
Pulling from Greek mythology, the faun (played by Doug Jones) is Pan, a
half-goat, half-human, better known as a caretaker of woods and
shepherds, and also a bit of a trickster. When we first meet Pan we’re
told that fauns “aren’t to be trusted.” Usually a wise thing when
dealing with the unknown. Added to this problem is the dark nature in
which we find Pan. He’s in a tomb-like structure, full of shadows and
decay. It’s also noteworthy to mention that Doug Jones plays a
double-role in the movie, as both Pan and Pale Man, a freakishly
dangerous creature with eyes in its hands.
Spinning the audience between the brutality of war and the beautifully
surreal world Ofelia explores, the merging of the two comes to a close
in a most satisfying way. But it’s an adult way, not a fairytale one.
Pan’s Labyrinth isn’t designed to be a feel-good flick. It’s a
historical recounting of the Spanish Civil War and what one young girl’s
reaction to it might’ve been.
The film is a foreign language flick (Spanish) and subtitled, forcing
those of us who aren’t Spanish speakers to pull our eyes away from the
sumptuous sets and down to the bottom of the screen; a necessity but
still bothersome considering the extreme high quality of the sets.
Young Ivana Baquero as Ofelia deserves all the award nods she’s sure to
get. Her performance was truly outstanding, making movie watchers cringe
whenever she’s in danger and applaud when she succeeds with one of her
tasks. Her tough choices are felt more than seen, making us care about
her all the more as she wanders into unfamiliar and potentially
dangerous terrain. That she has to make tough decisions for such a
little girl will cause many-a-viewer to reach for the Kleenex box.
Because of these terrible decisions forced upon Ofelia, the audience is
left to ponder one important thought: Caught between the stark beauty of
a (possible) magical world and the brutality of human warmongering,
which would you choose?
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Image from Pan's Labyrinth
DVD cost: $25.99
Purchase:
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Newsworthy:
Director Guillermo Del
Toro is famous for compiling books full of notes and drawings about his
ideas before turning them into films, something he regards essential to
the process. He left years worth of notes for Pan's Labyrinth in the
back of a cab, and thought it was the end of the project. However, the
cab driver found them and, realizing their importance, tracked him down
and returned them at great personal difficulty and expense. Del Toro was
convinced that this was a blessing and it made him ever more determined
to complete the film.
Movie Quote: "Are
you a fairy?"
Other Actors/Actresses
from Pan's Labyrinth
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