Pan’s Labyrinth mixes two vastly different story-lines to create one beautiful film. On one hand, we have the story of Ofelia, a young girl of about 9-10, who when faced with unpleasant reality, takes refuge in a mystical world of fauns and fairies, and on the other we have the story of the Spanish rebels who fight against fascism in the real world. Guillermo del Toro, the director, layers both these tracks so that they intermingle, and yet hold equal interest. And he does it so beautifully that not once does the flow of the film seem abrupt or jarring; rather all seems as it should.
Ofelia must accompany her pregnant mother on a long road journey to her step-father’s home. Her step-father, a cold and cruel fascist Captain Vidal, is fighting rebels hidden in the mountains, and welcomes Ofelia’s mother as a vessel for the all-important son she is about to bear (when she is ill, he tells the Doctor to save the baby first), and Ofelia as an unwanted necessity.
Ofelia, given to books, in entranced by a large insect which follows her around, and soon decides to follow it into a dark, gnarled-looking labyrinth. Here she meets Pan, a faun, who informs Ofelia that she is long-lost Princess Moanna, daughter of the King of the Underworld. To return to her rightful place as the immortal Princess, Ofelia must complete 3 tasks. In this Gothic labyrinth, Ofelia desperate for love and affection, readily agrees.
At base camp, where her step-father, and now she and her mother, are stationed, the fascists have infiltrated the camp with their spies. And amid all this, Ofelia’s mother is very sick with her pregnancy. Ofelia, distanced from her mother due to her illness, finds some comfort in kind Mercedes, a maid in her step-father’s camp. Very worried for her mother, Ofelia must nevertheless use her wits to attempt the tasks Pan has set for her.
Voyages into the fantastic, be they “fairy-tales” or sci-fi are always attractive. Pan’s Labyrinth is in part, a tale of another reality, a reality that we normal folk cannot hear or see, and is for Ofelia’s eyes and ears alone. The special effects – a tall faun who sits on his hind legs like a goat, and has a face which still manages to show emotion, and little flitting pixies (reminded me of Peter Pan and Wendy) are beautifully done, and if computer generated do not appear to be overly mechanized. The acting is excellent, each and every one of the characters superbly etched out and wrought.
While the film appears in part to be a fairy tale, what with it’s chirping fairies, and Gothic-looking faun, it is not one, at least not one for children. The film has scenes of very graphic violence, the most hard-to-watch being the ones in which Captain Vidal has his mouth slashed open with a knife, and then must sew it himself with needle and thread. It hurt to watch.
For all my skepticism about the Oscars and the Golden Globes and various film nominations, Pan’s Labyrinth is a winner. A tale which binds you so very completely, that time simply floats by ! Very rarely do such wondrous films come around. This is a must-watch.
