Pan's Labyrinth - REVIEW

Pan’s Labyrinth
Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film

Director: Guillermo Del Toro
In Spanish with English sub-titles

I was stunned by this film. I was prepared for it to be good. I was prepared for it to be a fairytale fantasy film. But I wasn’t prepared for how good, and I wasn’t prepared for the engaging real world side of the film.

The story is relatively simple. It is about a girl who loves fairytales, who, along with her pregnant mother, goes to live with her step father, a ruthless fascist commander in Spain during the 1940’s. The film is about her, and the rest of the characters, coping with pain and suffering, freedom and obedience, life here on earth and the promise of eternal life, responsibility and desire.

I’m not going to recount much of the story, as you can find that in other places. What is amazing about this movie is how seamlessly it moves between the real world of revolutionary Spain, and the horror and violence that is there, and into the realm of fantasy and fairytales. I found myself wanting to know what was going on in the fantasy world during the real world sequences, only to find I wanted to know what was going on in the real world during the fantasy sequences!

The movie is magical, but also brutal and honest. The real world sequences are about the fight of the republicans against the better armed and organized fascists. We see most of it from the point of view of what is going on in the fascist headquarters through the eyes of the heroine, the mistress of the household, and the fascist Captain Vidal. He is a villain, only concerned about his legacy. He is a monster.

However, some of the fantasy sequences are just as disturbing. I have always said that most fairy tales would be horrible to have to live through. Peter Pan is all fun and games when you are dreaming or reading about what happens. But if you were there, it would be terrifying.

Well, this is the same way. One character is a monster called The Pale Man, and he eats children. Pan himself is somewhat frightening, and you never know exactly what his motives are.

This is a fairy tale film for mature adults. It is not for kids, it is much to violent, and it doesn’t shy from showing it. But the reasons, and the themes the film is dealing with, necessitate that violence.

How important is freedom? How much do you question authority? How do you know when to obey? What is life really? Is it all easy? Even in fantasy, isn’t there risk and danger before you get the “happily ever after”? Isn’t that what this life is like, pain, suffering, and good times, that lead us into eternal life?

This is a film that made me remember what I loved about fairy tales and fantasy as a kid, but also engaged me on an adult level, and created an intensely satisfying experience.