Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
For many, if not most, of us, the fairy tales of our childhoods came by way of the films of Walt Disney, with their plucky heroes and heroines, cute animal companions, and happy endings all around. As we grow older, we may be tempted to pick up a book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, or other such collections of European folklore. It is often surprising to learn just how dark and violent the original versions of these tales truly are, filled with terror and gruesome death, with nary a cute animal in sight. These tales were meant to instruct children in the often cruel and capricious ways of the world. Yes, virtue is rewarded, but vice is just as quickly punished.
Pan’s Labyrinth, by Spanish director Guillermo del Toro, is a dark fairy tale that harkens back to these original stories. It has its own determined child on a magic quest, along with a trio of faerie companions. However, this is a fairy tale that is clearly made for adult audiences. Del Toro is quick to shake off any lingering doubts as to whether this is a Disneyfied version with the brutal, cold-blooded murder of two innocent hunters barely fifteen minutes into the film, one being shot, and the other bludgeoned to death in a spray of gurgling blood.
The film opens with a voiceover, setting up the tale of a princess of the underworld, whose spirit has been trapped in the real world, in the form of a human. It is soon made clear that this human is Ofelia, a 10-year-old girl, who is journeying with her extremely pregnant mother to meet her new stepfather, the brutally violent and sadistic Colonel Vidal, an officer in Franco’s fascist regime (and the murderer of the two men mentioned above). Ofelia soon wanders off to explore the countryside surrounding her stepfather’s army camp, and stumbles across an ancient hedge maze, which serves as her portal out of the real world and into that of the titular faun. This character, a wondrous creation of CGI, prosthetics, and the pantomime work of Doug Jones, believes that Ofelia is the reborn princess, and gives her three tasks to prove her worthiness of re-entering the kingdom. Meanwhile, the colonel’s attempts to eradicate a resistance cell put everyone and everything that Ofelia loves at grave risk.
Ivana Banquero is pitch perfect as the young Ofelia, giving her character just the right mix of wonder, uncertainty, fear, and bravery to make her a believable and fully-rounded character. Rarely have I seen such impressive acting from a young actor, especially in one so new to the field - Pan’s Labyrinth being her first starring role, and only her sixth total screen credit. If this is an indication of things to come, I predict a long and fruitful career on the stage and screen.
The design of the film is nothing short of astounding. In addition to the charismatic yet vaguely threatening faun, the underground kingdom is populated by many frightening and fantastic creatures, from a toad large enough to swallow Ofelia whole, to the truly terrifying Pale Man, a creature that appears to be all joints and sinew, with eyes placed in the palms of its hands. Despite all of its phantasmagoric terrors, however, this fantasy setting can hardly compare to the terrors which Ofelia experiences in the real world. Her stepfather is a nightmare of a character, who brutally tortures a captured partisan, only to have his physician treat the man so that he is healthy enough to be tortured again. Del Toro emphasizes this through the color design of the film, another highlight of its production. All of the scenes set in the real world are lit in a cold, pale light, which seems to wash all of the colors out of the surroundings. The world of fantasy, on the other hand, is sumptuously decorated in reds and golds. Even Ofelia’s first encounter with faun, in an earth and stone grotto, appears to be more vibrant and real than the so-called “real” world, despite its darkness.
This is a spellbinding film, and is easily the best fantasy since the Lord of the Rings films. It does not shy away from the inhumanity of the waking world, but instead brings it out into the open, showing what courage it takes to be a humane and self-sacrificing individual when confronted with so much cruelty and violence. Home is no longer the goal at the end of the fantastic journey, as in so many clean and sanitized fairy tales of the past. Instead, the fantasy becomes the destination, as all of the horrors of the labyrinth cannot compare to what is done outside of it, in the name of the greater good.
Pan’s Labyrinth, by Spanish director Guillermo del Toro, is a dark fairy tale that harkens back to these original stories. It has its own determined child on a magic quest, along with a trio of faerie companions. However, this is a fairy tale that is clearly made for adult audiences. Del Toro is quick to shake off any lingering doubts as to whether this is a Disneyfied version with the brutal, cold-blooded murder of two innocent hunters barely fifteen minutes into the film, one being shot, and the other bludgeoned to death in a spray of gurgling blood.
The film opens with a voiceover, setting up the tale of a princess of the underworld, whose spirit has been trapped in the real world, in the form of a human. It is soon made clear that this human is Ofelia, a 10-year-old girl, who is journeying with her extremely pregnant mother to meet her new stepfather, the brutally violent and sadistic Colonel Vidal, an officer in Franco’s fascist regime (and the murderer of the two men mentioned above). Ofelia soon wanders off to explore the countryside surrounding her stepfather’s army camp, and stumbles across an ancient hedge maze, which serves as her portal out of the real world and into that of the titular faun. This character, a wondrous creation of CGI, prosthetics, and the pantomime work of Doug Jones, believes that Ofelia is the reborn princess, and gives her three tasks to prove her worthiness of re-entering the kingdom. Meanwhile, the colonel’s attempts to eradicate a resistance cell put everyone and everything that Ofelia loves at grave risk.
Ivana Banquero is pitch perfect as the young Ofelia, giving her character just the right mix of wonder, uncertainty, fear, and bravery to make her a believable and fully-rounded character. Rarely have I seen such impressive acting from a young actor, especially in one so new to the field - Pan’s Labyrinth being her first starring role, and only her sixth total screen credit. If this is an indication of things to come, I predict a long and fruitful career on the stage and screen.
The design of the film is nothing short of astounding. In addition to the charismatic yet vaguely threatening faun, the underground kingdom is populated by many frightening and fantastic creatures, from a toad large enough to swallow Ofelia whole, to the truly terrifying Pale Man, a creature that appears to be all joints and sinew, with eyes placed in the palms of its hands. Despite all of its phantasmagoric terrors, however, this fantasy setting can hardly compare to the terrors which Ofelia experiences in the real world. Her stepfather is a nightmare of a character, who brutally tortures a captured partisan, only to have his physician treat the man so that he is healthy enough to be tortured again. Del Toro emphasizes this through the color design of the film, another highlight of its production. All of the scenes set in the real world are lit in a cold, pale light, which seems to wash all of the colors out of the surroundings. The world of fantasy, on the other hand, is sumptuously decorated in reds and golds. Even Ofelia’s first encounter with faun, in an earth and stone grotto, appears to be more vibrant and real than the so-called “real” world, despite its darkness.
This is a spellbinding film, and is easily the best fantasy since the Lord of the Rings films. It does not shy away from the inhumanity of the waking world, but instead brings it out into the open, showing what courage it takes to be a humane and self-sacrificing individual when confronted with so much cruelty and violence. Home is no longer the goal at the end of the fantastic journey, as in so many clean and sanitized fairy tales of the past. Instead, the fantasy becomes the destination, as all of the horrors of the labyrinth cannot compare to what is done outside of it, in the name of the greater good.