Pan's Labyrinth- a rant
Ok so...I watched this movie when it came out in the theaters last year. The ending made me bawl uncontrollably. I hated it. There, I said it.
The reason why I bring it up again, is because it was on TV and I tried watching it a 2nd time, to see the movie keeping in mind the collective opinion of everyone else who watched the movie, I even skipped past the parts of horrid bloodshed and warfare so I could only focus on the fantasy parts----I still bawled, and I still hated it.
Here's why. And why I really freaking hate discussing this movie with people. If you haven't seen the movie you'll want to skip this because I'm openly discussing the ending.
It's a gurella war movie. Yes, there's fantasy elements. Yes, there's enough to make it a 'fairy tale for adults', but at it's core it is a WORLD OF HALLUCINATION brought on by a stressed little girl unhappy with her life. She wants to be the princess in the fairy tale her mother read to her.
Every time I try to discuss this movie and how it made me feel, and how I perceived it I am CONSTANTLY (and this is so bizarre, because it happens every time...and I've seen it happen to others who share my opinion...) berated for not understanding the movie because it's not a 'fluffy' fantasy. The people I've talked to about this movie actually get ANGRY at me for not seeing it as a fantasy tale with a darkly bittersweet happy ending. Uh...wtf? Did people get infected with some subliminal messaging that I didn't?
I mean...I appreciate dark fantasy. In fact, I thrive in dark fantasy. I love writing dark fantasy stories to the point where Scott has to constantly remind me to put some happiness in them or only a minority of people will enjoy them. I seriously doubt there's something wrong with my imagination that I don't see the 'fairy tale' in this movie.
"So Beth, how do you explain how she got through the Labyrinth at the end? How do you explain her trials with the Mandragora and going through walls?"
Well..I can't. It was obviously intended to be that way to focus on the fantasy element of it. We're seeing her imagination, we're seeing life as she's seeing it. So yes, there are your fantastical elements. Maybe her journey through the room to get the dagger for Pan was really her venturing into the kitchen and getting a cleaver knife, but we're seeing it as she did...or imagined it.
The ending, the way it is presented, is not her finally crossing into the 'fantasy world' that she was the princess of. She's fucking hallucinating on her way to death. This is where people argue me the hardest. It has been claimed multiple times "Pan never said her human body was going to cross over"
Well....there you have it, she's dying and going to heaven. She's not a princess. Even if Pan himself was real, he was just tricking her to her death. (Given the nature of Fauns in classical mythology, this is as believable as the little girl hallucinating.) You look at it one way (the hallucination) and it becomes a show tricking you into thinking you're in the real world crossed with fantasy. Looking at it the other way (Pan tricking her) you've got more of a fantasy.
However, I still can not see her being the lost princess of the shadow kingdom. That part of the movie is beyond me, no matter how I look at it. If you simply leave it as a movie that was to get you guessing, and to be open to interpertation, then I'm 100% ok with that...I just get sick of people getting pissed off at me because I didn't see it as the fantasy they did. I just don't get it...why this universal reaction of anger???
I mean...I've disagreed with plots of stories before with people but it's never led to instant anger....
Anyway. I think I've gotten it out of my system for now.
tl:dr--Pan's Labyrinth is not a fairy tale in the end...not even a dark one. It's a statement about the cruelty of war and what it does to the innocents involved.
The reason why I bring it up again, is because it was on TV and I tried watching it a 2nd time, to see the movie keeping in mind the collective opinion of everyone else who watched the movie, I even skipped past the parts of horrid bloodshed and warfare so I could only focus on the fantasy parts----I still bawled, and I still hated it.
Here's why. And why I really freaking hate discussing this movie with people. If you haven't seen the movie you'll want to skip this because I'm openly discussing the ending.
It's a gurella war movie. Yes, there's fantasy elements. Yes, there's enough to make it a 'fairy tale for adults', but at it's core it is a WORLD OF HALLUCINATION brought on by a stressed little girl unhappy with her life. She wants to be the princess in the fairy tale her mother read to her.
Every time I try to discuss this movie and how it made me feel, and how I perceived it I am CONSTANTLY (and this is so bizarre, because it happens every time...and I've seen it happen to others who share my opinion...) berated for not understanding the movie because it's not a 'fluffy' fantasy. The people I've talked to about this movie actually get ANGRY at me for not seeing it as a fantasy tale with a darkly bittersweet happy ending. Uh...wtf? Did people get infected with some subliminal messaging that I didn't?
I mean...I appreciate dark fantasy. In fact, I thrive in dark fantasy. I love writing dark fantasy stories to the point where Scott has to constantly remind me to put some happiness in them or only a minority of people will enjoy them. I seriously doubt there's something wrong with my imagination that I don't see the 'fairy tale' in this movie.
"So Beth, how do you explain how she got through the Labyrinth at the end? How do you explain her trials with the Mandragora and going through walls?"
Well..I can't. It was obviously intended to be that way to focus on the fantasy element of it. We're seeing her imagination, we're seeing life as she's seeing it. So yes, there are your fantastical elements. Maybe her journey through the room to get the dagger for Pan was really her venturing into the kitchen and getting a cleaver knife, but we're seeing it as she did...or imagined it.
The ending, the way it is presented, is not her finally crossing into the 'fantasy world' that she was the princess of. She's fucking hallucinating on her way to death. This is where people argue me the hardest. It has been claimed multiple times "Pan never said her human body was going to cross over"
Well....there you have it, she's dying and going to heaven. She's not a princess. Even if Pan himself was real, he was just tricking her to her death. (Given the nature of Fauns in classical mythology, this is as believable as the little girl hallucinating.) You look at it one way (the hallucination) and it becomes a show tricking you into thinking you're in the real world crossed with fantasy. Looking at it the other way (Pan tricking her) you've got more of a fantasy.
However, I still can not see her being the lost princess of the shadow kingdom. That part of the movie is beyond me, no matter how I look at it. If you simply leave it as a movie that was to get you guessing, and to be open to interpertation, then I'm 100% ok with that...I just get sick of people getting pissed off at me because I didn't see it as the fantasy they did. I just don't get it...why this universal reaction of anger???
I mean...I've disagreed with plots of stories before with people but it's never led to instant anger....
Anyway. I think I've gotten it out of my system for now.
tl:dr--Pan's Labyrinth is not a fairy tale in the end...not even a dark one. It's a statement about the cruelty of war and what it does to the innocents involved.