PAN’S LABYRINTH

A FILM REVIEW
by Malik Isasis



It is 1944; Spain has just come out of a Civil War, and there are still insurgents holding out in the countryside. A Franco-fascist Captain named Vidal (Sergi Lopez) has been assigned to clear out the rest of the insurgents in the countryside. Captain Vidal runs his outpost, with brutal precision—anyone who is suspected of being an insurgent are tortured and killed.

Unfortunately, for the young beautiful protagonist Ofeilia (Ivana Baquero), her mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) is newly married and pregnant with Captain Vidal’s son. Young Ofeilia who still mourns the death of her father and her ever-increasingly frail mother, copes by disassociating herself from reality and projecting herself into a fantastical, dark and nightmarish fairytale. This is where the film Pan’s Labyrinth begins.

Ofeilia is an 11 year old girl with an obsession for fairytales. In the opening scene of the film, Ofeilia rides in the back seat of a car with her pregnant mother. The car is part of a military escort that is enroute to a military outpost in the dense hillside of Spain's countryside. The mother tries to bargain with Ofeilia by getting her to call Captain Vidal, “Father” but the strong-headed Ofeilia refuses, and instead she refers to him only as Captain. Soon after, mother becomes nauseous and stops the car to throw up. Ofelia wanders off into the woods and discovers a praying mantis-like creature in which she believes to be a fairy. The flying creature follows the caravan to the military post.

Later in the night, the flying mantis flies into Ofeilia's room and leads her out to a Labyrinth. It is here that she meets the half-man, half-ram known as Faun, who tells her that she is a princess, temporarily wandering in the human world. Faun tells her that she has three tasks to fulfill in order to return to her kingdom.

Meanwhile, Captain Vidal’s soldiers have captured two civilians, a father and son who claimed to be out hunting rabbits. Captain Vidal makes a quick assessment and decides the men are rebels. He takes a wine bottle and smashes the son's face with it, over and over, and over again. He pulls out his gun and shoots the father in the chest; he finishes off the son by shooting him in the head.

The fairytale sequences are as brutal as the reality of the war in the countryside, but at least to Ofeilia, the fairytale gives her purpose, courage and validation.

The usery relationship between Carmen, Ofeilia's mother and Captain Vidal is apparent throughout the film; she has given into her loneliness and he has found a vunerable women to bear his son. Carmen's emotional and physical weakness reverse the role of mother and daughter. Ofeilia takes it upon herself to become the caretaker.

Mercedes a house domestic is played by Maribel Verdu (Y Tu Mama Tabien) with a quiet desperation as she maintains dual identities. Her brother is one of the rebels in the hillside.

Mercedes is a strong-headed woman, who takes to the equally strong-headed Ofeilia. They become quiet allies. The audience looking for solace, cheered enthusiatically during a satisfying scene where Mercedes challenges Captain Vidal and lives to talk about. The scene like many others is bloody and sadistic.

Ofeilia has to grow up fast, not only does she have to protect herself, but she has to protect her bed-ridden mother from Captain Vidal. It becomes clear, that she is unable to do either. She is a child...limited not by her imagination, but her stature.

It was Helen Keller who said, "Security is mostly a superstition, it does not exist in nature nor do children of men experience it." Guillermo Del Toro, the director, does not give his audience security. Like in life, there are no promises, there are no entitlements to security, or happiness. Pan's Labyrinth is a morality tale, where cruelty reigns, even in the fairy tales, but inspite of the cruelty one can still find hope out of the nonsensical violence of humanity.

Grade: A

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