Wow. This is the first film to really have blown me away with how good it is since Apocalypse Now. Pan's Labyrinth is such an intricate and fascinatingly beautiful tale but it also one that is tense, horrific and deeply sad. The film is a blend of a fairy-tale like fantasy with a faun, fairies and various monsters but it is also a realistic and dark portrayal of fascism in Spain. The film explores the themes of imagination, control and death.
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| Theatrical Release Poster |
The year is 1944. The Spanish Civil war has ended but small guerrilla groups are still resisting Franco's new regime (sounds like the opening of Star Wars). The film begins with a girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), travelling with her pregnant mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), to live with her mother's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergei Lopez), who is the father of Carmen's unborn son and has been tasked with destroying leftist fighters hiding in the nearby mountains and woodland. In Ofelia's fairy-tale book there is the story of princess Moanna who came from another realm to the mortal world and died. However, it is predicted that her soul will return in another body. In the farm which Captain Vidal has made his headquarters there is a labyrinth into which Ofelia goes and meets a faun who tells her she has the soul of princess Moanna and must complete 3 tasks to return to her fathers realm.
So what did I not like about this film? Very little. In fact I can only think of one criticism which is that there are numerous small plot holes or parts in the film that didn't quite make sense. For example, when Mercedes, the house keeper who is spying for the guerrillas, manages to make a deep cut through Vidal's mouth with her knife why did she not kill him? Especially as she could have got away more easily because Vidal's body wouldn't have been discovered for some time giving her a chance to escape rather than him telling the guards to get after her immediately. However, these points are always small and don't ruin it too badly although they can occasionally take you out of the film which can ruin the enjoyment somewhat.
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| The Faun- a blend of makeup and CGI |
This film is technically great with all the monsters and fantastical creatures of Guillermo del Toro (the director and writer of Pan's Labyrinth) imagination brought to life by a combination of makeup, animatronics and CGI. Pan's Labyrinth is also beautifully shot too. What is most noticeable about the cinematography in this film is how it defines the space whether it be the small cramped tunnels of the tree, the high arched room of the fantastical realm's golden throne room or the matching dinner table shots of the Pale Man and Captain Vidal. The acting in this film is also of a very high standard with Ivana Baquero giving a brilliant performance as the young Ofelia. Sergei Lopez is also superb as the cold and psychopathic Vidal. Much of the tension in the film derives from the knowledge that Vidal makes every situation unpredictable. The casualness with which he kills people perfectly encapsulates the captain's character. However, what could just be made into a cliched 'bad guy' becomes much more. He is a convincing real psycho, obsessed with his own death. This is a film about fairy-tale and Vidal is the villain of it. If Ofelia is Red Riding Hood, then Vidal is the Big Bad Wolf.
But what is Pan's Labyrinth actually about? Well it is about the struggle of power between fascism and imagination. Vidal represents fascism (as he would being a staunch supporter of Falangism). It is his struggle to be in control and have everything in order that juxtaposes the imagination of Ofelia. This is shown in the very first scene in which we see Vidal. Vidal is standing upright, in his immaculate uniform awaiting the arrival of Carmen and Ofelia. He looks at his watch and tuts saying '15 minutes late'. By this we see that Vidal is orderly and wants everything in the way it should be. When Ofelia gets out of the car she holds her left hand for the captain to shake. He grabs it and says 'It's the right hand. You use the right hand'. We see here Vidal's obsession with order and his frustration when the correct protocol isn't followed. In contrast we see Ofelia clinging onto her fairy-tale books. This symbolises her hope and imaginative freedom against the oppression and control of Vidal.
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| Sergei Lopez and Ivana Baquero as Vidal and Ofelia |
The film is also about death. The ideas of death in Pan's Labyrinth are closely associated with time. Vidal is constantly checking his watch throughout the film.When Vidal is hosting a dinner party we hear a story about Vidal's father who died and broke his watch. Later in the film, when Vidal is shaving, he draws his blade across his throat. What this all means is that Vidal is waiting to die. He is obsessed with time because he knows that at some point he will die and he is just counting down the seconds until it happens. When fighting the rebels he bravely charges up the hill towards them telling his men 'This is the only decent way to die'. Then at the end, he says the only thing he wishes his son to be told about him is 'The time at which I died'. This shows that all Vidal can think about and all that is important to him is death. This is wound up with the idea of the Pale Man who kills innocents. The Pale Man sits at the head of a rich table (one directly mirroring the table at which Vidal sat). It could be linked that the Pale Man kills without caring just as Vidal kills others without caring for the same reason- that everyone has a time to die.
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| The Pale Man |
Pan's Labyrinth is also making a point about imagination and fairy tales. In the film the tasks respond to Ofelia's fears and own personal life. The toad poisoning the tree is a metaphor for Vidal poisoning her mother for his own gains, namely a son. This is shown through the representation of the crack in the tree as a vagina. We therefore see that the task that Ofelia must complete by overcoming the frog is her own fantasy version of overcoming the fearful Vidal and saving her mother. Similarly, in the scene with the Pale Man, Ofelia is again showing her fear of Vidal. However, her eating of the grapes from his table also shows how she is under his protection- she eats his food and sleeps in his house. What Del Toro is trying to say is that fairy-tales and stories are shaped to our own needs and desires- imagination is our way of creating our own world where we are the heroes and overcome our fears. In this way Ofelia has far more hope than Vidal. Vidal is simply restricted to this life, waiting for his death, with the only way he will survive being through the continuation of his name (hence his obsession with having a son). Ofelia on the other hand, will live forever in the land of her imagination, much like her story about the rose with no-one daring to touch it. The men scared of picking the rose and therefore failing to gain immortality represent Vidal and his fear of anything that is outside of the norm. However, for the imaginative, those who do not 'obey orders for orders own sake' as the doctor puts it, may find eternal happiness in their own imagination. In that way the film, despite its destruction and bleakness, is very uplifting.
I would also like to add that the Pale Man is one the most imaginative and scary creations I have ever seen. He is vile and the scene with him is just perfect. Fantastic film making right there.
I again haven't managed to explore everything that could be said about this film, purely because it is so rich with content. I really loved Pan's Labyrinth. The strange mix of fantasy and harsh reality may put some people off but this is a tense, moving, intelligent but, most of all, beautiful film which is a must watch.
Ratings: Entertainment: 9 Technical: 5 Intelligence: 5= 19/20 *****
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