A review of Pan's Labyrinth



Some spoilers here. Read only if you have watched it already.

My second viewing of Pan's Labyrinth, turned out to be even more enjoyable than my first. Got some new insights too. For those who have not watched it, it is strongly recommended. I praise it for its originality and simplicity. Watch it once. And then watch it again. And again. Roger Ebert calls it 'a fairy tale for adults' and I cannot agree more with him. Pan's Labyrinth is a story about a girl's (Ofelia) imagination of the underworld realm which she used in her escapism from the violent and hostile world which she lives in. I will not call the film a fantasy show however, because though it had mystical elements in it, it is essentially also a comment on the real world we live in. And it is commented through the innocence of a 11 year old girl. The film soundtrack is based on a lullaby which will haunt you even after you finish the show. I was caught humming the tune right after the show. Let's just call it, one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, and the best foreign language film I have seen so far, and the best film of 2006. The Lord of the Rings is beautiful because it is of epic proportions. Pan's Labyrinth is beautiful for its simplicity and great imagination.

It is that good.

As mentioned, the essence of the film is about the girl's escape from this hostile world. We have no reason to suppose Ofelia witnessed many of the violent and immoral incidents which the movie audience is exposed to. We have no reason to suppose she witnessed, for example, Captain Vidal's killing of 2 innocent people, or his torture of Pedro. What we do know, though, is that whatever little this innocent girl has witnessed in the era of the Spanish civil war, is already unbearable enough for her. The most touching scene (for me) in the show seems to convey this. Ofelia was talking to her yet unborn brother, telling him that he must not 'hurt his mother' because she is 'very pretty'. We have reason to suppose that she knows how hurt her mother is. She might not know about the violence of the civil war, but she knows her mother is hurt. She then promised her brother that if he obeys, she will grant him a position as prince in her imagined kingdom. The innocence of Ofelia worked very well here.

Some people have suggested that the kingdom is not really her imagination, but a real thing, but I utterly reject that notion. The movie only makes sense in the light that Ofelia imgained everything, from the Mandrake root to the Faun himself. Everything, in an attempt to convince herself she could leave this hostile world. What happens next is what I call a 'three-fold anguish' when Ofelia learns that she cannot really escape. She must face the cold, harsh reality when she grows up.

First, because she has 'broken the rules', the Faun returns and tells her she has failed her second task, and no longer has the right to return to the kingdom. Notice how distraught she became! Many have been puzzled about why she had failed her task just because she disobeyed and ate the cherries. I have two possibilities: One, is that it is very reminiscent of the fairies tales which we read. Disobedience results in punishment. This will then have little to do with the plot, but more plausibly: Second, it is used to finally culminate in this particular scene where the Faun tells her she had failed, and ultimately, as we will see in her final task, that she must choose to do the correct things with her own free will. She is not to be bound to her promise to the Faun to 'obey him'. But with this free will she also has the power to disobey. The point of all the tasks, the Faun tells her, is to prove and ensure her 'essence is intact'. Ofelia was told that she is not 'born of man', but when she disobeyed, she had exhibited an essence of humankind (disobedience) and thus made her unfit for the kingdom of the underworld realm. There is some comparison to the Genesis story here, but I choose not to over-interpret this film. Del Toro (director) has mentioned that there are several Catholic images in the film, such as the use of 'sacrifice by blood', but I don't think every single thing needs to be interpreted in such a way.

Second, the anguish is further shown when Ofelia's mother discovered the mandrake root. Although Ofelia believed the mandrake root was real as shown by its influence in the mother being well again, and then going into miscarriage, her mother would later tell her that 'magic does not exist' and that she must learn that 'the world is a cruel place' as she grows up. This destroys her notion of escaping from this world, though she continues to believe in it. After the death of her mother, she begs Mercedes to take her away from the place she is in.

Third, and the last anguish is the scene of the final task. She learns that there is a cost: she must sacrifice her own brother in order to enter the kingdom. She refused, and the consequence is that she cannot enter it.

The audience will also experience this sort of anguish. After the scene where Ofelia was reunited with her parents in the underground realm, the scene immediately returns to cold reality: a dying Ofelia who is imagining all these things. We had known that her imagination does not exist based on the experiences of Captain Vidal who discovered the mandrake root and complained about 'all the junk she read', and also her mother, who tells her magic does not exist. But the final scene stamps on all of us the coldness of reality which stares at you: she has not escaped in reality. There is no escape.

I almost cried. On my second viewing.

Pan's Labyrinth thus seems to have two stories weaved into one. One, is the story told through the real world, the story which involves the guerillas and the soldiers, which is not witnessed by Ofelia, and second, through the imaginations of Ofelia. The film moves between these two persepectives. Yet this is one story, coherently and wonderfully told. Apart from the story itself, Pan's Labyrinth has also won the Academy awards for Cinematography and Art Direction. You will know why when you watch it. Watch, and enjoy how the director sets up the scenes. It is a visual feast, whether you like fiction or not. It is fiction at its most potent. It is fiction with a point to make, and a beautiful one at that. My only regret is that the show is rated NC-16 for violence (which arguably is justified), and this prevents the younger generation from appreciating it.

I am going to watch it for the third time. I'm confident I will enjoy it even more.