What happens when make-believe believes it's real? PAN'S LABYRINTH

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)  Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the brightness blinded her and erased every trace of the past from her memory. She forgot who she was and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness, and pain. Eventually, she died. However, her father, the King, always knew that the Princess' soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place, at another time. And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning...  The Faun.

It is 1944 in Spain, and Ofelia is on a trip with her mother, who is in the late stages of a very difficult pregnancy.  They are traveling to join Captain Vidal, usually referred to as The Captain.  The Captain is Carmen's new husband, and he intends to have his family with him.  A baby should be born where his father is, and that is the end of the matter.  The difficulty of the move on the delicate mother does not matter.

Ofelia is enchanted by the forest around the mill.  When they stopped on the road for her mother's illness, she found a stone with an eye on it.  In the woods, she found a standing stone with a Celtic figure on it, with yawning mouth, and a gaping hole for one eye.  Ofelia places the stone in the eye, and out of the mouth emerges an insect, a long mantid looking thing.  She asks, "Are you a faery?"

At the mill, she finds something even more fascinating; a labyrinth.  (A note here, because I just can't help my self.  A Labyrinth is a winding path, a single line that twists and turns upon itself with out crossing.  It is an aid to meditation.  A space where there are many options of ways to go, but only one path that leads to the exit is a Maze.  These words are frequently confused.  However, the Labyrinth in the movie seems to be a maze, but at its center there is a well with a series of stairs.  At it's center is a standing stone, and around this is a groove in the stone that is a labyrinth.  So....)

Ofelia does not want to be here.  She does not want to call the Captain "father" as her mother requests.  She does not understand the circumstances that trap them here.  Her mother, caught between the Devil, her husband, and the Deep Blue Sea, the welfare of her children, both born and unborn, tries her best to mediate and to make both her daughter and her husband happy.  But she is very ill.

Then Ofelia wakes in the night.  There is something in the room with her and her mother.  She is scared, but then she sees it is the insect from the mouth of the standing stone.

Once again, she asks if it is a faery, and this time, the answer is resoundingly yes, as it shifts its shape to a pixie.  It then leads her through the labyrinth to the center, and down the central well to the underground chamber, and there, she meets a most peculiar creature; a faun.

In the English translation, this movie is called Pan's Labyrinth.  But Guillermo did not choose to call it Pan's because that god is far too wild and lascivious for the story.  Pan is the god of the wild, and is a Satyr, the embodiment of lust.  A faun is a much gentler entity.  So the faun is not the great god Pan, but merely a representation of nature.

The faun explains that he is looking for the reincarnation of Princess Moanna, daughter of the King of the Underworld, and he was here to see if she is the one.  She will have three quests, and if she can perform them before the full moon, then she will prove herself to be more than a mere mortal.

He gives her a book that will tell her what to do.

In the meantime, we learn that Mercedes, the housekeeper, and the Doctor are in collusion helping the rebels who live in the woods.  The Doctor is treating a French Soldier with a wounded leg with antibiotics.  Mercedes' brother is the leader of the rebels.  She feeds him information.

Ofelia is being groomed to meet the important people in the region.  It is obvious the Captain also has political ambitions.  But when Ofelia reads her book; it is blank, but the ink appears on the page as she watches.  It instructs her to find a fig tree in the forest, gnarled and twisted like a fauns horns, and to descend into the hole at its base.  There, she must make the toad that poisons the tree take three magic stones into its mouth.  Then she must retrieve a silver key from its stomach.

Dressed in her party dress, she sets out on her quest.  She finds the tree, and the hole, and wisely removes the party dress, hanging it on a branch before descending into the underworld.

The journey here is mythic; the journey into the underworld, facing the monster, defeating it, and returning, reborn.  It also has real world repercussions; she is covered in mud from head to toe, and her party dress blew off the branch into the mud.  Needless to say, the Captain is furious.

Things continue on all four fronts, Mercedes continues to aid the rebels, the Captain is closing in on their location, Carmen gets weaker, and Ofelia is given her second task.

She must use magic chalk to draw a doorway on her wall, and then set the hourglass the Faun gives her.  She has until the sand runs out to complete her task, and the faeries will guide her.  The one rule she is given is this; she must eat or drink nothing; absolutely nothing.

The place she enters is a vault, and in one of its branches, she finds a vast feast, full of wonderful deserts.  At the head of the table sits an emaciated form, eyeless and horrible.  On a silver platter in front of it sit a pair of eyes.

Ofelia goes to the three doors, and chooses the one her instincts direct her to.  From it, she draws a dagger. 

Then she is ready to go.  But as she is leaving, she sees some luscious grapes, and temptation sets in....

This movie follows the conventions of the Mythic Journey... Ofelia is caught between two worlds, one that is wondrous and strange, occasionally terrifying, but always mystical.  The other is filled with filled with terror, uncertainty and despair.  The monster in the vault was hideous, but the Captain is far worse.

 The visual impact of this movie is stunning.  It is rich and beautiful, the woods around the mill are park land forest, the labyrinth is eerie and evocative.  And the mill is homey, old but maintained, it's age a loving patina of decay held at bay.

 The costuming is equally on target.  Very few outfits are gorgeous, the only exceptions are the dinner party dresses, and the uniforms, but everything looks real, and period.

 But the most stunning element is the magical creatures.  The faun is a costume, not CGI, and it is amazing.  Doug Jones (Abe Sapiens of Hellboy fame) is the man in the suit, and the only non Spanish speaker in the movie.  He had to do his lines phonetically.  His performance is amazing.  He also plays the Pale Man, the second most terrifying monster in the movie.

 This movie won three Oscars, Art Direction, Cinematography, and Make Up.  It was nominated for Music, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Screenplay.  It won a further 68 awards, and was nominated for 55 more.

 This is a faery tale, but it is in no way a kid's film.  It is rated R for a reason.  If parents want to share this movie with their children, I strongly suggest they prescreen it in private, then make their decision.

That said, I hope they will share it with their older children.  It is a wonderful story, and has some valuable lessons.

 The Cast.

There is not one weak performance in this entire feature.  That is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Ivana Baquero ...  Ofelia
Sergi López ...  Captain Vidal
Maribel Verdú ...  Mercedes
Doug Jones ...  Fauno / Pale Man
Ariadna Gil ...  Carmen Vidal
Álex Angulo ...  Doctor
Manolo Solo ...  Garcés
César Vea ...  Serrano
Roger Casamajor ...  Pedro

In closing, I want to quote Guillermo Del Toro. "I always think of that beautiful quote by Kierkegaard that says the tyrant's reign ends with his death, but the martyr's reign starts with his death. I think that is the essence of the movie: It's about living forever by choosing how you die."


This is an entry in Captaind's Good Movies Write-off.

Check out these Faery Tales.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

MirrorMask
Night Breed
The Dark Crystal
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Legend
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Water Horse
Princess Mononoke