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“Pan’s Labyrinth,” while supremely fascinating, is not a happy fairy tale. The film is set in fascist Spain in 1944, just after the Spanish civil war.
A young girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) travels with her pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) to live with her new stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi LCB3pez). Vidal commands the troops that occupy a rural town in which they oversee the rationing of foodstuffs to the village, and are in charge of seeking out and eliminating a rebel group left over from the war.
Ofelia loves her fairy tale storybooks and uses them as an escape until one day she finds herself in her own fairy tale. Guided by a faun named Pan, she must overcome many obstacles in order to realize her throne as the princess of her imaginative realm.
Ofelia’s world is inhabited by some grotesquely eerie characters that include a giant toad, fairies and the most chilling creation, Pan himself. He is a pale, deformed, zombie-like figure that has no eyes on his face, but rather on the palms of his talon-fingered hands.
Pan (Doug Jones) is nothing like the pleasantly whimsical Mr. Tumnus, the faun from “The Chronicles of Narnia.” His frightening features are indicative of something from a nightmare rather than a fairy tale, so much so that it’s hard to tell whether he is good or evil.
The settings for Ofelia’s adventures are equally disturbing. On her quest to reclaim her throne, she has to crawl through bug-infested grime and walk through Pan’s labyrinth, which contains elements more indicative of a haunted graveyard than a children’s bedtime story.
Director Guillermo del Toro has created a vivid and chilling world that is both fanciful and frightening at the same time. The true genius of the film lies in its juxtaposition of Ofelia’s fairy tale world and that of her real existence in the midst of a bloody civil war between the Fascists and the rebels.
Ofelia is caught between the two worlds, with deadly consequences. There are many movies in which a child escapes a harsh reality by going to a different world, but this film paints a unique picture that is in some ways just as dangerous as Ofelia’s real life.
It is extremely effective to place a child, the epitome of innocence, into this dark world of grit and grime as it reflects her actual life.
Audiences are constantly aware that this is a little girl who has created this elaborate dark fairytale, and there is always an undertone of darkness surrounding Ofelia’s world. Despite its ominous tone, “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a great film. In fact, it is this element of unapologetic danger that really makes it stand out. Its plot is extremely original and is complemented by the acting.
LCB3pez creates a truly cold and frightening Captain Vidal and Baquero is an excellent choice for the strong-willed Ofelia.
Jones is becoming a master at portraying otherworldly creatures. In addition to Pan, he has played Abe Sapien in “Hellboy” and various imps in “Doom.” He plays the Silver Surfer in the upcoming movie “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
While this is a foreign film and is therefore subtitled, this fact alone should not deter anyone from going to see the movie.
Foreign films such as “Pan’s Labyrinth” are usually extremely imaginative and bring a fresh look to cinema that Hollywood has missed. Waiting until it’s released on DVD and is dubbed is also a mistake. The quality of any film is greatly diminished by dubbing.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” is an extremely imaginative story that is bound to be one of the best of the year.
