4: Pan's Labyrinth

The spiritual sequel to The Devil's Backbone, Pan's labyrinth is even better than its predecessor. Taking place after the end of the Spanish Civil War, the film focuses on Ofelia (Ivana Barquero), a young girl using her imagination to escape the bleak world around her. Her mother married a terrible man, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), and is sick with his baby. Ofelia sneaks around, constantly hearing whispers of the big nasty world around her, but being unable to do anything to help.

So Ofelia makes her own world. She goes and visits with faeries and fauns. She is a hero, who can do anything that is required of her. She is a princess, working to win back her throne and escape her life forever. In her world, anything is possible. When her mother is sick, she can heal her. She is in control there. The tale is told from Ofelia's perspective, so it is often jarring to see her behavior from the perspective of one of the adult's. In Ofelia's head, it all makes sense. Objectively, it is absolutely bizarre.

Just as The Devil's Backbone was about helplessness, Pan's Labyrinth was about hopelessness. The war was already over. The “freedom fighters” fight for vengeance, not freedom. Every death was unnecessary, all the suffering was for nothing. If The Captain died, he would be replaced by a different captain. That is what struck me the most about this movie; there was nothing worth fighting for anymore, but people kept fighting and dying for nothing. No wonder Ofelia dreamed of a better world.

The Captain is another one of Guillermo Del Toro's trademark scummy villains. He is obsessed with honor and the family name above all else. He desires order and obedience from his servants and family members, and nothing else. He is cold and uncaring towards his wife, and he only seems interested in his son to keep up his legacy. He has no feelings towards Ofelia at all, unless she misbehaves. Add on to that that he is a war criminal working for a fascist regime, and you have a great bad guy.

But the true star of the show is Ofelia. She is perfectly acted. You feel her earnestness and her innocence. You see her happiness and her desperation. She loves her baby brother and is scared for her mother. You want to protect her, but it is clear that no protection is possible. One by one, the people who are supposed to keep her safe fail her.

Pan's Labyrinth is probably the darkest fairy tale you will ever see. Even Ofelia's imaginary world isn't nice, with nasty beasts waiting, hungry and anxious. It really hammers home that there is nowhere safe.

Between the eerie Faun and the monstrous child eating Pale Man, Ofelia's world is a reflection of her surroundings.

After watching the film, I am tempted to imagine just as she did. I want to believe that what she saw was real. That magic exists, and she escaped the mortal world to live forever as a princess. I wish I could believe it.