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MOVIE: Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)
Directed & Written by Guillermo Del Toro * Starring Maribel Verdu, Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
Richly realized and passionately acted, Pan's Labyrinth is far removed from the usual kinds of cinematic fantasy. It weaves an original storyline between the real worlds of fascist Spain in 1944 and a young girl's private wonderland of fantastic beasties, but it is not in any way a film for children. In fact there isn't another film quite like it.
Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is the daughter of Carmen (Ariadna Gil), who is forced by circumstance of wartime to marry Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), an officer in Franco's fascist army. Carmen is already pregnant with his child as the film opens and they are traveling because Vidal has been posted to the mountains to root out some rebel partisans. The two have come to live with him and a company of soldiers at an old high-country farm. In a nearby forest there are some ancient ruins, a maze of stone walls fronted by an archway with mysterious carvings. Repelled by the authoritarian Vidal, Ofelia soon enters the labyrinth and finds a half-human creature, a faun, who tells her that she may be the lost princess of a fabulous kingdom. To prove herself however, she must pass several tests before the moon turns full. Enthralled, Ofelia begins her quest and has encounters with several strange creatures in the places the faun directs her to. Meanwhile, Carmen is having a difficult pregnancy and the faun also helps Ofelia with a cure. Her other world would seem make-believe and yet the cure seems to work.
Apart from Ofelia's travails however, a more earthly struggle occupies the adults. Captain Vidal and his soldiers ruthlessly pursue the partisans while Ofelia's nanny, Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), is smuggling medicine to them. Mercedes seems to be the embodiment of Spain, opposing the sadistic brutality of the fascists with a maternal courage that won't die, in spite of the terrible risks she takes. There is nothing make-believe in their struggle.
Writer and Director Guillermo Del Toro is known to American audience audiences as the director of Hellboy, but Pan's Labyrinth, which is entirely in Spanish with subtitles, has none of the former's comic book banality. The sadistic brutality of the fascists is quite real and its juxtaposition with the dangers of Ofelia's special world propels the film into dark regions of fantasy, horror and action that are rarely traveled. It's a journey that you won't soon forget.
The Skinny:
Did I enjoy the film?: It's absolutely fascinating.
Would I go to see it again?: I'm still caught in the Labyrinth, I'll have to go around again just to find my way out.
© 2007 - Rusty Pipes