El Laberinto del Fauno

international | arts and media | opinion/analysis Wednesday November 29, 2006 17:13 by w. improvemyself at hotmail dot com

Pan's Labyrinth, a quick review

The most immediately striking thing about Guillermo del Toro’s latest film “El Laberinto del Fauno” (Pan’s Labyrinth) is that it is entirely in Spanish with English subtitles yet still draws large crowds in Dublin’s ordinary multi-screen cinemas. The film, a mixture of fantastic fairy-tale and dramatic account of life in post civil war Spain, follows the journey of a highly imaginative young girl called Ofelia. Ofelia’s mother has married a sadistic fascist army Captain, who is engaged in a battle with local guerrillas throughout the film, and she is forced to move to his remote outpost despite a complicated and pregnancy.

Del Toro with his creation "Pan"

Ofelia discovers that she may be the long-lost mythical princess of the underworld, the entrance to which is located just beside her new step-fathers home, early in the film and with the help of the cruel yet aesthetically stunning character “Pan” (an ancient faun) she endeavours to complete a series of life threatening tasks involving great feats of bravery. The film is split between the quest Ofelia embarks on to return to her underworld kingdom and her daily life living with the fascist captain.

Throughout the film the horror’s of the new Francoist regime and the horror’s which Ofelia must face are counterposed. She seeks a key to complete her journey while a rebel servant provides a key to the fascist store-room to the guerrillas. Ofelia is confronted by a myopic-monster with eyes on the palm of his hands guarding a room full of food who will not awaken so long as the food is untouched, later in the film we see ration cards introduced which force the locals to queue for “Franco’s daily bread”, the new state is this myopic monster which upholds the rights of property over the concern of its citizens. Her guide in her quest, Pan, demands total obedience much like Ofelia’s new step-father. Ofelia embodies innocence in the face of the new brutal regime and her struggle to return to her kingdom is mirrored in the guerrilla’s who continue to fight from the mountains.

These themes of fascism and horror operating in counterpoint form the basis of many of Guillermo del Toro’s films. His 1994 hit film “Hellboy” was based around a demon brought to earth by the Nazi’s in the 1930’s who joins the allied side. The most closely related of Del Toro’s films is of course “The Devil’s Backbone” which is set in Spain at the end of the civil war and follows the life of a young orphan boy. Del Toro has described Pan’s Labyrinth as a female version of “The Devil’s Backbone”.

To describe the films as anti-fascist or view the message as being a dichotomy of good and evil, fascism and freedom or horror and innocence would be to miss the point of Del Toro’s films. Through the mixture of fascism and horror Del Toro says he is trying to tell people that the only thing to fear is ourselves and what we are capable of doing to each other (“the only real monsters are humans”). With these films he journeys into the human condition and notes how fascism and fear can manage to control us all. In Del Toro’s films we get a more interesting insight into Fascism and the impact of the Spanish civil war than in more overtly political films like Libertarias or Loach’s Land and Freedom.

The two plots which tell the one story and the beautiful work of creating both the stunning fantasy world of Ofelia and the mundane world of Franco’s Spain make this film an absolute pleasure. The sense of victory which the film's ultimate climax leaves you with might just have you checking your history books to see which side actually won out.