Pan's Labyrinth

I'm going to lace my post here with spoilers, so if you plan to see this movie (or don't plan to see it) you might not want to read this post just yet.


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Spoilers coming. I'm serious.


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Ok, you've had enough warning. :)

First, I liked the Spanish title, Labyrinth of the Faun. The Faun was never named in the movie, which I felt was the right choice. He did function well as the old man/guide in the archetypal arc of the story.

But, before I get into that, let me start elsewhere. The first thing that I want to say about this movie is that it's not for everyone. Director Guillermo Del Toro has create a story that is very consequential. I would say that one of the major themes was seeing the consequences of the choices that people made.

However, he also set his film during the Spanish civil war when Franco was taking over. The facist forces were not noted for tolerance or kindness. This is reflected in the movie as well. The natural consequences of people's choices were not softened in the story or on the camera. Violence was an integral part of the movie. As Mia and I had discussed together, it wasn't the normal kind of movie violence though. This was intimate violence. Intimate and honest. And, in the instance of the wine bottle, very brutal.

That scene, refered to as the wine bottle scene, set the tone for the character of the Captain. And yet, as we discovered by the end, that even after setting him up to be the villian, he was still a complex character. The depth that they added to him made his actions throughout the story more potent.

So, let's finally work our way around to the fantastic elements of the story. Ofelia, the heroine, makes two forays into the fairyworld through the film. Her interactions with the faun are always in the real world, which makes them an interesting blend.
Her two tasks to accomplish require courage. She has to face her tasks alone. What I found interesting in the two tasks that she has to complete is that the monster-obstacles are unaware of her status as princess. To them, she is nothing more than a child.

But, what's more enaging to me, is that her trials mirror what is happening in the real world. While she is moving through these in a fantastical setting, her mother, Mercedes, and the doctor are all dealing with similiar trials and monsters (the Captain). That they are all able to accomplish so much while under the threat of their monsters is incredible.

We also liked the way that the ending was handled. The Captain had to follow her to the center of the labyrinth. She had to choose, completely and irrevokably, to not let her brother be harmed. Once she had made that choice, the Captain had to be present to spill her blood, to complete the ritual. I choose to believe in the mythology of the story, that what happened to her was real. And that her decision was meaningful in that it restored her to her rightful place. The film is ambigious on this point, so I'm taking the liberty to choose the ending I want to believe.

A final note on the ending. We liked that the Captain had spent the movie setting up a legacy for his son. After we had been shown that he felt he hadn't lived up to his own father's legacy, he wanted to leave one for his own son to follow. And when he was denied, the look on his face was more punishment than anything else they could have done to him.

So, all in all, we were impressed with the movie. Very thought provoking. Very well crafted. And probably not something that we would go back and see for a while because we need time to come to grips with it.