Passed along to me by JohnDoe from JDM Film Reviews, I watched Pan’s Labyrinth last night and found myself drawn into a sick, twisted world of childhood fantasies. This is the latest film from Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, and has been nearly universally applauded as a fine example of Latin magical realism brought to the screen.
There’s definitely an underlying foundation in Latin American literature the history of South and Central America has been battered by so much war and conflict that the writers have often dreamed of magical worlds that allow them to escape. Watching Pan’s Labyrinth, the connections to Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude and Borges’ Labyrinth are obvious.
The film takes place during the 40s in Spain, when Franco rolled through Spain with a spiked iron fist, and his psychopath generals are routing guerrillas in the Spanish hills.
Ofelia is a young girl with an active imagination, who is sent to live at a mill where her step father, the Captain is actively pursuing the rebels. She’s terrified by the violence and the cruel nature of the adults, and creates, in her mind, a fairy tale for herself to escape into.
Fairy tales for most of us are the Snow White type tales with bold colours cartoon slapstick and a childish atmosphere that is reminiscent of candy and Playdoh. Del Toro backs us into a corner by creating a vivid world of dark shadows and dull organic colours. The only colour that stands out is red, and only for blood of which there is plenty.
Played solemnly by Ivana Baquero, Ofelia wins us over by showing fear and conquering it most of us faced with a giant angry toad would have backed away but Ofelia manages to defeat it.
Defeat is never suspected by the Fascist Army. The Captain leisurely tortures his captives and assumes total victory. After all, a clockwork general has a clockworks army, which will always prevail over the rabble and the riffraff. The Captain measures time with his accurate stopwatch, while his doctor delivers medicines to combat illness.
Ofelia, on the other hand, submerged in her organic fairy tale, where time is measured in phases of the moon and healing is brought on by magical rituals. It’s a lesson well taught by Del Toro the rebels survive by hiding in the woods in a similar organic fashion.
Pan’s Labyrinth the Pale Man Doug Jones
The monsters of Ofelia’s journey, are horrific and nightmarish, but somehow pale to the human cruelty of the army and we would prefer to live in Ofelia’s world of fauns and fairies.
Every task that Ofelia faces in her fairy tale is softly echoed in the ‘real’ world of the war, and as she struggles to achieve release from the horrors of violence, the Captain pulls her back. Though we understand that she’s living in a fabricated world, we can’t help but hope that it’s true, and that’s she’s a princess looking to take back her throne.
I say: It comes out this Thursday in Palace Cinemas, and it’ll strike a nostalgic chord with your inner child – and bring dark memories of nightmares to you again.
See it for: One of the servants, played by Y Tu Mama Tambien’s Maribel Verdu, is a brilliant rebel conspirator, and I leapt out of my seat to cheer her on. Aller!
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