El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)

It’s a pretty dirty trick, in the world of writing, to start a written work by pondering the ways you might go about writing that very same work. “How can I even begin to talk about thus and such…” is a common enough introduction. Even bolder is statements like “there are simply not words in any language to describe thus and such!”
Well dirty or otherwise here goes nothing. How can I even begin to talk about “Pan’s Labyrinth?” I will even venture to say that there are simply not words in any language to describe “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
Let’s just establish from the get go that this movie is literally unlike any other movie ever. That phrase, like so many advertisements, is used far to loosely. Here is a movie for which it actually applies.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” is called, by a great deal of critics, a fairy tale for adults. There is no denying this since the movie deals with myth and magic, fairies and monsters, and the ageless conflict of evil versus the innocent.
This movie is not the first fairy tale for adults however; many of the classic fairy tales deal with universal themes and have appeal for old as well as young audiences. What is unique to this movie is that it is unabashedly a fairy tale that is not for the young.
The plot revolves around a young girl, Ofelia, in 1944 post civil war Spain. Ofelia’s mother is married to, and carrying the unborn son of, a fascist military officer named Vidal. Ofelia also lives in a fairy tale world where the faun, Pan, leads her through three tasks that will prove her to be the reincarnated princess of that fantastical world.
The story certainly has appeal for the young, and as a tamed down bedtime story it would be rather excellent. Guillermo del Toro does not tame down his film, it is one of the most violently harsh pictures you are likely to see this year, as it is the end result is nothing short of true brilliance.
The violence in “Pan’s Labyrinth” is not that of the inane “Saw” films or their ever-multiplying fellow gross out horror films, it is never used for frivolous show or in poor taste. What makes the violence here so unnerving is its juxtaposition with the child like imagination of the fairy tale setting.
Imagine if Cinderella’s step sisters captured the fairy godmother and, as her punishment for aiding Cinderella, beat her in the face with a bottle until her nose was crushed inward then threw her to the ground and put three or four bullets into her head at point blank.
I might be tempted to decry “Pan’s Labyrinth” for the brutality, but it is a story of good and evil, and even amidst the brutality that reveals evil there is beauty kept alive by the goodness of a young girl.
Ofelia is not out of her mind, neither is she eccentric or mentally unstable, she is a child who sees the world in all its cruel realities through the eyes of innocence. We see the world through her eyes as well, and it is jarring and terrible but also has the possibility of love and beauty overcoming hate and pain.
The performances are magnificent all around, newcomer Ivana Baquero, playing Ofelia, gives us a completely perfect re-imagining of a fairy tale princess, just as Sergi Lopez, playing Vidal, pulls out all stops bringing evil to the screen that becomes increasingly to the very end of the film.
Maribel Verdu, as the maid with a secret as well as a sort of godmother to Ofelia, turns in a heartfelt and inspiring character. Most memorable of all though, is Doug Jones playing both the faun Pan and the terrifying Pale Man, a creature who keeps his eyes either on his dinner plate, or embedded into the palms of his hands.
The real star of the film is Director Guillermo del Toro; he has crafted a masterpiece, about this there is no question. It is a perfectly imagined and executed film, but it is more than that even. It goes past your mind and right into your heart. It is unimaginable that anyone could leave “Pan’s Labyrinth” the same as when they entered. This movie is rare, for it has achieved something that few other films can boast. It has the power to change you.

A+