Fantasy fans should get lost in Pan’s Labyrinth

By Joe Pelone
Collegian Editor
January 24, 2007

Although there are some exceptions, the best stories of fantastical whimsy and uninhibited imagination usually involve children. There is something about adolescence, with its fair mix of unjaded wonder and beautiful ignorance, that makes the world seem so much more expansive, so much better. In his Spanish children’s tale, Pan’s Labyrinth (or El Laberinto del Fauno, if you prefer), writer/director Guillermo del Toro delivers just that — a fantasy movie with a child’s imagination at heart.

Pan’s Labyrinth centers around a little girl named Ofelia who needs every last bit of escapist imagination she can get. Forced to move to rural Northern Spain in 1944, Ofelia must suffer through much political strife. The girl’s father, a tailor, was killed, and her ailing mother, Carmen, has remarried Capitán Vidal, a cruel-hearted man. Vidal feels little towards Carmen and even less than that towards Ofelia; his connection to the family is merely to sire a son.

Outside of this familial discord, guerilla combat threatens to overthrow Vidal’s fascist authority. Gunfire is exchanged regularly throughout Pan’s Labyrinth, as Vidal and his men can never quite snuff out their rebellious enemies. With all of this emotional and physical chaos brewing within and around her, Ofelia seeks solitude in her own violent, but calming, fantasy.

Eventually, Ofelia journeys through a labyrinth near Vidal’s house and meets Pan, a faun. He reveals to her that she does not belong amongst all of this suffering, for she is a princess from another dimension. If she can complete three tasks, she will be returned to her kingdom and real family. Thus begins Ofelia’s quest. She battles monsters and uses magic. It’s pretty cool.

Like Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes or even Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, del Toro never fully explains if Ofelia’s adventures are real or imaginary. He slips in bits of evidence to support both conclusions, leaving it to the viewer to make up his or her own mind. But regardless of the audience’s level of disbelief, the visuals that accompany Pan’s Labyrinth are still amazing.

del Toro’s previous films such as Hellboy have already proven that he has a knack for making the imaginary come alive, and he continues to show off here. Hellboy buddy Doug Jones is incredible as Pan and “Pale Man,” one of Ofelia’s foes, in stunning, animatronically suited glory. The special effects are gorgeous, thanks to a cap on the CGI fluff. Only small details like bugs and fairies are computer-generated.

Of course, special effects alone don’t give Pan’s Labyrinth its resonance. Every member of the cast, from leading lady… er, girl… Ivana Baquero as Ofelia to the barely seen (but always thought of) king/father, Federico Luppi, turns in a great performance. Sergi López, as Capitán Vidal, and Maribel Verdú, as Mercedes the maid, turn in particularly strong, delectable performances. While Ofelia does her own thing, Vidal, Mercedes and the rest of the cast must make do with the oppression of war, giving the audience two films for the price of one.

Pan’s Labyrinth boasts a great deal of wonderful imagery, but it’s also got plenty of intensely graphic stuff, too. It may be half-fantasy, but it’s all adult content. Besides the battle and torture scenes that take place around her, Ofelia goes through quite a bit of fantastical gore. Forget kids; full grown men will be deeply weirded out by the baby-eating “Pale Man.” Everything about that guy is creepy, from his akward shamble down to his, well, penchant for eating babies. However, the gore is never gratuitous. It always serves a function in telling the story.

The final bit of praise for Pan’s Labyrinth belongs to del Toro himself. In this film, he has concocted a children’s story in the old tradition of, say, “Little Red Riding Hood.” Here’s hoping it achieves the same level of notoriety as well.

pelonej1@lasalle.edu