REVIEW: El laberinto del fauno [Pan’s Labyrinth] [2006]

Rating: R | Runtime: 118 minutes
Release Date: October 20th, 2006 (Mexico) / December 29th, 2006 (USA)
Studio: Cinépolis / Picturehouse
Director(s): Guillermo del Toro
Writer(s): Guillermo del Toro

My mother told me to be wary of fauns.

Finally, Buffalo is able to see the phenomenon that is Pan’s Labyrinth for itself. All the hype and acclaim have raised expectations for this film by visionary director Guillermo del Toro. I really just wanted to see a film of his made outside the Hollywood system. Sure, I liked Blade II and Hellboy, but it’s his Spanish films like Cronos and The Devil’s Backbone that have been intriguing me for years. After watching his latest, my desire to finally check those two out is even higher. This one is simply an amazing feat of imagination and storytelling.

The aspect that lingers most is how everything seemed so original with each plot progression feeling like a surprise. Maybe this impresses me so much because of all the homages. Many things are familiar cinematic manuevers, but each one seems fresh. The ability to make each moment his own is astonishing. So too is his deft handling of the fairy-tale narrative with its real-world war counterpart. The film never completely falls into the mythical realm and instead keeps its two paths running parallel to enhance each other. It helps having some very nice transitions between both environments and great crosscuts showing glimpses of each together.

This is a film about war and fighting for what you believe is right. When the time comes to defeat an unjust tyrant, you must be willing to sacrifice yourself for humanity. We’re therefore thrown into a civil war in Spain against a regime that has recently taken control. The rebels refuse to back down to a general (Sergi López exuding his malicious intent at every turn) who proves to be a brutal warlord that doesn’t see all of Spain as equals.

This monster isn’t solely up against the people’s guerilla rebellion, however. He’s also on the opposite side of his stepdaughter’s quest for identity. Young Ofelia (played magnificently by Ivana Baquero) sees her mother making the error of marrying this ruthless military man. Her mother is sick with child after the general made them travel late in her pregnancy to see his heir born. With utter disregard for all but his namesake, Ofelia must disappear into her imagination to discover her true self.

With the death of her father and this slow detachment from her mother, she puts herself into a fantasy story she’s read about a girl from an underground world who came to the surface and allowed her soul to remain there forever. Ofelia takes the mantle of this princess and begins her quest to leave the atrocities surrounding her for the royal life of this happier realm.

I really like that del Toro wasn’t afraid to make this seemingly children’s tale for adults. The underlying morality is similar to Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, yet it does not cater to that younger sensibility here. This isn’t a girl renouncing her brother and needing to go on a quest to discover her love for others. This is a child trapped within the Hell that earth often is. Death and pain surround her at every turns and she must filter that danger through her imagination to survive it.

There are no cute and cuddly creatures here. The fairies guiding her are created from insects with agendas all their own. Pan, the conduit between worlds is an aging faun with a temper and disgust for humanity while evil entities like the toad and Pale Man are truly scary. There’s a lot of blood throughout whether during battles or otherwise to prove is the world these characters live in and rather than saying Ofelia is a child who doesn’t understand the gravity of her situation. del Toro allows her to not only recognize everything, but be the one battling through it.

All the fantasy moments are beautifully orchestrated and gorgeous to look at. Whether at the portal to the underground world with Pan or the Pale Man’s majestic hallway, you really get to see the director’s imagination in full effect. And it’s only made more effective via Doug Jones becoming these mythical beings. Like with Abe Sapien in Hellboy, he makes these characters real through motion. Maribel Verdú is amazing as Ofelia’s heart and soul while lying sick in bed too. Their relationship is necessary to counter what’s happening with the war thanks to Verdú’s involvement in that thread proving crucial.

My only real issue with this aesthetic masterpiece is its treatment of the mystical storyline. While executed to perfection, it often feels like an afterthought to reality. Like the fantasy aspect’s purpose is keeping Ofelia away from the battles rather than become its own world. I wish there were more examples beyond its escapism. That said, however, the conclusion brings these two realms together as effectively as one could hope. del Toro surprises us right to the end, unafraid to finish this fairytale against the genre’s usual assumptions.