The Fairy Tale That Isn’t
Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is not the typical kind of fantasy movie. Gone are the complicated and lengthy plots like in the ever-popular Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series, or the stunning and grandiose visual effects of Avatar. What this movie provides is a simple, yet unique piece of literature that despite its simpleness, still provides the many elements of fantasy. Pan’s Labyrinth features a surprising performance by the cast, which, along with the exquisite directing from del Toro, definitely categorizes this movie as a “diamond in the rough” among the more famous movies of its genre.
Set in 1944 fascist Spain, this movie is about a little girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather. Ofelia soon finds out that his stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), is the strict and ruthless leader of the Spanish Army. It seems like he doesn’t even care for her or her mother, but only for the baby soon to be born for him to carry Captain Vidal’s name. Ofelia tries to disregard this through reading her books and just let her imagination take her mind off her life. One day, her imagination comes to life as she discovers a fairy on the day of her arrival at her new home, which takes her to a faun. The faun tells her that she is a princess of underground world and that she must complete three daunting tasks to prove it. These tasks, along with adjusting to her new, difficult life with her stepfather, take Ofelia to an adventure she cannot possibly ignore.
The star of this brilliant film is none other than Ivana Baquero, who plays the main character, Ofelia. Not many child actresses can duplicate what Baquero showed in this film. She perfectly characterized Ofelia’s curiosity and stubbornness that her role in the movie needed to be. Ofelia’s belief of a fairy-tale world was evident in Baquero’s acting. Another notable performance in this film was Sergi Lopez’s. Lopez’s character was the designated antagonist. From the very start of the film, his stern and merciless personality showed through. His character was not very likable and conceivably it was Lopez’s fantastic performance that made his character give a bad connotation. It was del Toro’s directing that made the cast’s performance memorable. He did a fantastic job on this movie. The plot was fast-moving, but did not damage its effectiveness of grabbing the viewer’s attention. The fairy tale elements of the plot naturally fit into the otherwise historical fiction aspects of it. Del Toro combined these elements to make an outstanding movie.
The visual and auditory effects of this film greatly contributed to what del Toro wanted to convey to his viewers. The contrast of the lighter and darker scenes set the mood, which was very important in the movie. The lighter background in the scene where Ofelia stood in front of his mother and father in their rightful throne smiling down on her, was much different than when Ofelia was being chased by an injured and bloody Captain Vidal through the labyrinth which had a very dark background. It was this kind of visual imagery that conveyed the varying moods of the film. The music used was also a significant in the expression of the mood. The scenes in Captain Vidal’s room where he was always shaving always had music that almost signified a marching type of song for an army. This gave the character a dictatorial side of him that is obvious along with his actions and personality. The special effects in this film did a satisfactory job based on it its purpose of helping set the mood.
A poet named Oscar Wilde, once said, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” This is evident in this film. What seems to be a simple fantasy story has hidden, dark meanings that can be missed. Combining fantasy and historical fiction, del Toro hides themes consisting of escape and hopelessness. Ofelia uses her imagination to get away from her strict stepfather through her fairy tales. By creating a fantasy world, she is able to hide from the harsh truth of life and just live as a kid in an unwelcoming new home. This movie definitely deserves a rating of four out of five magical fairies.
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