Into the Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece)

I saw this in theaters, when whisperings of its greatness were just beginning to seep into the media. In fact, it had such a limited release that I had to go a half-hour away from my house just to find it! And was I pleasantly surprised--I left the theater speechless.

I'm certainly not speechless now.

In the 2007 Academy Awards, Pan's Labyrinth was nominated for six awards including Original Score, Foreign Language Film, and Original Screenplay; but it took the awards for Cinematography, Art Direction, and Make-up.

The movie takes place in the violent aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. The main character, a young girl named Ofelia, moves to the countryside where her pregnant mother is to wed a brutal Captain of the Spanish military who is overseeing the extermination of remaining rebel groups.

From the very beginning, the audience gets the sense that Ofelia has never belonged in this world; this feeling proves true when she is visited by a creature of the underworld. The creature, a faun, brings her three tasks. If she can complete the three tasks, she can return to the underworld as the reincarnation of a princess who lived there long ago.

The stories run in parallels with one another, for there is the dark, historically fictional plot which follows the cruel captain as he violently murders various revolutionaries, as well as the struggle of Ofelia’s nanny, Mercedes, who is a spy for the oppressed visionaries. Then there is Ofelia’s plight- the desperate struggle of a young girl to save the mother who is doomed to die, to face the hatred of her soon-to-be stepfather, and to prove herself worthy of being the princess of the underworld. Of course Pan, faun and servant of the underworld, is there to guide Ofelia along the way- but the question is constantly in the viewer’s mind as to whether or not the faun is a creature of good or a creature of evil.

The acting is superb; Sergi Lopez is particularly despicable as Captain Vidal. Maribel Verdu plays a Mercedes who is valiant, lovely, and admirable. The directing is equally gorgeous, and colors appear bright and beautiful and seem to jump off the screen. Vivid images such as the giant golden toad, and Pan stepping out into the blue moonlight remain in my mind.

But my favorite part of the movie? The score. In a business where scores often "do their jobs" and nothing more, Javier Navarrete's score is breathtakingly wondrous. It is truly eerie and eloquent in its creepy lullaby repetition, underscored by soft violins, vague piano notes, a delicate hum, and the occasional Spanish horn. The score adds to the sense of other-worldliness for this fantastical movie that is both violent and beautiful at the same time. Pan's Labyrinth brings a new meaning to the word “tragic"; it is both sorrowful and hopeful, and the ending is delightfully ambiguous and left up to interpretation.

-elln