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Pan’s Labyrinth is a tale about mythical creatures, fairies and of the war for supremacy being fought within General Francisco Franco’s Spain. It is set in 1944, just after the Spanish Civil War. It describes the consequences of the meeting of these two wholly separate universes. And the link between these worlds is Ofelia; a young girl whose powerful, vivid imagination guards her against the penetration of the reality of her life and its subsequent dampening effect on her otherwise cheerful disposition. It not only gets her in trouble but also saves her in many ways.

Pan’s Labyrinth may have fairytales as a central idea but it is not a children’s film in any sense. The more adult themes of Fascist politics, violence, torture, patriarchy and authoritarianism completely cancel out the effects of the typical fairytale characteristics, which would normally attract little children. In fact, the combination makes the film rather sinister and somewhat disturbing to watch.

Captain Vidal, brilliantly portrayed by Sergi Lopez, is a hardhearted dictator and is extremely possessive – almost an archetypal representation of General Franco. He maintains a military barrack in a mountainous area, adamant on eliminating an armed rebellion to Franco’s regime in the region. He treats his own wife, Carmen – who is also Ofelia’s mother – in a dismissive manner, only being nice to her because he wants her to be healthy enough to bear him a son. Carmen is sick because of complications in her pregnancy. At one point, Vidal tells the doctor to save the child instead of the mother, in case only one of them would survive. His protectiveness towards his son is not adorable at all. Instead, that and his egoism will only disgust you further. That is why you cannot help but smirk when his housekeeper Mercedes takes his son and absolutely point-blank refuses to consider his last wish, saying that his son would never know of his biological father. One might feel some sympathy for him, seeing the shock, despair and even some remorse in his eyes, although that is unlikely.

Ofelia, impeccably played by Ivana Baquero, refuses to call him ‘Father’ despite her mother constantly insisting that she do so. She is silently resisting her mother like a little spark of dissent amidst the authoritarian life of the barracks. She is happy to ‘disappoint’ her stepfather because she hates him more than she is scared of him.

She is completely opposite to Vidal. At various points in the film, she is shown to be in opposition to him, like a dichotomy of good and evil. And this makes sense because the film’s director Guillermo del Toro has created a parable by juxtaposing Ofelia’s innocence with Vidal’s sadistic brutality.

One of the most endearing and heartbreaking moments of the film are when Ofelia sneaks into her ailing mother’s bedroom where her mother is fast asleep under the influence of sedatives. She quietly, gently lays her head on her mother’s tummy and whispers to her brother, asking him to spare their mother and not hurt her when he come out of her womb warning him that the life outside is miserable enough for her and for him too because there was no reason to expect Vidal to be nice to his only son. In fact, he would probably be equally mean to his son, in an attempt to bring him up like he was brought up.

The original Spanish title of del Toro’s critically acclaimed film is El Laberinto del fauno, which literally means The Labyrinth of the Faun. However, the film’s title in English is written as Pan’s Labyrinth. The Spanish title refers to the fauns of the Roman mythology, whereas the English and even the French and German titles refer specifically to Pan, a faun-like character in Greek mythology. The film’s director has categorically in stated in an interview that the faun in the film is not Pan. The faun in the film has been played by Doug Jones and voiced by Pablo Adan due to language issues. Both are to be commended for their joint performance as the Faun as they brought the character to life. Typically, the faun is a mythical character that is found in Ancient Greek and Roman mythological traditions. Pan is a faun-like character from the Greek mythology. This is how all of it comes together; all the mythology, mythical characters meet the real-life conflict and the people embroiled in that conflict. In fact, this film is a coming together of two worlds, along with all of their conflicts.

The faun in the film has been created with a mixture of prosthetic costume and makeup, and CGI effects. The end effect is realistic, greatly helped by the performance of the two artists that one cannot help but be as wary of him as Ofelia is. The viewer barely knows if he is to be trusted or not. All one can do is keep hoping that Ofelia would exercise as much caution as the circumstances allow, during her interaction(s) with the faun. However, there is a certain paternal quality to him too, like described in an interview.

Once you are aware of this, you might stop worrying for Ofelia. But this also signifies that she has a decided lack of not just a paternal figure who treats her in a manner that is both caring and yet quick to reprimand her life. This makes the audience sympathise with Ofelia. Yet there is still something about the faun that confuses the viewer concerning his real intentions.

Traditionally, fauns are supposed to create confusion about whether they are trustworthy or not. This aspect has been played around with by del Toro, probably in order to maintain an element of suspense throughout the film. The faun, like any caring father figure, is gentle when he telling Ofelia about the things she should know about her heritage. But he is also angry at her when Ofelia disobeys his instructions. Based on the knowledge of his behaviour towards Ofelia in the reunion scene in the underworld kingdom of Princess Moanna, the faun’s earlier anger seems genuinely to be a result of his paternal feelings for Ofelia.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a rare film that combines the world of fantasy and reality to show how the two worlds can co-exist with the conflicts of each world spilling into the other, thus opening up certain portals through which contact between each world is established. The film is an excellent combination of a strong script, direction, acting, cinematography and use of special effects. The film is a moving story of a brave young girl whose idealistic obsession with fairytales actually ends up saving her and gives her a new and happier life.

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The author is a Multimedia Producer at Dawn.com