powerful story about the Spanish civil war - fantasy aspect the weaker side

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2007)

I believe Pan's Labyrinth to be misnamed. Although it is a clever title, and there is a faun and a labyrinth, the fantasy world is actually a very small part of the movie, which is mostly about a sadistic Fascist (Sergi Lopez, excellent as Captain Vidal)hunting partisans in the mountains of rural Spain during the second World War.
To be sure, the main character initially seems to be the Captain's unattended step-daughter, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero). Ofelia and her mother have accompanied the Captain while Ofelia's mother is dealing with a difficult pregnancy. The woman is not important to the Captain, only his legacy is and he will risk the mother's life to obtain his heir. In the meantime Vidal is not above executing anyone who even seems to be remotely suspect of aiding his enemy. This is bad news for the house maid, Mercedes (Maribel Verdu, who is also excellent) and the local doctor, both of whom are covertly aiding the rebels.
Ofelia seems to be dealing with this frightening situation by retreating into a fantasy world. A faun (Pan, played by Doug Jones) informs her that she is actually a lost princess from an underworld kingdom, and must pass several tests to prove her worthiness.
Here is where the weakness of the film comes into play. Both the fantasy world and the real one Ofelia inhabits are well evoked, but director Del Toro does not devote enough time to the fantasy world to make it the main arc of the story. Instead most of the time and focus (at least two-thirds) are on the Captain, Mercedes and the Captain's hunt for the partisans and their conspirators. When Ofelia does enter the labyrinth her tasks are usually straightforward (getting a giant toad to swallow a magic stone, stealing from a monster) and seem a distraction from the real story of the sadistic captain and the brave housekeeper. In particular on one sojourn Ofelia disobeys the orders of the Faun and awakens a child-eating monster from which she has to flee. This is out of character for Ofelia, who is shown as being canny and smart until that moment, and the Faun's pronouncements following this seem perfunctory. In addition, the fantasy adventures do not seem to gibe in any logical way with the story - I did not see a connection between the giant toad or the pale man with the actions taking place in the film. If the fantasy world is supposed to be an allegory for the real world Ofelia inhabits, then the connections were too tenuous.
Another fault I found with the film is that it takes the ambiguity away from the fantasy scenarios. Ordinarily in this type of story, the reality of the dreamscape remains in question, leaving the audience asking whether the character is actually experiencing the adventure or just imagining it. Here Del Toro removes the ambiguity - the dreamscape can only be real, or else the filmmaker is lying. I felt this was a cop out. If the girl is escaping her nightmarish reality by retreating into a fantasy world, then making the dream world real is unfair to the audience. What does it mean that this defenseless little girl can actually retreat into a fantasy world as a moral to the story? And if the opposite is true, that the fantasy world was just fantasy, then Del Toro creates too many contradictions - Ofelia uses tools and devices given to her by the faun to escape real world situations, and they are found by other characters.
The last criticism is the actions of Mercedes when she gets a drop on Captain Vidal. (SPOILER ALERT) Mercedes is very aware of how sadistic and evil the Captain is. She has the gumption to stab him and has him helpless, so WHY DOESN"T SHE FINISH THE JOB? Her leaving him alive has both immediate and far-reaching complications for herself and Ofelia and left me gasping in disbelief. This leads to the trenchant finale, where Captain Vidal, who has been stabbed at least five times, pursues Ofelia into the labyrinth. I had questions about this as well. During this climax I doubted Vidal's ability to go anywhere due to the brutality of the stabbings, but here he is, pursuing the little girl with the baby. I also questioned his actions toward Ofelia. Although he is shown as evil, he is never shown as anything more than dismissive of Ofelia. I doubted that his intentions toward a little girl he could easily overpower would turn murderous.
The ending is gripping and sad, but by this point too many contradictions had distracted me, and the explanation of the end once again made me feel the director was playing unfair games.
This is a strong, evocative film. If it sounds as if I am picking nits, it is because there are too many inconsistencies, and a distracted storyline, to prevent me from calling it great. People will be talking about this movie a long time, and I urge you to see it.