Magically thrilling

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2019)

Pan's Labyrinth, directed and written by Guillermo del Toro, masterfully intertwines the mysteries of the fantasy world with the historical and political features of the real world. The plot of the film centers around a young girl named Ofelia. In the film, Ofelia and her mother move to lived with her stepfather, Captain Vital, a tyrannical and sadistic military officer. Post-civil war in Spain, Ofelia escapes the evil of the real world when she discovers a mysterious labyrinth where she meets a faun who tells her she is the long lost Princess Moanna of the underground world and her three tasks to complete before the full moon. The film, then, continues with Ofelia completing these tasks, fighting the evils in her real world, and eventually dying to live and reign in the underground world. Guillermo del Toro successfully and creatively conveys this and the struggles of the real world and fantasy world through the use of the film's linear storyline. The story skillfully transitions back and forth between the two worlds to illustrated their parallels and to convey the similarities and messages. The structure of this was well thought out and executed thrillingly and did not distract from the clear storyline of the film. Guillermo del Toro maintain the simplicity of a clear and linear storyline, as well as, the creativity of the parallels to illustrate and compare the two worlds. One of the components Guillermo del Toro used to establish the story is the use of the setting. The film is set in Spain in 1944 during the early Francoist period. Already, this portrays the historical aspect of the film by building the story off of a history Spain shares. In addition, Guillermo del Toro hide the fantasy world within the real world to show the belief of the story. This realistic but fantasy like setting brilliantly attracts the audience to believe in the story and also excellently emphasize the power of the fantasy world and the use of imagination. Another component used within the setting that forwards the narrative of the story is the use of lighting and space. In the real world, it is set mostly in the day with bright and natural lighting, whereas, the fantasy world is mostly mentioned during the night or with very dim/dark lighting. The purpose of this is to show the difference between the two worlds; the light in the real world showcases only the surface of what ordinary people see and the darkness in the fantasy world showcases the mysterious of the underground world and the wonders it carries from the ones who can see it. The spacing of the two worlds also contributes to the narrative by adding mystery in the fantasy world and structure in the real world. The fantasy world, inspired by the forests and earthly objects, has empty space of mystery and the real world, inspired by the war-like history, is structured with less space to show the commanding and formal world. Overall, Guillermo del Toro successfully created a fairytale horror story that conveys hidden messages of real life and imagination through his purposeful direction of lighting, space, setting, and the likes.