The Labyrinth of A Innocent Child and Vicious Adults

Rating: 8/10 (20 January 2007)

Pan's Labyrinth proves to be a fairy tale for adults and matured kids, or should i say, a fairy tale strictly for adults only? Guillermo Del Toro takes a very different approach in his 2nd tale revolving innocent children and adults with vicious hearts after his previous The Devil's Backbone. With both movies share the similar time line (where both stories were set in Spain during WW2), Del Toro once again brings the audience to the mysterious underworld, through the eyes of a child.
Devil's Backbone tells us about ghosts. Pan's Labyrinth tells us about fairies and demons. OK, enough about wandering ghosts and spirits seeking vengeance. We had Ofelia, a little girl who was said to be the princess of the underworld, where fairies lives together. However, in real life, she was a daughter of a late tailor and a housewife who became a Captain's wife, who rules a army belonging to the Fascist power. When Ofelia discovers a labyrinth with a bug that was actually a transformation of a fairy, she was drawn into the other world where she found out that she was a princess. However, she must pass through 3 test to regain her position of a princess.
Del Toro led the audience into a world of fantasy that was bizarre and amazing. Truly convincing and attractive, it draws the adult back into childhood memories, just like the bedtime stories told by the parents. However, Del Toro do not want to make the fantasy world too attractive, that people do not want to come back to the reality world. Thus, he blended and matches few characters, such as the Captain and Ofelia's mother, Mercedes (Captain's housekeeper) and Pedro, who are siblings joining the side of the guerrillas fighting against the Fascist power.
Ofelia's innocence and Captain's cruelty makes the movie a big comparison of human beings inner world. While Ofelia goes all the way to pass through the test, the Captain would do anything to save himself and his power. Every single test everyone goes through in Pan's Labyrinth tells the audience that life is not a bed of rose, where everything comes with a price. And to survive, they have to pass through the test, just like how Ofelia gone through the test, and survival of the human beings during war time.
The underworld puts the audience back to childhood, where Del Toro has successfully captured the heart of the audience, making them wanting to stay for the movie. However, reality seems to be longer than fantasy, as it was presented in the movie, where Ofelia's contact with the underworld takes up slightly lesser than half of the total duration of the film.
The tour of the labyrinth gives the audience a not so sweet adventure, with distasteful scenes related to war violence. But still, it is fun and exciting to explore them.
Take the opportunity to explore the labyrinth, and surprises awaits you.