One of the best fairy tales for adults I've ever seen

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2007)

Guillermo Del-Toro goes into full bloom with a real feat of cinematic strength with Pan's Labyrinth, the kind of film that builds more and more with momentum until one's left in a total engrossment in the storytelling and the fates of the characters (mainly the little girl of the story, Ivana Baquero's Ofelia). Del-Toro knows that since his movie is mainly more for adults than the kids (I wouldn't not recommend it to kids, but the younger ones would definitely get freaked out by the more gruesomely violent moments), it should really be provocative by way of showing how a child has no other choice but to go into the realm of one's fantasies. But on further introspection about the movie, what makes it even more fascinating is how, in a strange way, it's not escapism in the sense that the girl retreats to the dreamworld. If anything the dreamworld retreats to her, or rather each side of fantasy and reality have an equal pertinence here, unlike another film from this past year, the (underlooked) Terry Gilliam film Tideland, where a little girl also had to escape under no other recourse to which it transformed her own world-view to a great degree. Pan's Labyrinth blends together a unique form of magical realism that grows more potent and aborbing on a repeat viewing, and it's actually stronger by showing how the fantastical can be contrasted with what's really terrifying and cruel in the world.
In this case it comes in the form of fascism and a kind of rule-by-law/fear, and in the form of the little girl's step-father, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez, formerly of With a Friend Like Harry). His is one of the great antagonist performances I've seen in recent memory, though mostly because of Del-Toro making him such a force of domination and cruelty on anyone who doesn't fit into his obedience and world-view. He and his troops are facing off against the rebels in the area circa 1940s Franco-run Spain, and has no tolerance for anyone in his midst who won't go under his form of justice (there's an immediate form of repulsion by what he does, graphically, to father and son peasants who only were in the woods after rabbits). The stakes become raised, however, when his troops capture one of the rebels alive, and after torture, there's recognition among some of the caretakers in his home, like the good doctor- who is there really to take care of the Captain's very pregnant wife and mother of Ofelia- and the head maid of the household (the great Maribel Verdu as Mercedes), and suddenly Ofelia finds herself pit against this man that she could never stand to begin with, but now sees as a true threat to what she has to accomplish.
And what she has to accomplish is the more fantastical portion of the picture, a very strange but completely illuminating set of scenes where we find that Ofelia really has the spirit of an underworld princess in her, and a faun (er, 'Pan'), gets her to complete tasks in order to set the spirit free. But in the face of the Captain, and her own mother's weakened spirit (which leads to a very sad state of affairs), it becomes the greatest struggle of Ofelia's life, and all in the midst of a political conflict settled in this environment with guns and overwrought bloodshed that she couldn't even begin to understand. Hence, the escapism. But part of the greatness in Pan's Labyrinth- aside from the tremendous technical accomplishments on all fronts (cinematography, production and creature design, special/visual effects, the attention to detail with both the historical and more fairy-tale aspects)- is that we really care about Ofelia's struggle, as she's really in a dire situation when she has to snap back from her time with the insects/fairies and meetings with the faun. Through the bleakness that surrounds her, one can see how the fantasy is not just a sweet desire, but a necessity in youth- however one might want it as an adult as well.
Filled with heart and ideas, a climax that really becomes moving and captivating without becoming too sentimental, and with some individual scenes that rank with the best in the decade (Lopez's scene where he stitches back his own face- and then takes a drink of alcohol- is priceless, ditto for when Ofelia has to get the dagger from the banquet hall), this is a real marvel of "magical realism", as it's been dubbed, and is surely Del-Toro's triumph so far as a filmmaker (and, like Gilliam, visionary to boot).