There was Disney, then Cocteau and finally Del Toro!

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2019)

I remember these Sunday afternoons in the early 90s where movie versions of classic Grim tales were aired and I could tell from my parents' enjoyment that they were made for both an adult and a child audience. I still remember the "Red Hot Riding Hood" movie and the nightmarish sight of the wolf posing as the sickly grandmother and whose face managed to fool the little girl.
So It would be an unfair trial to accuse Disney of watering down fairy tales when you recall nightmarish moments such as the Evil Queen's metamorphosis, Pinocchio's friend turning into a donkey, Bambi's mother etc. Disney understood what made these stories from the Grimm Brothers and Perrault so vivid in our memories, begging to be translated into a visual language, Disney for children and Cocteau for adults proving there were more than fairies in fairy tales, they could be dark stories exuding wisdom and poetry.
And then came the third (ram's?) head of the triumvirate, Guillermo Del Toro with his "Pan's Labyrinth", a maze of a plot and a masterpiece that uses the basics of fairy tales: supernatural elements, fantastic creatures and coming-of-age story through an allegorical language that also ventures in the realms of politics while I was expecting something in the vein of "Narnia" or "Lord of the the Rings". How misguided I was. This is is certainly one of the all-time greatest fantasy movies and original fairy tales.
The reason why the film works so much is because it prepares you to venture in the realms of fantasy but it's the juxtaposition with a clearly defined historical period that marks its first intriguing novelty. Set in wartime during the fight between Franco's soldiers and rebels at the end of the civil war; it's that element of context that gives the story its full meaning.The parallel's relevance is highlighted by the contrast between that period and the narrated 'prologue' about a princess who disappeared from her kingdom, a world where 'no lies and pains' exists.
We're plunged in a world that seems like the antithesis of that kingdom and while we wish for the princess' soul to get back to that world of her own, so many things happening in reality prevent us from envisioning any other alternate world as if reality was too cruel to make us believe in fairy tales. And Del Toro doesn't underestimate our intelligence, he knows we'll suspect the 11-year old girl Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) who reads the story, to be the potential chosen one, and while we're tempted to see the world from her child's perspective, we realize that the distinction between the real world and the fantasy isn't just stylistic but also narrative.
This is more than "Alice in Wonderland", what happens in reality escapes from Ofelia's attention as if it had a narrative relevance of its own and the monstrosity of the Pale Man for instance is nothing compared to what the main antagonist of the film has to offer. Indeed, Ofelia must clearly deal in the real world and above everything, her abusive adoptive father who impregnated her mother, a ruthless Captain named Vidal.
Vidal is a soldier who lives by the fascist code and has only contempt for anyone below his rank: rebels, women, children. The man is blinded by his power, uses his patriarchy as a terror weapon but beyond his menacing aura, is capable to display bravery, considering death as the true measure of a man. Vidal doesn't prove that vileness lives with rules but that rules can be evil in the way they force blind obedience and lead to blind violence.
Meanwhile, Ofelia must also follow rules and accomplish tasks that are not devoid of blood spillages. The tasks are given by a ram-headed creature, a Faun she met in the middle of an ancient labyrinth. And never question the validity of these tasks as if the "fantasy" worlds had more legitimacy to call for obedience. It's until the second task where Ofelia meets the infamous Pale Man and refuses to follow an order that we understand the absolute value of obedience before it's questioned again in the final task.
Once we start to draw parallels between Ofelia's journey and the war in the background, that we value her courage and the heroism of everyday fighters, a doctor, a servant against the ordinary tyranny of fascism and other institutions that sacrificed generations of Spanish people, that we anticipate with thrilled expectations the convergence between these two worlds. The final task wonderfully ties up the plot together in a parable of infinite wisdom, and whose use of violence is the best tribute to its maturity and intelligence.
Indeed, I have always avoided the film because I heard about how disturbing it was and when I found the DVD, the "beware violent scenes" made me expect the worst and I knew I had to be careful. But I was caught off-guard when the first disturbing scene happened. Many fantasy moments were repellent but they never equaled the violence reached by Vidal, played by a disturbing but effective Sergi Lopez.
The film establishes the heights of horror and disgustingness reached by the two worlds and how it all comes down to simple issues "should one follow his heart, his principles or follow blindly the rules?". The film manages to raise such intelligent question by providing great insight about the horror of the Franco's regime and make us adults root for the adventure of a little girl, with a fairy tale that embraces the true essence of a genre too sugarcoated today.
I have seen the film once but it touched me deeply through its visual, the little girl's performance, the haunting lullaby melody that I shall never forget. Or let's just put it simply, if as they say, a film is as good as its villain, then "Pan's Labyrinth" is truly a masterpiece.