A captivating allegory about war and redemption

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2007)

Pan's Labyrinth is a captivating, violent, and at times disturbing fairly tale. The film, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, is an allegory about the Spanish Civil War that is framed as a child's odessy that takes place in northern Spain during the 1940s where the Spanish army was attempting to root-out the last of the "guerrilla" resistance fighters in the years after the official end of the war in 1939. In fact the term "guerrillas", which is Spanish for "little wars", was coined here. Each character in the film is a metaphor for some aspect of Spain during this period. The story itself is a calling for the people of Spain to face their past so that they can move forward with hope.
Enter Ophelia, a bright, inquisitive child who's mother is married to a Captain in the Spanish Army. Ophelia, I think, represents the soul, conscience, etc. of the people of modern day Spain. The Captain, who represents Franco's Fascist government and military, has brought Ophelia and her mother (who represents the old, pre-Franco Spain) to a garrison in northern Spain, where the Captain's troops are attempting to root out the last of the resistance fighters - and killing many innocent people in the process.
The Mother is pregnant with a child, the son of The Captain. The Child seems to represent the new, post-Franco Spain. The child is Ophelia's half-brother because her father, a tailor, has died. Her father seems to represent the old Monarchy (e.g. a king) who stitched together modern Spain from a collection of provinces over the last millennium.
Ophelia is an avid reader of fairy tales and while at the garrison becomes unwittingly entwined in a fairy tale of her own. She meets a faun who identifies her as a future princess and sends her on several quests, which she needs to complete in order to claim her reward. The quests, it would appear, represent a task to the people of Spain today to face this aspect of their past (the Civil War) and come to grips with it, and only by doing this can they move forward.
In the first quest, for example, she is sent to the roots of a giant fig tree where an evil toad lurks. The presence of the toad is killing the tree and keeping it from flourishing. The toad is representative of this dark secret that lies at the underbelly of Spain itself (the fig tree) and is keeping Spain from truly flourishing. Rooting out this toad is the "key" to Spain's future.
Without elaborating too much on the rest of the movie, suffice to say that the Captain, is blindly driven see his new son born no matter what the cost or how much bloodshed. He is thwarted by the guerrilla resistance, who is embodied by an determined and fearless housemaid and nanny. A doctor, representing the hard-working, innocent bystanders in the war gets caught up in the middle of the struggle.
We get a clue to the end of the picture at the beginning of the film. However, that does not entirely soften the impact. Most people do not learn much about this bit of history, so many people will not quite understand why the film is as dark as it is. As violent as it is, it pales by comparison to the real atrocities which occurred. I definitely recommend the film, but with a caution. It's a very involving film but also very difficult to watch at times.
The film is visually amazing and well acted, tightly written and tightly edited. Ivana Baquero's portrayal of young Ophelia was marvelous.
In closing, I would like to thank my high school Spanish teacher, Mr. Gaone, who's passion for Spanish history (along with some clues in the pre-press for the movie) enabled me to understand this film.