Pan's Labyrinth

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2010)

Pan's Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo del Toro, is a captivating fairy tale of dark sorts, incorporating two stories into one. It is the story of a little girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who seeks an alternative to the world she lives in by way of reading and believing in fairy tales. It is also the story of the post Spanish Civil War era at a military station in the mountains. Both of the parallel story lines have the theme of making choices. We each have a path to chose and a choice to make. Pan's Labyrinth shows the path of a little girl in a mythic world, and of a military Captain's world of cruelty.
The film opens with narration describing the story of the underworld and how Princess Moanna ventured up into the world above on Earth and died. The King of the Underworld still waits for her return. We are then introduced to Ofelia, who is traveling with her pregnant mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), to live with Captain Vidal (Sergi López i Ayats). The Captain is stationed at the mountain military post. Carmen married Captain Vidal after Ofelia's father died and is pregnant by him. On the way to their new home, they briefly stop due to Carmen's pregnancy sickness and Ofelia wanders into the woods ahead. She befriends a fairy and her fairy tale begins.
Upon arrival to the military camp, Captain Vidal's cruel meanness is seen the second he arrives on screen to greet the travelers. The Captain's kind caretaker, Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), is introduced and Ofelia knows that she can trust her. Their relationship bonds throughout the movie as Ofelia comes to care for Mercedes like a mother.
Captain Vidal is anything but sane. Filled with overbearing lunacy, he is on a mission to weed out guerrillas that are hiding the surrounding mountains. The Captain is absorbed on this war path as Carmen is put on extreme bed rest after a bleeding incident. With the Carmen and the baby's health threatened, Ofelia is pretty much left to herself. She develops a relationship with a faun that tells her she may be Princess Moanna, but needs to prove it by completing three tasks before the full moon.
While Ofelia is working towards completing the accepted tasks, she encounters situations where she has to make a choice to listen to what she has been told to do, or do what she feels she should do. At the same time, Mercedes and the doctor (Alex Angulo) taking care of Carmen secretly care for the hiding rebels in the mountains. While this is going on, Captain Vidal brings wrath to those he encounters allowing for spectators to be appalled and frightened by him.
Pan's Labyrinth is a magical movie of sorts, filled with fantasy and creatures. The surreal quality of the movie is brought to life through the use of computer generated imagery, animatronics, and costume. The lighting quality is dark, which give the film an air of fear and caution. The effects of the movie are like a realistic Tim Burton film.
The unsure world that Ofelia is introduced to almost mirrors the unsure world that the Captain lives in. Ofelia chooses to believe in something different than what she knows and accept the assignment of completing three tasks. Sometimes she chooses the expected path and sometimes she does not.
The Captain chooses to be in the line of work he is in and react to situations without regard for human life or dignity. By continuing to choose the path of hurting others and holding himself higher than those around, the Captain is delivered to his final destination.
Making decisions based on moral conviction will lead down a path. One must chose which path they REALLY want to choose.