A forthright exploration of what an adult world at war looks like to children

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2007)

Director Guillermo Del Toro's film PAN'S LABYRINTH is one of the most thoughtful fantasy/horror pictures that has been brought to mass (or mainstream audiences) in many years. The work is a sort of cross between THE NEVER ENDING STORY and Gunther Grass' Hitlerite Germany storyline THE TIN DRUM. Though there is little to find here in the way of original storyline or exploration of fantastic themes, it is a forthright exploration of what an adult world at war looks like to children, and deserves the continued attention of those film lovers who have a special hankering for the Gothic genre.
The work is set against the background of Franco's Spain, which is in the process of consolidating a fascist victory over the Republican government that was defeated in 1939. The year is 1944, and Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a precocious 12 year old girl with a passion for fantasy literature, is the step-daughter of a military specialist, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), who has married her mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil). Ofelia is isolated, and has an ally in the head of the housekeeping staff in Vidal's compound, a woman named Mercedes (Maribel Verdu).
Captain Vidal has been sent to the countryside in Spain in order to shut down the partisan resistance which is still waging guerrilla warfare in the mountains, and the arrival of his adapted family is the note the film begins on. Ofelia's mother Carmen is experiencing a difficult pregnancy with Vidal's child, and looks to her daughter for the little stability and support she is able to attain living in a military compound. Ofelia's main comfort is in the world of dreams and nightmare she is able to create for herself, an activity that is frowned upon by her mother and condemned by her rigid-spit-and polish step father. She also some support from Mercedes, who is a sort of socialist "fellow traveler" and supporter of the guerrilla resistance hidden inside the Captain's household. Ofelia's world of personal folklore leads her into a fantasy relationship with a mystical faun (Doug Jones) who, in her thinking, patterns for her a quest and boon she must endure in order to reclaim her status as a princess in the realm of the fantastic, and thereby save her mother and unborn brother. And it is her life, both within the bounds of imagination and the strictures of the real world, that makes up the bulk of this story, which can only end in madness and death.
I don't think I've said too much here, but having noted all this, it should also be observed that, despite the graphic quality of the violence in this film, PAN'S LABYRINTH remains an interesting and compelling chunk of film. The overall message of the work is sweet in its essence, and lacks the world-weariness of much of the junk that passes for mainstream entertainment in these here United States. If you haven't seen it yet, it's definitely a "ringer" for the fantasy film audience.