The Darkest Fairy Tale

Rating: 9/10 (1 May 2016)

(SPOILERS) Pan's Labyrinth blew me away. Set during a Spanish Civil War, the setting often alternated between the horrors of reality and the fanciful wonderland that the young girl Ofelia, played by Ivana Baquero found herself in. After an encounter with a bipedal talking Faun played by Doug Jones who tells her she must complete 3 tasks before the next full moon in order to escape the mortal land and live with her father and mother who are royalty of the underworld. Each of these three tasks require Ofelia to venture away from her pregnant and sickly mother, played by Ariadna Gil and brutal step-father played by Sergi López to complete these tasks she receives from a magic book that the faun had given her.
This movie was beautiful. Beautiful in the darkest of ways that I think I have seen put to film. A housemaid named Mercedes who essentially takes Ofelia under her wing has a lullaby that she hums to Ofelia at one point of the film. It is so simple and beautiful but very important to the film as you can hear it and its influence throughout the score of the film. The color pallet of the film is incredibly dark yet beautiful. The reality of the civil war ravaged area of Spain is constantly overcast and dark or rainy and each of the fantastical elements of the film are presented in the same type of light except I noticed that with each task Ofelia had to complete the composition of the shots became darker and darker as her situations became more and more dire. This darkness continues until the incredibly bright, bittersweet climax of the film. Innocence of person seems to be the central theme of this movie. Ofelia is thrust into a world she wanted nothing to do with. Her mother becomes pregnant and moves to the compound where the Captain Vidal and the men he commands over reside. He is a terrible, brutal man. Vidal is perhaps one of the most brutal and frightening antagonists I have ever seen in a film. He treats Ofelia and her mother like objects while only caring about his son (the baby that the mother Carmen is pregnant with). He takes no prisoners except to torture and maim them before killing them when he receives what he wants. Ofelia stands to be the central figure of innocence throughout a war where both sides are killing each other or backstabbing each other. Ofelia's innocence is brought to light in many instances throughout the film until the climax when the Faun requires the blood of an Innocent to open a portal back to Ofelia's true royal family.
This movie was very different than your standard "Innocence triumphs" type film. No one is sacred or untouchable in this movie and it shows throughout. While a movie such as E.T. has a bitter sweet ending and the innocent child risks his life to save another certainly could be paid tribute here in Pan's Labyrinth, I feel it is taken to an extreme showing the horrors of experiencing a war as a child from the frontlines. Motifs in which Ofelia's innocence are tested throughout the film. There are moments when her character traits put those around her in danger because she didn't consider her acts to be "That bad" and in the ultimate test of innocence she sacrificed herself for her brother ultimately earning her way from her mortal body to reclaim her spot as princess in the underworld with her mother and father. This film truly shows a strong innocent character in Ofelia. She was brave until the end and while the film seemed to leave the ending up to the viewer I like to believe that it was truly a bittersweet ending when the credits rolled. A dark and twisted fairy tale, Pan's Labyrinth was great and highly recommended.