A movie which weeps tears of magic.

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2010)

"You're getting older, and you'll see that life isn't like your fairy tales. The world is a cruel place. And you'll learn that, even if it hurts."
The lines above, encapsulate not only the essence of Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, but also the essence of life. It is a brutal portrayal of the world we are now used to and the decadence of morality which is within us. It is about escape. An escape into wonderland. To leave behind the truth which is cold, harsh and abject. To live out a fantasy which offers warmth, affection and hope.
The movie uses Fascist Spain of 1944 as the backdrop.Carmen,a woman widowed by the war, marries Captain Vidal, a savage Fascist Officer, responsible for clearing the surrounding region of rebel activists. She hopes that it will bring stability to her, and more importantly to her daughter,Ofelia.Carmen is pregnant with a second child, which is the sole reason Captain Vidal shelters her as he hopes to have her son. From here, the viewer is alternatively thrown into Ofelia's fairytale world and the war-torn real world; a metaphorical journey into the depths of a child's subconscious and how it twists her sense of reality, leaving you with a melancholic gratification and a stark realization of how tragic the loss of innocence can be.
Words cannot fully describe Ofelia's story, who's real world is so full of grief that her only solace is the world of her dreams. Tormented by her reality she runs to her fantasy which so consumes her that she puts everything at stake in return for the promised utopia. Her story is an allusion to how our aspirations shape us and push us to tread the most treacherous of paths. It tells us that in the darkest of times, it is not around us but within us that we will find the last ray of hope.
Pan's Labyrinth is a true classic as it fulfills every requirement of being one, and more. It is not the plot, but the execution which sets it apart. There is a certain simplicity in the tone of storytelling almost as if it were your bedtime story being read out to you by your mother. It follows parallel narratives and yet never loses touch with its heart. The performances are brilliant all around, but special praise must go out to Sergi López , who effortlessly displays the most sadistic and brutal qualities of man, in his portrayal of Vidal. Maribel Verdú who plays the housekeeper at Vidal's home, secretly supporting and aiding the guerrillas hiding in the forest, delivers a strong performance which is backed by some great dialogues. Equally fabulous is Doug Jones who plays the "Faun" and "The Pale Man" with great aplomb. But the trump card among the cast is young Ivana Baquero, who plays Ofelia, and delivers a heart-wrenching act. Her performance, endearing and charismatic, is the fabric which holds the emotional core of the film together.
The technical crew behind this movie has excelled to a superlative degree.A special mention for the art direction, set design, costumes and make-up as they beautifully reconstruct an enchanting world of fairies and fauns, rabbit-holes and mazes and help in dishing out dark and chilling visuals. The cinematography is obviously exquisite as it conveys a dark, brooding undertone throughout. The musical score and screenplay combine wonderfully well as the rhythms slowly build their way into our memories with the help of the magic that unfolds on screen.
Ultimately it is the sheer genius of the director which makes this simple story a unique work of cinema. He focuses on a theme, which, with all its complexities at the outset, simplifies to something very basic.Choice.He conveys that it is our choices that determine not only our fate, but also the fate of the ones we love. And that sacrifice is the purest form of love. To choose sacrifice is to choose love. And that to choose love, ahead of everything, in the face of every adversity, is the most important choice of them all.
Hats Off!