Thought provoking and intriguing despite genre confusion

Rating: 9/10 (8 December 2019)

Although I felt this movie lacked a consistent genre, I enjoyed watching and analyzing 'Pan's Labyrinth' due to the symbolism Guillermo del Toro used throughout the movie. I would recommend it to anyone looking to watch an intriguing and fascinating work of art. It is considered a war, fantasy drama; however, I feel it is much darker than this. It is not only dark because of the war, but the gore that surrounds Ofelia's adventure as well. If I had seen this film the year it was released, as a child, I would have had nightmares for weeks about the Pale Man. I do believe this movie falls under fantasy and drama; however, I would go so far as to call it a horror movie as well. Toro intended for his audience to be frightened and shocked by many scenes throughout the movie. The murder of the rabbit hunters, Captain Vidal and Mercedes's fight, and the entire scene with the Pale Man are some examples of how this movie instills fear and disgust in it's audience.
Despite the lack of set genre, I did enjoy the movie for its symbolism and hidden messages. While watching, I came to the conclusion that the fantasy world in Pan's Labyrinth is a figment of Ofelia's imagination she created to help herself cope with the dire situation at hand. The faun symbolizes of the angel of death getting ready to take Ofelia away. She is a little girl in unimaginable grief. She has lost her father, is moving into a war zone, her mother is sick, etc. In the fairy tale she is reading, there is a father looking for his lost daughter. Because Ofelia is without a father, this is appealing. When her mother is sick, the faun provides the mandrake that "magically" makes her better. Towards the end of the film when the Captain follows Ofelia into the maze, we are shown the situation from his perspective. This is the first time throughout the film we encounter the magical beasts from the perspective of someone other than Ofelia. We can clearly see that the faun she is talking to is not there. While this could be taken that only she can see him because she has the soul of the lost daughter, I choose to interpret the faun as a figment of her imagination. As she dies, she sees her father and mother welcoming her into the afterlife, and the faun is there too, telling her she passed the test. For me, this was simply her finding a way to cope with and be at peace with her death. The faun, or angel of death, was prepping her for this in order to make it as peaceful as possible, almost like the Peter Pan theory where he is leading children to the afterlife.
Overall, I did enjoy watching and analyzing this movie. Regardless of the unclear genre, the movie itself was fascinating and thought provoking.