Pan’s Labyrinth

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, best known for Blade II and The Devil’s Backbone, has created a fairy tale that has more in common with the latter than The Lord of the Rings. This R-rated film is decidedly not for children, but neither will it be for some adults or the squeamish; it is more of a horror movie. The language is Spanish, but it has English subtitles for American audiences. Set in Spain 1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War, young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) are sent to live with Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez) at his fascist outpost. He is a sadistic man who is fighting off the last of the rebels, who are secretly aided by the doctor (Alex Angulo), along with the kindly housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdu).

The young girl’s only escape from this harsh reality is into fairy tales, even though her mother insists that they are nonsense, and she is too old to believe in such things (although she comforts her little brother by telling it fantastical stories at Carmen’s request).  One night, a fairy leads her into an old labyrinth in Vidal’s gardens, where Ofelia discovers a faun (Doug Jones, who previously played a fish-man in Hellboy) who reveals that she is a lost princess whose return was foretold.  He also says that she must pass three trials to acquire immortality and return to her kingdom.  Naturally, it causes not only her, but us as well, to question whether this is all really happening.

However, it’s not as easy to complete these tasks while also facing reality.  The captain is tightening his grip on the rebels, torturing them to reveal the sympathizers who are supposedly aiding him—and killing those who refuse to comply.  As her mother’s pregnancy becomes more urgent, Ofelia finds herself racing between both realms to accomplish the tests set before her, which are demanding and even dangerous.  One of the most disturbing scenes is a trial which involves a grotesque, faceless creature with eyes in the palms of its hands (Jones, again).  Sequences like this, as well as Vidal mutilating prisoners, and even stitching up his own face are intense and squirm-inducing.

Yet there is an undeniable beauty buried in del Toro’s nightmarish fairy tale.  There seems to be a moral: that even the most unspeakable evils cannot withstand the light (Ofelia is certainly not the only example of good here).  The performances from the largely foreign cast, including Baquero and Lopez, as well as Jones, are wonderful.  Credit where credit is due, the director knows how to tell a well-crafted, thought-provoking, and creative story, and it’s no wonder that it has become a critical darling.  It is the kind of movie that begs for multiple viewings, even if you don’t need more than one.

Rated R

1 hour, 58 minutes