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| Tuesday, February 5, 2008 02:00 PM |
| On the Viewer: Pan's Labyrinth |
 by Fëanor |
Well, I totally forgot to watch the new episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night, which pisses me off. (Luckily, it looks as if I'll be able to watch the entire thing online for free at the Fox website - as soon as they upload it, of course, which will apparently take a day or so.) But earlier that evening, before I made that colossal error, I got lucky while cycling through the channels and happened across Pan's Labyrinth just minutes after it started on one of the HBOs. This is a film I've been meaning to see pretty much since it came out. I wasn't sure I'd actually have time to watch the whole thing last night, but as it turned out I did, and I'm glad, because it's as fantastic as everybody says.
It's a Spanish film, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, and set just after the Spanish Civil War. A cold, brutal, ruthless captain of the fascist army, named Vidal, is trying to clear the countryside of Communist rebels. But even in the midst of this dangerous work, he demands that his pregnant wife and stepdaughter, Ofelia, be brought to him so his son can be born by his father's side. As Vidal kills and tortures suspected rebels, his doctor and his housekeeper, Mercedes, put their lives at risk, giving aid and comfort to the other side under Vidal's very nose. Meanwhile, his stepdaughter is led by fairies to a strange labyrinth near the house where a faun lives. The faun tells her that she is actually a princess, and her true father is a great king in a magic land, but in order to leave the land of mortals and claim her eternal throne in that other world, she must perform three dangerous tasks before the moon is full. Each of these quests involves magic and monsters. Finally, one explosive and terrible night, both Ofelia's adventure and her stepfather's come to a bittersweet end.
The film tells two different stories, set in two different, intersecting worlds. Both stories are exceedingly well told; both are thrilling, absorbing, and moving. Both are also frightening, violent, gruesome, and disturbing. Which is interesting. They could have told the old, familiar story about a girl escaping her harsh life by retreating into a delicate fantasy world of beauty and happiness. But Ofelia's world, though rife with astounding magic and eerie beauty, is just as terrifying and dangerous as the "real" world. I like that. I also like that the film never definitively tells you whether Ofelia's visions are real or not. They therefore remain exactly as real or as false as you want them to be. Everyone involved with the creation of her magical world - from del Toro, to Doug Jones (who plays both the faun and the hideous and horrific "Pale Man"), to the folks working in costume design, makeup, and special effects - deserves the highest praise. The scene with the Pale Man, the banquet, and the magic doorways drawn with chalk is particularly stunning and effective.
One of the major themes of the film is the desire to be remembered. When Ofelia fails to follow the rules during one of her tasks, the faun rejects her and says she will remain mortal, die, fade away, and be forgotten by everyone. Eventually he gives her another chance, and in the powerful conclusion of the film (which I'm going to talk about now, so those of you who fear spoilers have been warned), the narrator tells us that Ofelia will now be remembered by those with the eyes to see the traces she's left behind. Similarly, when Vidal is staring down his own death, it's his legacy that he's thinking of. He hands over his son to the rebels and asks that the boy be told about his father. But Mercedes refuses, saying, "He won't even know your name."
Of course, another thing the film is very much about is family - both blood family and chosen family. Mercedes becomes more of a mother to Ofelia than her real mother. Ofelia denies her mortal family almost entirely in favor of the family the faun tells her about - but ultimately her final act (spoiler warning again) is to choose to save her innocent brother rather than give him up to fulfill her dream. Vidal, though passionless in almost every other way, is deeply devoted to his son and, at least in some ways, to his wife.
The film also talks a lot about what it means to be really brave. Ofelia's first words to the toad under the old tree are that she is not afraid of it. And indeed she shows little fear when facing off against strange creatures and horrific monsters. Mercedes worries that she is a coward, but in fact she is one of the bravest people in the film, willing to risk death every day living side by side with a deadly monster while giving aid to that monster's enemies.
The point is, Pan's Labyrinth is a powerful and beautiful film about reality and fantasy, magic and monsters, love and family, true courage, and what it means to be remembered. Quite simply, it's a masterpiece. And although del Toro also directed the terrible Mimic and the disappointing Hellboy, this movie gives me hope that he'll do a good job when, in the near future, he directs film adaptations of two of my favorite books, At the Mountains of Madness and The Hobbit. He'd better do a good job, anyway, or I'll kick his ass. |
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