Director Guillermo Del Toro's “Pan’s Labyrinth” is being toted as a fairy tale for grown-ups. But the term "fairy tale" only hints at the film's imaginative beauty and creativity; it completely avoids its darker and much more prominent side. In fact, the film is much closer to the Brothers Grimm’s original fairy tales, full of shadows and violence — only this is based on a very real post-civil war Spain.
What is at first striking about “Pan’s Labyrinth,” aside from its cinematography and stunning-yet-simple special effects, is its bare bones cruelty that is seen both in the fairy tale world that young Ofelia creates (or does she?) and the real world with Ofelia’s stepfather, Vidal.
Or more appropriately, Captán Vidal, captain of the fascist Nationalists soldiers held up in a small village in the mountains as they search for rebels in the woods. The film abruptly introduces a layer of cruelty as Captán Vidal repeatedly beats a farm boy in the face with the butt end of a bottle and then shoots the boy's father in the head. Not very fairy tale like, but incredibly powerful.
The violence doesn’t stop there, but it isn’t for the sake of gore — it’s the world that poor Ofelia is trapped in. No wonder this violence spills over into her fairy tale. Pan, the faun that lives in the ancient labyrinth constructed on the side of the town, tasks Ofelia to complete three missions in order to prove she is the true princess of the underworld. This fantasy world and reality collide with fairies that look like winged zombies and monsters that bite their heads off.
All of these creatures are pulled off with such style and beauty that it almost belies their uglier sides. Pan is old and molting yet alive and vibrant. An eyeless baby-eating monster is both disgusting and unforgettable at the same time. Del Toro is a master of working with actors in costume and can transform even the most rudimentary actor in makeup into an amazing facet of fantasy film. Not that he needed much help in the case of perennial man-in-five-hours-worth-of-makeup Doug Jones ("Hellboy"), who plays two of his creatures.
Beyond the flashy make-up, beyond the blood and beyond the civil war there is still something simple and basic to the story: A battle between good and evil that is in all fairy tales, a child-like struggle between right and wrong. The ability to retain the fundamental characteristics of a fairy tale and still have such deeper truths is what truly makes “Pan’s Labyrinth” great.
<1b>Matthew Razak