I was not prepared for this film. I didn't know much about it, aside from the fact that it got several Oscar nominations and was about a little girl who enters some kind of fairytale land. This is more like a gothic fairy tale, set in fascist Spain during WWII and has a Hamlet-like ending. I was really disturbed by this film.
The film opens with 10 year old Ofelia traveling with her pregnant mother to the country to live with her new stepfather. He turns out to be a ruthless Captain in the army trying to put down a rebellion. Captain Vidal kills, tortures, and terrorizes people, as well as being an authoritarian father who cares more about his unborn child than his new wife.
Ofelia follows a fairy into an underground cave and meets a fawn who tells her she's a princess of the underworld and if she completes three tasks she can return to her kingdom. The movie shows us several stories. Ofelia's quests, the Captain's efforts to squash the rebellion, and the rebels efforts to survive.
Life for all these people is harsh and bleak if not outright terrifying. The New York Times says: "Fairy tales (and scary movies) are designed to console as well as terrify. What distinguishes "Pan's Labyrinth," what makes it art, is that it balances its own magical thinking with the knowledge that not everyone lives happily ever after." I don't really find that "consoling". Ofelia's fantasy is obviously an escape from her bleak life which she has no control over, but I think they take it too far.
I'm not a fan of horror films but I've seen a few and enjoyed some. Pan's Labyrinth is a horror film and I wasn't expecting it and as I left the theater I really felt like I needed a happy film to wipe this one away. This seems to be what the director was hoping to achieve. Job well done. Now about that happy film...
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