Several friends had recommended this movie to me but it was only recently when I finally managed to sit down and watch it. After wrestling with a dvd player that refused to show subtitles, I drew the heavy curtains in my study, curled up on the sofa-bed and watched the movie on my computer. Within minutes the world dropped away and I was drawn in this exquisitely told gothic adult fairy-tale.
The story centres around a young girl named Ofelia. Set against the backdrop of the Spanish civil war, the story centres on our heroine as she tries to deal with a brutal stepfather and a country torn apart by war. As her mother endures a difficult pregnancy, Ofelia discovers a whole other world full of enchantment, bewitchment and terror. Yet a world with rules and order and infinite tenderness.
As Ofelia discovers more of this world she inevitably comes to know herself. She perceives the horror of the ‘real’ world and the beauty of the fairy kingdom. As viewers we are spared nothing – not the vicious brutality of the war or the breath-taking scenery of the other magical world Ofelia finds herself caught up in. We are kept on a knife edge of suspense as we see factions of the opposing rebels infiltrating the camp which Ofelia’s stepfather presides over. His almost inhuman character emphasises the bizarre and threatening nature of the world which Ofelia seeks to escape from.
Pan’s Labyrinth won three Oscars and the soundtrack was also nominated. It is achingly tender and will pluck at your heartstrings until they hurt. You can listen to the whole thing online at the official website. The whole tone of the movie is epic. it is like every fairy-tale you were ever told wrapped up into one glorious telling that will catapult you back into childhood and into old age simultaneously. I felt very young and very old watching this film. So many of the typical fairytale themes are contained in the story – symbols that have played out across centuries and continue to play in our dreams, in astrology, in tarot. The evil stepfather, the seeker, the princess, a test, the ancient tree, buried treasure, death, love, the quest, loss and hope – always hope for a better future.
Pan’s Labyrinth is a mythic journey that contains flashes of our own quest. It is the nightmare, the joy and the eternal. There are moments of tenderness, haunting creepiness, genuine horror and infinite wisdom wrapped up in a gentle tale of a rose. The end, like life, is bittersweet and guarantees tears of both joy and sadness.
For more information about this movie go to the Official Website.
