Pan's Labyrinth

Guillermo del Toro has established himself as one of the more interesting visual stylists working in film today. From The Devil’s Backbone to Hellboy, even including Blade II, he has shown a unique camera eye, with a strong focus on fantasy. His most recent release was Pan’s Labyrinth, which I missed during the two minutes it was in the theaters here, and which I ended up watching on DVD.

I went in with high expectations. Pan’s Labyrinth has won a number of awards, and seen mainly favorable reviews since its release. And the movie does have a stunning look to it. Del Toro creates a believable, horrible and beautiful world of fantasy. But the story didn’t connect with me.

This is the story of Ofelia, a young girl at the time of the Spanish Civil War (also the backdrop of The Devil’s Backbone). Ofelia’s father has died, and she has journeyed with her mother to the country estate of her mother’s new husband, a cruel captain in Franco’s fascist army. There she finds adventure in two worlds. The first is the real one, with Ofelia struggling against the captain, who is beset by partisans. The other is the world of the labyrinth. Ofelia may be the lost princess of the kingdom reincarnated, and she is given a series of tasks to perform to determine this.

I found myself wishing del Toro had simply ditched the fantasy elements of the story, and concentrated on the more realistic. The story of Ofelia, her pregnant mother, the sadistic captain, and the rebels is gripping. But the fantasy plot contains the worst flaws that usually afflict fantasy. Ofelia solves puzzles with no explanation given why. She is told to choose the center of two boxes to find a needed key, but she enigmatically chooses the correct one, on the left. Ofelia behaves stupidly when it is needed to showcase a character. In one test, she is repeatedly warned ”Don’t eat anything”. Naturally, just as she has completed her task, she eats a grape, which awakens an eyeless demon.

The film is certainly beautiful, and the story of the captain and Ofelia hints at a greater movie. But, all in all, it just left me flat.