Pan’s Labyrinth
You need to see Pan’s Labyrinth if:
- You have any interest in fantasy films
- You have any interest in horror films
- You like that pretty, lispy Spain-Spanish
- You are interested in pre-Christian myth
- You like good movies
- You are human
Reasons I loved this movie:
I loved its brave, beautiful heroine. If I were twelve, I would’ve developed a life-threatening crush on Ofelia within five minutes. As it was, I watched in awe of her apparent fearlessness. One could write off her bravery as artificial, insofar as she thinks of herself as the princess of a fairy tale and thus perhaps destined to triumph—One could so dismiss her, yes… until the end.
I loved its sense of the ancient—the labyrinth seems to be thousands of years old, the challenge it embodies at once timeless and startlingly relevant.
I loved its dual-layered (or multi-layered?) narrative. The story works equally well from at least two perspectives, and it functions beautifully whether you prefer the literal or the metaphorical interpretation. But wait—which is which, again? That, friends, is good writing.
I loved its indictment of patriarchy, and the relish with which it embraces feminine power. The Captain places value on Ofelia’s mother only because she is pregnant with his child, which he insists will be a boy. It is his inability to even conceive of a woman challenging him that is his undoing. Indeed, the three main “good” characters are all female. Little flourishes like the womb-shaped bloody stain on Ofelia’s book also impressed me, and although it may or may not figure into the feminist values of the movie as a whole, the fact that it was there at all is meaningful.
I loved its message—for all its complexity, its values are simple, and good.
I loved its production design: terrifying, ancient, magical, every supernatural flourish speaking of an entire tale left untold.
I loved how it was in Spanish.
I loved its ending.