PAN: And it is said that the Princess returned to her father's kingdom. And that she reigned with justice and a kind heart for many centuries. And that she was loved by all her subjects. And, like most of us, she left behind small traces of her time on Earth, visible only to those who know where to look. [1]
Hello everyone! Welcome to this week's post about the movie El Laberinto Del Fauno, Pan's Labyrinth in English. Before watching the film, my expectations were already high as the movie received many awards (including 3 Oscars), but in the end, it exceeded all of them and left me speechless. The film was magical yet heartbreaking, and I simply can't wait to talk more about it. Thank you for being here and I hope you enjoy reading the post!
El Laberinto Del Fauno is written and directed by the brilliant Guillermo del Toro. The film is about a girl who is living under her sadistic stepfather's authority, and she's seeking ways to escape to the fantasy world. Even though the film received countless praise, there were a lot of conflicts in the making of this film. For instance, Del Toro repeatedly turned down the Hollywood producers' offers to make it a big-budget film, simply because he didn't want to compromise the movie's beautiful language in Spanish. So he kept the movie in its original language, and I couldn't be happier about it. Because he turned down the budget offers, he had to bear all the expenses of the film alone. In the end, he had to give up his entire salary just to make this film, which makes it even more valuable in my eyes.
Creepy, right? This is just the tip of the iceberg of what you'll see in Del Toro's gruesome film because he put a lot of time and effort to create these monsters. The image above is The Pale Man, the most visually disturbing yet fascinating creature in the film. I was most curious about the thought process behind making this creature and was glad to find an interview with Del Toro that touches this subject. Del Toro says:" The original design was just an old man who seemed to have lost a lot of weight and was covered in loose skin. Then I removed the face, so it became part of the personality of the institution. But then, what to do about the eyes?" He later says that he was inspired by a Polish poster of a woman screaming, covering her eyes, in which the hands were translucent so that you could still see her eyes. Del Toro created The Pale Man after that poster, and I must say it looks like a very successful execution to me. By mixing horror elements in his movie, Del Toro simultaneously earned the respect of horror fans, and that led him to get a hero's welcome at London's Frightfest in August 2006.
Let's talk about a few characters as they are just as important as the creatures of the film. I'd like to start with Ofelia - our main character of 11-years-old. Her life is equally tragic with her namesake from Shakespeare's Ophelia, which is another meaningful detail to me. Ofelia seeks to escape ever since the beginning of the film, and rightfully so as the period she lives in is none other than the Spanish Civil War in 1944. The adults surrounding Ofelia are either evil or good - but good people still have to bow down to the evil ones' authority. She learns to follow the orders without questioning at an early age, but as the film progresses we see her breaking some rules. Ofelia is depicted as brave and inherently good, and no matter how much disobedience she shows to Captain Vidal or Faun, we know that she does it for the sake of goodness.
Let's move forward to my favorite character, Mercedes. Mercedes symbolizes empowered femininity, unlike Ofelia's mother who views womanhood as a duty to satisfy men. In one unforgettable scene (we got lots of them in this movie!), Mercedes escapes from Captain Vidal's hostage and says these words to him as she slits his mouth:" Don't you dare touch the girl. Or you won't be the first pig I've gutted!" Just hearing these lines is enough to make her my favorite character in this film.
I'm half-heartedly moving on to Captain Vidal, one of the most (disturbingly) realistic villains in movie history. Captain Vidal is a sadistic oppressor and represents the fascist regime in Spain during the Civil War. Unlike "ugly" villains in other films, Vidal is depicted as good-looking and extremely neat in the way he acts and dresses. The reason behind creating him this way lies in these words of Del Toro:" It's very rarely that when somebody is that worried about the outward appearance, there's something truly wrong within." To Del Toro, this also applies to all evil politicians. I also think this way, and couldn't think of a better way to demonstrate it on the big screen. Captain Vidal symbolizes the worst traits of human beings ever existed - be it arrogance, ego, hatred, and brutality. We see each of these traits shown in different scenes throughout the movie.
Reaching the end of this post, I'm giving this movie its well-deserved 10 out of 10. With its disturbing creatures, touching story, brilliant performances, and haunting soundtrack, El Laberinto Del Fauno will be in my mind for a long time. Thank you so much for reading this far, and you're always welcome to leave a comment below or send me an email at moviesatdawn@gmail.com! You're also very welcome to come and meet me on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, all with the same nickname moviesatdawn. Thank you again and see you next week!
CARMEN: You're getting older, and you'll see that life isn't like your fairy tales. The world is a cruel place. And you'll learn that, even if it hurts.
[throws the mandrake onto the fire]
OFELIA: No! No!
CARMEN: Ofelia! Magic does not exist. Not for you, me or anyone else.
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