I watched Pan’s Labyrinth last night. It had so many layers I don’t even know where to start. It’s categorized under fantasy horror so I figured it would be like Tim Burton’s films. I never saw Hellboy nor any other Guillermo’s flicks so I had nothing to go by.
Pan’s Labyrinth is set against the Spanish Civil War. The main character is a 12 year old girl named Ofelia. Just by her name, I knew that her fate would be tragic. The film begins with a fairytale of a princess of the underworld who goes out to the human world and dies. Her father waits eternally for her return. Ofelia and her pregnant mom drive over to live with Vidal, the captain of a small army of the new fascist government coined the “New Spain”. Vidal is also the father of the baby and later we learn how their relationship started soon after the death of Ofelia’s father. Ofelia is obsessed with fairy tales, perhaps her only mode of escapism in the war torn world she lives in. Vidal is a Hitler-like, inhumane, controlling SOB that everyone loves to hate and fear. Ofelia’s mother just kinda moans and groans the whole time, unable to be the caretaker to Ofelia, who desperately needs the comfort and reassurance from her mother in such a transitional period of her life. Perhaps still grieving over her father’s death, Ofelia retreats to her world of fantasy where a “father” waits for his princess eternally. Suddenly the lines between fantasy and reality, dream and lucidity become quickly blurred. She follows an insect/fairy to the depths of a labyrinth and a faun/pan welcomes her excitedly, calling her “highness”. He gives her three tests to prove her immortality, which will lead her to her father.
The first layer: seeking a father figure.
She lost her father in the war and soon after, her mother remarried to Vidal. At one point she asks her mom why she had to do it and her mother tells her that she was lonely. Ofelia doesn’t like this answer and responds, “But you had me.” Her mother goes to on say that she will understand the kind of loneliness when she’s older. The ironic part of it is that Vidal never treats Ofelia’s mother in a tender way to even suggest that they had some sort of intimate relationship before (aside from his manipulative suggestion for her to use the wheelchair). Ofelia’s mother, confined to a wheelchair by her husband, regardless of the gravity of her situation (complicated pregnancy), instantly becomes dehumanized. She’s made invalid. Her sole purpose is to give birth to a son for Vidal so he can raise another devil child in his like-ness (hence further confirming that some people choose to have kids for narcissistic reasons and therefore, should not). It’s made clear that if it comes to a point where either the mother or son has to be sacrificed, the mother must die. Ofelia hears this, as she hears and sees a lot of other things (she is treated invisibly unless she is being reprimanded) and knows Vidal’s true intentions. Ofelia needs a father but she hates Vidal. She starts trusting the pan because he suddenly becomes the presence in her life that gives her the most fatherly affections, though he is to be distrusted. She still realizes though, that the pan is only a way for her to get to her real father, the king who waits for her. This quest slowly becomes an obsession and an escapism that takes her away from her tearing relationship with her suffering mother and a stepfather so cruel that he would later kill her.
second layer: questioning authority
The film revolves around this dichotomy of people -those who question authority and those who blindly follow commands. Though represented in a fascist vs. communist framework, it comes up frequently through Ofelia’s fantasy journeys as well. In her second task, she is given a choice of three doors to open with her key. The fairies tell her to open the middle door but she refuses last minute and says no, it’s the left one. She opens it and finds a dagger. She didn’t just blindly follow what the “masters” of the underworld were telling her. She trusted her own guts. She was also warned never to eat nor drink from the tempting table, but as she passes by, she succumbs to her temptation and eats from the forbidden table (reference to the fall of mankind). Maybe since she trusted herself from getting the dagger, she ends up trusting herself more and paying less attention to the heeds of this other world. Her eating from the table revives the pale man, who though slow and crippled, ends up eating two of the three fairies. She manages to escape by drawing a second door since the first door closes (she doesn’t make it back in time). At this point, I think.. this fantasy world has more loopholes that tip to her favor. She broke too many rules and she’s still okay, unscathed. This is when I start to question if she is just dreaming. The Pan shows up and after realizing that she didn’t obey him, he tells her that she will be mortal forever and she is left in the real world, cold and alone, and away from her mother.
I love Mercedes and the doctor’s role in this film. They are probably the most compelling to watch, aside from the sadistic Vidal. They’re the most intellectually aware, and the most dimensional characters with lots of risky secrets.
third layer: does Ofelia have dissociative personality disorder?
About halfway through the movie I start thinking that Ofelia may have been so traumatized as a little girl living in a war torn country that she developed a weird defense mechanism – through her fairy tales and through her seemingly dissociative tendencies in the real and fantasy world. She seems to be fearless, emotionless, and superficially innocent. However, underneath it all, I see a lot of cracks in her psychological development. She blames the baby for her mother’s sickness and resents her mother for not grieving her father’s death and taking care of her – giving her more attention. Instead, her mother remarries and her stepfather cares more about the unborn baby than he cares about her. Her mother is bedridden and sick, unable to care for Ofelia. She turns to Mercedes, a servant woman, who exhibits more of the maternal characteristics that perhaps Ofelia’s mother wanted to but couldn’t express. Ofelia is given a dress by her mother which is made clear to be a valuable dress (looks like alice in wonderland’s dress) and she messes it up during one of her tests. She gets scolded but she retreats to her fantasy world again. When her mother dies giving birth, there really is no more reason for her to be there anymore – no more reason for her to stay with a stepfather who is likely to kill her. However, we don’t see her grieving for her mother, nor fear her captivity after she is caught trying to run away with Mercedes (Ofelia and Mercedes live very interesting and parallel lives). I wonder if she realizes the true gravity of the situation.
fourth layer: real world vs. afterworld
Or should I have subtitled it death vs. life? What’s the point of living if you’re going to die evil? No chance at reparation or self exploration to redeem yourself? We are so accustomed to living life that we don’t question if we are living the right kind of life. When is death appropriate? Is death of an innocent ever okay to show on film? I think to show the death of an innocent girl, especially the main character, is poignant in painting a picture of this world. A world that would let something like that happen. A world that is cruel and heartless, that is divisive, and ultimately, mortal. We are trained to value life so much but if we were in the shoes of the tortured, wouldn’t death be the appropriate escape?
When you have nothing to lose, not even your mortal life, what can’t you do?
There’s so many more layers and ish to discuss but no time to do so. What are your thoughts?
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