Pan's Labyrinth -- a masterpiece like no other

Pan's Labyrinth on Pinterest

~ This isn’t your typical Disney fairytale ~

Where to begin with Pan’s Labyrinth? There are so many elements of this movie that tickle my brain! Guillermo Del Toro is and always will be my favorite out of all the mise-en-scène directors we’ve seen. No director out there captures my sense of imagination of fairy tales so well as he does.

When it came to blog about this film, I struggled narrowing down one topic. I began to think about the narrative structure of Pan’s Labyrinth and what makes it so intriguing and refreshing even after watching it the second time. As I researched this question, I came upon the answer, which is the theme. “A clear and well-planned narrative theme can serve as a unifying principle, informing every other element of the cinematic experience. Not just plot and character, but mise-en-scène, cinematography, sound design, and editing as well” (Moving Pictures Ch 4).

I thought more about the theme of magical realism. Where did the magic end, and reality began? The theme of fantasy vs. reality comes into question. Depending on my mindset on the theme, if I shifted more toward the magic side, I had a different outcome of the plot and story, and vice versa with seeing the movie through a more realistic side. 

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The first time I watched this film, I fell in love with the fantasy of it all. I believed, just like Ophelia, that the Faun was there to help her escape, that the root did help heal her mother and that she is alive and reunited in the moon kingdom with her family. I focused on the fantasy side and had a very happy feeling at the end because she was able to reincarnate. She didn’t die for me.

The Pale Man dinner vs Captain Vidal's dinner

The second time I watched it in class, I focused on the reality side. All these stories and characters Ophelia saw were part of an escape for her, part of her imagination. She made up these characters to distract herself from the horrors of her stepfather and the war. I like to think Mercedes is representative of the caring Faun, and the Pale Man is representative of her stepfather. As the Pale Man had a giant feast before him, and her stepfather had a massive dinner before him with the scene before. But this story’s perspective made me have a much sadder feeling at the end of the film when Ophelia died. The vision she saw was her last imagination before passing on. Instead of a happy feeling, I felt depressed at the end.

Watching the film twice, gave me two completely different narrative endings, making Pan’s Labyrinth unique. And I think Del Toro’s genius of narrative structure makes that possible. The fact that Pan’s Labyrinth theme matches two equally different readings of the same film. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way about any other movie before.

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Lastly, I feel I can’t just talk about Pan’s Labyrinth without mentioning its director. Guillermo Del Toro is unique to my favorite movie director and me because he has a robust and distinct style in monsters. I feel like the character of Ophelia is so closely related to the message in his films. We all want to live in our fairytales, but the world constantly tells us to grow up. Del Toro’s movies and tv shows have been a great comfort of mine because he is unapologetic in his interest. He makes art from them. His ability to have such a strong, childlike wonder in his films, even if the plot is quite mature and dark, makes him my favorite director and my greatest inspiration.