Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) is the story about a young girl who travels with her mother to an old mill to live with her new step-father, a cold-blooded army captain, during the Spanish Civil War in the 1940s. From the very beginning, it is obvious to the viewer that the girl, Ofelia, has an active imagination and bases many of her adventures on the fairy tales she reads. Once Ofelia is at the mill with her step-father and mother, she is led by a fairy to a labyrinth where she meets a faun. The faun tells her that she is the Princess Moanna reincarnated, but the only way to return to her kingdom is to first complete three tasks. The movement between reality and fantasy is extremely fluid to the point where the viewer might question if the adult characters in the film are experiencing the magical aspect as well. Even though this Mexican-Spanish co-production is centered around very specific events, the film is presented in a way that international audiences can appreciate and gain something from it. Paul Julian Smith really hits this idea on the head when he says in Film Quarterly, “Pan’s Labyrinth reveals that, given sympathy and attention, films based on local events can have immediate and profound significance for global audiences.”
Subtle touches of Spanish culture can be seen throughout the film. Near the very beginning, Ofelia’s mother, Carmen, warns Ofelia against reading fairy tales because they will turn her brain to mush. This is a very common scolding by parents in many cultures, but here there is a specific allusion. Don Quixote is Spain’s national narrative and its main character reaches his downfall because of the fanciful beliefs he has. It is also probably no coincidence that Pan’s Labyrinth is set at an old mill, which is reminiscent of Don Quixote’s most famous quest, in which he charges a mill under the delusion that it was a giant trying to attack him. There is another subtle Spanish reference in the beginning of the film when Ofelia replaces the eye of the statue. The popular Spanish film The Spirit of the Beehive is also about a girl in the countryside post-civil war. In that film, the girl, Ana replaces not the eyes of a stone statue, but a manikin. (Smith 5). These touches have special meaning to people familiar with Spanish culture, but do not seem out of place or farfetched to those who are not.
One of the more obvious stresses on locality is the focus on the world of women being completely separate to that of men.
Captain Vidal, the stepfather, embodies a masculinity so exclusive it barely acknowledges the existence of the feminine. Welcoming his pregnant wife and stepdaughter to the mill he addresses them in the masculine plural form (“Bienvenidos”) on the assumption that the unborn child, his true priority, is a boy... Del Toro suggests that this fantasy of pure male filiations, without the intercession of women, is fundamental to Fascism. (Smith 6).
Again, not everyone has experienced the influences of Fascism, but the concept is portrayed in a way such that most people can empathize with the characters. “[Del Toro] has taken a tiny terrible moment in Spanish history and translated it into a masterful film with which global audiences and prize juries alike clearly feel a deep and emotional connection” (Smith 9).
Pan’s Labyrinth incorporates certain global themes as well. A young girl journeying through a strange new place is reflective of both Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole resulting in her falling into Wonderland; and Dorothy is whisked to Oz in her house by the cyclone along with her dog, Toto. Also, the concept of the ‘wicked step-parent’ is an extremely common theme in fairy tales. The most popular stories incorporating these ideas are “Cinderella”, “Snow White”, and “Hansel and Gretel”. It should also be mentioned that each of these stories features a young girl as the victim of the step-parent’s abuse, as it is in Pan’s Labyrinth. In addition, the idea of ‘three tasks to be completed before the prize can be won’ is repeated countless times in literature and movies. It can be seen in the Harry Potter series during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, The Magrvandia Chronicles on the quest to find the Crown of Silence, and in the Brother’s Grimm fairy tales “The Three Feathers” and “The Frog Prince” to name a few.
The number three by itself is a universal number symbolic of completion, fluidity, and unity. This can be taken religiously, as in the trinity, mathematically as in the Fibonacci series (every third number is an even number, etc.), or structurally as in architecture (pyramids). Besides the three tasks Ofelia must complete, the number three is brought up several times. The film focuses on three main women (Ofelia, Carmen, and Mercedes), there are three fairies the faun keeps as pets, three compartments to choose from in the Pale Man’s den, three thrones at the end of the film, and when Ofelia fails to pass the second task, the faun tells her that the moon will be full in three days.
Pan’s Labyrinth is a film set during the Spanish Civil War with many other subtle touches of Spanish culture. This gives the Spanish people a film to identify with and feel a sense of pride about. However, despite these local trends, the story’s concepts are on a global scale and therefore more accessible than most foreign films.
Works Cited
Morris, Wesley. “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Boston Globe 12 Jan. 2007
Rhode-Brown, Juliet. “A Review of: Pan’s Labyrinth.” Psychological Perspectives Jan. 2007: 167-169
Scott, A.O. “Pan’s Labyrinth.” NY Times 29 Dec. 2006
Smith, Paul Julian. “Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno).” Film Quarterly 2007: 4-9
Turan, Kenneth. “Pan’s Labyrinth.” LA Times 29 Dec. 2006
Utichi, Joe. “Review-Pan’s Labyrinth.” Film Focus 2008
Wilmington, Michael. “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Chicago Tribune 28 Dec. 2006
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