After Princess Moanna of the underworld kingdom dies after a memory loss from the blinding rays of the sun, her father foresees she will come to life again. Parallel in 1943, in a Fascism-infected Spain, arrives Ofelia, and her mother Carmen to meet Captain Vidal; Carmen`s new husband and father of her unborn child. Vidal is fanatically against the republicans and rebels. Vidal`s housekeeper, Mercedes, is an active rebel himself.
A large insect appears in Ofelia`s bedroom, and transforms itself into a fairy. The fairy leads Ofelia into an ancient Labyrinth where Ofelia meets the faun. The faun, believing Ofelia to be the dead Princess Moanna, sets her three tasks to complete before the next full moon to gain immortality.Ofelia successfully retrieves a key from the belly of a giant toad and the faun gives her a mandrake root to cure Carmen`s illness due to her pregnancy. The second task fails when Ofelia successfully retrieves an ornate dagger from the Pale Man, who is a child monster, but manages to wake him up too, after disobeying a certain instruction by the faun. The faun is angered and refuses to give Ofelia her final task.
Meanwhile, Vidal`s tyranny grows and he discovers Mercedes’ secret. He sees Ofelia taking care of the mandrake root, which the faun had gifted her. Carmen gives birth to a son and dies in a painful labor. Vidal locks Ofelia up and takes Mercedes away. However, Ofelia escapes, and in the process injures Vidal.
The faun reappears and advises Ofelia to escape with her baby brother. Ofelia sedates Vidal and escapes with the baby to the Labyrinth. Vidal follows them. The faun tells Ofelia to open the doors to the Underworld by sacrificing the blood of her brother. Ofelia, however, refuses to harm the baby. The faun, angered at the second disobedience by Ofelia, leaves her all alone. Vidal, meanwhile, manages to reach Ofelia and shoots at her. He takes the baby and leaves. At the exit of the Labyrinth, he is captured by the rebels. Vidal is killed and Mercedes vows to make the baby boy a good human, unlike his father.
Mercedes enters the Labyrinth, and finds a dying Ofelia. A few drops of Ofelia`s blood fall on to the alter next to her and she is transported to the Underworld. Her father, the king, greets her and informs her that the third task set by the faun was a trick to test if Ofelia would be willing to spill an innocent`s blood over hers. Having kept the faith that she wouldn’t, Ofelia manages to transcend into the underworld as Princess Moanna while Ofelia dies in the altar above. Here ends the tale.
The director, Guillermo del Toro Gómez, gives us a deep insight into the fairytale and folk culture that we have all grown up on. The very concept of a Labyrinth, wherein reside fairies and fauns, is an absolutely delightful representation of a fairytale kingdom. An insect turns into a fairy. She takes Ofelia down a complex Labyrinth, which is an architectural structure, and she meets a half human half goat faun down there. There is a Pale man, traditionally known as a child monster, who feasts on little kids. There is an underworld, beneath ours, where reside the people in their afterlives. It is all intricately woven together as a mesmerizing fairytale.
Why just fairytales? Look at the rich folk culture involved in the spinning of the movie`s script. Gómez intricately designs the whole movie around Pan`s Labyrinth. A labyrinth has a rich history of being a maze built by Daedalus for King Minos at Knossos. The labyrinth was built to keep Minotaur, a half-man and half-bull creature. The battle between Minotaur and Theseus is a very popular tale in Greek Mythology. Even though the remains of the palace at Knossos have been discovered, there has been no sign of the Labyrinth. So the mysterious angle to the folk stories is an added advantage in the film. The faun is a mythological creature in the Roman folk culture, and plays a central character in the film. In fact, it is the faun who takes the story forward.
Gómez has always had a fascination for the fairytale and folk culture. It is evident in his entire filmography. Pan`s labyrinth encompasses all that a fairytale lover would like to see on the screen. The very name of the film is a representation of the rich, ancient Greek mythology. The faun is the Pan. It is his labyrinth we are introduced to. We have to find our way out of the labyrinth, along with Ofelia. The story feels our own. We feel like a character in the story. We are lost in the world of the movie. Since each fact is woven into our lives, from our childhood days, we relate to the mythical world of the movie. The added Fascism angle is also an asset since it shows how torturous were the days in history and how relevant the struggle of the rebels was, how much cruelty they had to face.Ofelia is a true heroine; she is brave, she stands up against the wrong, she loves her dear ones and can go to any length for them. What a character! Bravo!
The film directed by Guillermo del Toro Gómez received worldwide praise, and I would recommend anyone who loves fairytales and folk lore, to go ahead and invest 2 hours in it. It is a charming little movie wherein good triumphs over evil, and also gives us a confident heroine worth cheering for. Go watch the movie with a popcorn bucket. You will surely have a big smile on your face in the end, with a few tears in between.
References:
- Box Office Mojo.Web.6th October, 2014
- Rotten Tomatoes.Web.6th October,2014
