Throughout adolescence, at any chance given I would get some member of my family to drive me to the theater at least once a week, for there was something magical about going to the movies at that age. The dimming of the lights, the drawing of the curtain and the sound of the camera motor ushering you into a world too amazing and too extravagant to exist anywhere but on the big screen. Everything that occurred in those darkened velvety rooms exposed me to worlds were anything was possible and nothing was like my boring hometown. Even as a child I went to see these collections of flickering images to escape the normal occurrences outside; but then puberty ushered in new interests and my growing mind began to help me see the puppeteers managing my childish fantasies and my cinematic innocence was lost. Almost overnight these dark places that once held untold dreams became little more than dark places that I could hold a girl for ninety minutes or more unnoticed by any adults.
Since those early days of my youth that feeling of magic has been few and far between, with more films inducing sleep than wide eyed curiosity. But every once in a while a trip to the cinema will still fill me with childlike wonder as I watch with my jaw slacked and eyes opening as far as they can to take in every inch of the screen. The films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Peter Jackson and Michel Gondry’s brilliant “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” are prime examples of such films. Now the masterful hand of Guillermo del Toro has crafted “Pan’s Labyrinth” an exquisite tale of a fantasy world created by a child to deal with the harsh realities of the Spanish Civil War and the pain of life as a lonely child. In a year filled with mediocre movies about terrorists, World War 2, gangsters, queens and dancing fat girls that get accolades shoved upon them, del Toro created not only the most unique film of the year but easily the best.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” chronicles the adventures of Ofelia, a young girl forced to move after her widowed mother remarries the brutal and sadistic Captain Vidal. Ofelia arrives at a military fort in rural northern Spain that is attempting to finish off the guerilla resistance that has taken up arms against the fascist self appointed “Generalissimo” Franco after his success in the bloody three year long second Spanish Civil War. Ofelia’s mother, the bedridden Carmen is sick with child and her new father, concerned only for the welfare of his unborn son actively ignores his step-daughter. The lonely Ofelia begins to explore the wooded area surrounding the fort and stumbles upon an ancient stone labyrinth. The center of which lies several feet down a mossy spiral stone staircase; damp, dark and long forgotten by the warring world above it holds a gatekeeper who has been vigilantly awaiting the return of his long lost princess of the Underworld. Ofelia awakes this monstrous minotaur-like creature who identifies itself as a faun named Pan and informs Ofelia that she is the princess he has waited so long for, reincarnated and ready to open the gate to the underworld, where her true father, “The King” patiently awaits their return.
Like a character out of a child’s fairy tale Pan issues Ofelia various tasks and magical trinkets needed to open the gate ushering her back to her rightful place on the throne beside her father. But these tasks must be carried out in secret, trinkets kept out of sight of adult eyes and Pan demands his orders be followed explicitly. His forceful demeanor and sly manner of speech allude to the possibility that this fantastic creature may not be the kind beast he portrays himself to be. Alone and curious without a father or a conscious mother, Ofelia befriends one of the maids, Mercedes. Quickly becoming her only friend and confidante, Ofelia tells the maid of what she found in the Labyrinth, Mercedes gives Ofelia a word of warning bestowed upon her when she was a small child,” My mother told me to be wary of Fauns”. Still enamoured with the thought of escape from her dreary life Ofelia decides to keep her activities to herself and goes on about the tasks set forth by the strange Pan. In doing so she meets up with giant key eating frogs, the horrific “Pale Man”, fairies and other magical creatures, all the while forcing the audience to wonder if these are the acts requested by a benevolent monster, or some evil pagan entity.
Ofelia isn’t the only character cavorting about the fort in secret, her beloved friend Mercedes is actually a double agent supplying her brother and the rest of the guerillas in the forest with supplies that the vengeful Captain is hording with the hopes of bringing the revolutionaries out of their hiding. But how long can both Ofelia and Mercedes keep up their covert operations before the unforgiving eye of the jackbooted Captain Vidal falls upon them.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” has been referred to by its architect Guillermo del Toro as a “sister” film to 2001′s “The Devil’s Backbone”, another del Toro film with genre subplots using the end of the last centuries’ Spanish Civil War as a backdrop. While most viewers will be more familiar with del Toro’s take on Mike Mignola’s comic book hero “Hellboy” or his surprisingly fun look at Marvel comics 70′s vampire anti-hero in “Blade 2″ neither of these action flicks are examples of what del Toro was capable of. “Backbone” or his slow paced and overly acclaimed feature debut 1993′s “Cronos” are more akin to what he was leading to and finally executed with the hand of an artist in “Pan’s”.
Much like the previously mentioned films, especially Jeunet’s “Amelie” and Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures”, “Pan’s” succeeds in capturing the minds and hearts of its audience, not with magic filled worlds, but with deft writing, brilliant acting and using the fantasy aspect as a device to propel the narrative. This is why tepid films like M. Night Shyamalan’s “Lady in the Water” and 2005′s awful “The Chronicles of Narnia” were regarded as two of the worst films released in the past couple of years. They focused on the fantasy rather than the people wrapped up inside its magic.
“Pan’s Labyrinth
showcases three actors that while relatively unknown outside of their native Spain far outshined any of the actors or actresses that got the nomination nod from the Academy Awards this year. Sergi Lopez’s commanding performance as the passionately destructive Captain Vidal made this film, I had expected to be won over by the films creatures and effects, yet left the theater enthralled with Lopez’s performance. To see effortless performances by former “comedian” Eddie Murphy and forgotten 90′s rap acts like The Fresh Prince and Marky Mark get best actor nominations not only makes me sick but showcases the Academy’s disconnection with the art of film. The portrayal of Ofelia by newcomer Ivana Baquero was simply the best work by a child actor in years, yet Abigail Breslin gets noted for her twinkle toes in the ultimately forgettable “Little Miss Sunshine”? I would say the Academy has a problem giving out awards to brown people (there I said it) but they did give an undue nod to the Spanish Jenifer Aniston, “Penelope Cruz”, while snubbing the captivating Maribel Verdu’s portrayal of the kind and quick witted Mercedes. Seriously though, after last year’s win by the deplorable “Crash”, why kibitz about it, the Oscars are so out of touch they should work for the Boston department of Homeland Security.
Magnificent in its presentation, featuring actors deeply in tune with their craft, with violence and gore orchestrated with the diligent hand of a true artiste, “Pan’s Labyrinth” was the best film released in 2006, bar none. A film like this only comes along once in a great while and since Gilliam, Burton and Jackson are no longer making relevant films, it’s going to be a long wait for Jeunet’s vision of the Yann Martel novel “The Life of Pi” to come to fruition. Hopefully the DVD release of “Pan’s” will make the three long year wait palatable.
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