Master of Fantasy and horror Guillermo Del Toro weaves both fantasies and brutalities in his classic, dark, fantasy, and horror film Pan’s Labyrinth. It is a fairy tale for adults. In this film, on the one hand, he shows the violent fight between the Falangist army in Francoist Spain and Spanish communist guerrillas, and on the other hand, an insect-shaped fairy guides an innocent girl to a labyrinth where a faun informs her that she is the reincarnated avatar of the princess of the underworld named Moanna. The faun charts out three tasks for her to get back to her own kingdom. In the end, the girl is murdered, but she sacrifices her own life, which takes her back to her kingdom. In this film, Del Toro vividly shows that an innocent fantasy world can exist in the midst of a violent world if we believe so. The only way to avoid brutality is through fantasy. The fairies are real. The monsters are real.
Long ago, the much-adored princess of the underworld, Moanna, dreamt of the human world. She dreamt of blue skies, soft breezes, and sunshine. One day, eluding her gatekeepers, she escaped and visited the human world. However, her arrival was not a happy one as sunlight blinded her and erased her memory. Eventually, she became mortal and died. The king of the underworld did not lose hope. He kept waiting for her to return to his kingdom until his last breath and built labyrinths across the world.
In 1944, a young girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) travels to her father’s military outpost with her pregnant and ill mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil). His ruthless stepfather Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez) is fighting the rebel republicans who are hiding in the adjacent jungle. When the car stops midway, an insect-shaped fairy appears in front of Ofelia and informs her that she is the reincarnated avatar of Princess Moanna and takes her to a labyrinth. However, Captain Vidal’s housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdu) refrains her from entering the labyrinth. The fairy reappears at night and directs Ofelia to the labyrinth. When she enters it, she meets a faun (Doug Jones), whose head is of a goat, and whose legs are of a tree. The faun informs her that she is the reincarnated avatar of Princess Moanna, the much-adored daughter of the king of the underworld. He gives her a book that has three tasks written in it. If Ofelia can accomplish those tasks, she will regain immorality and access to her kingdom.
Ofelia accomplishes the 1st task by getting the key from a giant toad’s belly. Her mother’s health condition deteriorates. As a remedy to her mother’s illness, the faun gives her a mandrake root that needs to be dipped in milk and blood and placed beneath her mother’s bed. She accomplishes the 2nd task by getting the dagger from the chamber of the Pale Man (Doug Jones). However, unfortunately, she disobeys the faun’s instructions and ends up eating two grapes. This awakens the Pale Man and he eats two fairies. The faun rebukes Ofelia and dismisses the 3rd task.
Captain Vidal becomes more and more ruthless in destroying the implacable rebels. He falsely identifies two farmers as rebels and murders them. Ofelia gets terrified by his stepfather’s activities, and she despises him more and more. Vidal brutally tortures a captive rebel and shoots Dr. Ferreiro (Alex Angulo) to death when he sympathizes with the rebel and euthanizes him. Carmen throws the mandrake root into the fire and suffers terrible labor pain shortly. She dies while giving birth, but her newborn son survives.
Mercedes gets caught as a rebel spy and Ally. She tries to escape taking Ofelia along with her but gets captured by Vidal’s soldiers. Ofelia is enclosed in a room and Mercedes is taken to the military outpost for interrogation. However, she is able to flee by slitting Vidal’s mouth. The faun reappears in Ofelia’s room, pardons her, and gives her the third task. As per the 3rd task, Ofelia takes her brother out of the room and heads toward the labyrinth. Vidal pursues her to the Labyrinth when the rebels start an all-out attack on the military outpost. Ofelia enters the labyrinth taking her brother in her arms and meets the faun.
As per the 3rd task, the faun asks Ofelia to spill out blood from her brother’s body with the dagger, as the only way to achieve immortality and access to her kingdom is through the blood of an innocent. She outrightly declines the ask. Vidal reaches out to her in the labyrinth, snatches his newborn son, and shoots her. While getting out of the labyrinth, he is surrounded by the rebels. Being well aware that death is inevitable, he gives the baby to Mercedes. Her brother Pedro shoots him to death.
As droplets of Ofelia’s blood fall down the labyrinth, she gets back to her kingdom as princess Moanna and sits beside his parents. The king of the underworld informs her that her choice of sacrifice has passed her the 3rd task. Ofelia dies in the labyrinth with a gentle smile. Princess Moanna ruled the underworld for many centuries. The traces of her existence in the human world can be found by only those people who know where to search.
In Pan’s Labyrinth, filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro creates two parallel worlds. The 1st world is brutal and he shows a true picture of Francoist Spain. He vividly shows how brutally Franco’s army would torture and destroy implacable communist rebels. Viewers get terrified by the glimpses of violence and torture. Innocent people were killed without any trial or justice. Murders, abuses, oppression, and torture were daily affairs. On the other hand, he creates another world full of fantasies, dreams, and imaginations. Ofelia is the princess of the fantasy world where she happens to meet fantasy creatures like fauns, monsters, and fairies. She is the reincarnated avatar of the underworld princess Moanna and returns to her kingdom in the end. However, those two worlds do not remain parallel always. Those intersect multiple times. Ofelia’s fantasy world is terribly disturbed and affected by her stepfather Vidal’s cruelty and ruthlessness. Del Toro vividly shows that the only way to escape this brutal world is through the creation of a fantasy and imaginary world. We must have faith in the fantasy world. Fairies and monsters must be deemed real. Those are not as violent and detrimental as this brutal world. In Pan’s Labyrinth, Del Toro hails the fantasy world.
Another important aspect of Pan’s Labyrinth is the way we need and embrace our last resort. Initially, Ofelia has her mother all the times by her side. She was much loved and protected. Her mother was everything to her. Unfortunately, when her mother passes away, she loses the biggest strength of her life. She loses her last resort. Then, she gets Mercedes by her side. She fills Ofelia with an abundance of love and affection. Mercedes does not leave her until she dies. When Ofelia passes away, Mercedes becomes the last resort for her infant brother. In this film, Del Toro vividly portrays how we all need our last resort in the most difficult times.
Through Pan’s Labyrinth, Del Toro shows that immorality can be achieved only through sacrifices. When the faun asks Ofelia to spill out blood from her brother’s body, she outrightly declines the ask and sacrifices her own life. Vidal shoots her to death. However, when droplets of her blood fall down the labyrinth, she achieves immorality and access to her kingdom as princess Moanna. The only significance of our lives in this world should be living for others. The great souls who preach love and peace and sacrifice their own lives for others are never forgotten.
Filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro’s childhood days were filled with fantasies, fairies, and monsters. He always believes that those are real. Moreover, fairies and monsters are not as cruel as humans. He remembers a faun would come out behind his grandfather’s clock at midnight. The faun was half-human and half-goat, and its legs were like trees with earthy substances. Del Toro has a diary full of fantasies and detailed descriptions of fantasy creatures. Pan’s Labyrinth is based on the illustrations mentioned in the diary. So, the screenplay written by Del Toro himself is incredibly detailed with story descriptions and dialogue. Even though the English, German, and French titles of the film refer to the Greek deity Pan, Del Toro clearly stated that the faun in the film is not Pan, and it is based on the faun of Roman mythology.
He chose all the actors based on the minute details of the screenplay. After more than one hundred auditions, Ivana Baquero was chosen to play Ofelia. She delivered an extraordinary performance. Sergi Lopez’s portrayal of Captain Vidal is one of the most brutal, evil, and ruthless onscreen characters. Del Toro selected Maribel Verdu to play Mercedes, a rebel sympathizer, because of her sympathetic and melancholy face. She incredibly remains truthful to her character. Del Toro used very little CG but mostly complex makeup and animatronics to portray the fantasy creatures. So, it was extremely difficult and challenging for Doug Jones to play both the Faun and the Pale Man. Very heavy makeup was used to portray the characters of the faun and the Pale Man. Doug Jones would sit five hours every day to wear the makeup of the faun and the Pale Man. He delivers outstanding performances both as the faun and the Pale Man.
Javier Navarrete’s lullaby, which consists of a number of soundtracks, touches hearts. It resonates with the central theme of the film. Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro uses dull bluish and greenish colors for the brutal world and bright red, golden, and crimson colors for Ofelia’s imaginary world. He magnificently uses multiple shades of colors throughout the film. Navarro’s extremely dynamic cinematography can match the dynamic rhythm of the film. Constructing super complex images is the most crucial part of the film. Pan’s Labyrinth was nominated for six Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards, and finally, it won Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Makeup. It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Golden Globe Awards. It also received eight nominations and finally won three BAFTA Awards at the 60th BAFTA Awards.