I just watched... Pan's Labyrinth

Some things say more than they say.

                Guillermo del Toro originally put himself on my small map of ‘directors whose movies I’ve really got to watch because their movies are interesting, innovative or just plain good, especially when compared to the typical standard of most movies which are like articles which are incapable of keeping a logical word count for each sentence in order to keep them from getting out of hand and making readers lose all semblances of sanity and devolve into dictionary and prime grammar hungering zombies’, which aren’t as great in number as I might hope.
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army would be my pick for ‘best superhero movie’ if not for the fact that it isn’t really a superhero movie to begin with, so that trophy remains with scar-face backstory and WHERE IS SHE.

                That said, Hellboy 2 really tickled my pickle with its crazy craziness and wild imagination, and it’s one of those rare works that made me genuinely go ‘Wow’ in response to its imagination, because it’s a really imaginative work. Did I mention that it was imaginative? Regardless, it cemented his reputation in my brain as someone imaginative and capable of some really crazy imagery.

Which world is more brutal?

                So, Pan’s Labyrinth – a ‘darker’ take on Alice in Wonderland, directed and written by Guillermo del Toro? I was signed up for it faster than an individual with an obsessive compulsive desire to sign up for things signed up for something.

                Normally, I don’t like an abrupt blurting out of my opinion, since I feel that spoils what I’m doing by cyclically writing all these words, in order to form a vicious cycle of reading while I keep my deepest opinions veiled (or so I like to believe). But Pan’s Labyrinth, is good, there I said it, it’s good. I’m not going to go into superlative and fancy adjectives since I can only handle such a small dosage of personal blasphemy, but the movie is good.

                Of course, it isn’t as crazy or extravagantly imaginative as Hellboy, owing to its more grounded setting and allegorical nature. Allegories don’t always have to be subtle, in fact allegories can sometimes be a bit obvious, or sometimes an allegory can be non-subtle but still have some further subtlety to it. So yes, superficially Pan’s Labyrinth talks about illusions and escapism and fantasy, alongside a healthy dosage of the holocaust and World War 2… which is obvious enough in its setting and imagery, but there is almost another layer to the story, almost another story within the story that seems to be saying something else with the same words.

Expect plenty of suspense. 

                My personal problem with when I begin to see such things in a story is that I begin to question my sanity, which is a bit of pickle as I’m pretty sure I’m already insane. Thankfully, likely not as insane as Guillermo del Toro, because this movie can be pretty adequately described with the words “fucked up” in many places, because it more or less is. It’s not overtly graphic, drenched in blood and cuss words, but it’s just messed up and that’s what makes it glorious.

Where do the real fiends dwell?

                Of course, that question people ask, which I raised in my little thing-a-ma-jig on Battle Royale rises up here. Little children the age of Ofelia, the main character, are most definitely not the target audience, unless you plan to scar them.

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                The world of Pan’s Labyrinth is rather dark, twisted and cruel, and the same goes for the fairy world and its inhabitants. The story has a whole lot of parallels in it, there are parallels between the real world and the fairy world in the movie, then there are parallels between the real world in the story and the real world in the real world, then there are parallels between the fairy world in the story and the real world in the real world. But it’s all done with a graceful sense of subtlety which doesn’t push any of it into your face unless you deliberately attempt to see the parallels and allusions to history. That’s what makes it fascinating and all the more memorable in the long run.

Innocence in the face of brutality. 

                And then the entire movie and its story, and the parallels have a philosophical side to them. So much so, that I find it very easy to write off some of the flaws and potential holes in the story under philosophical grounds. When you question why a certain character actively chose a certain action, even when she could have chosen another path, that may have led to a better outcome in the long run, you can’t help but reflect on the more philosophical and ethical things in life.

                The movie also questions staunch military obedience, and one the more prevailing elements in it is the ‘rebellion’, specifically rebellion against dictatorial power, and mindless hierarchies. A pretty obvious parallel to a real world event, honestly.

                That is not to say that there are no holes, however. Since there are some spots in the story, mainly regarding the real world, where in retrospect you might question how easily some secrets are kept, or how easily something is smuggled out, or how easily a secret meeting is organized right under the military’s noses. While it is possible to bring up the ‘obedience and faith’ argument again, it did bother me a bit in post, but not enough to detract from it as an experience.

                And yes, I wouldn’t sell it as a movie, I’d sell it as an experience. A hauntingly beautiful one. One that’s likely to stick with you for a fair while after you’ve seen it. Honestly, just go watch it, you won’t regret it. It’s definitely one of those ‘Just watch it’ kind of movies, which saves me from having to try to write more and cyclically continuing this cyclical process of cyclically writing things while cyclically pondering why I write all this while I cyclically think about my purpose in life while I cyclically ponder the point of existence, and then ponder why cheese is so bad for health.