Pan’s Labyrinth — David Bowie’s sitting out for this one
In 2006, I invited my friend to go to see Pan’s Labyrinth with me. He asked, “Oh, they remade it?” Completely confused, I asked him what he meant, and discovered that he’s thinking of Labyrinth (1986), starring a young Jennifer Connelly and everyone’s favorite super-model walk off referee, David Bowie.
Sorry man, Pan’s Labyrinth is a far cry from puppets and musical numbers. Actually, it’s a deeply intense fable about a young girl’s adventurous mind, helping her cope through Spain’s war torn countryside after the Spanish Civil War, and during World War II. The trailers and publicity for this film are a little misleading, as this is no fairy tale. The stills of the magical creatures shown only make up a small portion of the film, which centers mainly around young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) , but equally so around the escalating fight between the Spanish fascists and insurgents. Hideously graphic and violent at times, you become relieved and hopeful when Ofelia comes back on screen to take you away from the horrific events that transpire in the film.
The film opens with beautiful, sweeping pan shots, taking us back and forth between Ofelia’s world and reality. The shots are consistently larger than Ofelia, trying to make her seem small and insignificant to the environment around her, however Baquero’s screen presence immediately shows the audience that she is anything but. Along with that, the scenery and characters are intoxicating. Whether they are brutal or gentle, from another world or as plain as can be, you cannot look away from the screen. They each found an amazing way to captivate and bring us closer to their hopes and fears.
The setting and characters do their jobs well at character coding and atmosphere. It’s pretty clear who we are going to trust, and who makes us feel threatened and nervous. The fantastic quality of this film is that you never feel safe. Pan’s Labyrinth gives the gift of paranoia and fright to the audience, we are always on edge, no matter which world we are in. As opposed to other fantasies the film has been compared to, the political statement this film makes is more prominent.
The story is just beautiful. I cried. I’ll be the first to admit it. My grandmother was born during the Spanish Civil War, during which her once wealthy family lost everything. She would have been around the same age as Ofelia, and has told me stories that chilled me. But seeing them told on film…del Toro made those stories come to life and was true to the subject and era. Again, the film is terribly graphic and sad, but heroines Ofelia and Mercedes (Maribel Verd) gently cradle us as the film takes us through fantasy and tragically brings us back to the ground.
A word on the directorial style of Guillermo del Toro. Taking a break from the intense scenery and themes in the film, I noticed some subtle nods to del Toro’s previous films. A fascination of clockwork/cogs from Hellboy (2004) and Cronos (1993). A gramophone playing music that is eerily out of place, also from Hellboy. A portal or gate to another world, surrounded by an intricate design, Blade II (2002), and again, Hellboy. And lastly, the design of the fairies and the faun are reminiscent of Mimic (1997). Not terribly important, but interesting to note.
Something you’ll also notice is the similarity in color palette used in The Shape of Water (2017). Although I haven’t seen the film yet, the stills are stunning and practically from the same world as Pan’s Labyrinth. The amphibian man (played by Doug Jones, del Toro’s frequent collaborator, is a beautiful collection of deep blues and haunting greens, similar to Abe (also played by Jones) in Hellboy. The scenes are shiny wet with that familiar film noir style that del Toro likes to use. Since I mentioned characters, Sally Hawkins could really play an adult Ofelia. If anything, the man is consistent!
Guillermo del Toro’s style choices and award winning films have led him to become quite the auteur. It is not a far fetched idea that someday, he and his films could be used as a semester topic for a film class somewhere. I’d be the first in line to take that class!