Pan's Labyrinth: A Dark Fairy Tale Explained

Pan's Labyrinth is a dark fantasy film written, directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro. Set in 1944, the film follows a young girl, Ofelia, who escapes her grim reality into a captivating fantasy world. Ofelia, who is fascinated with fairy tales, is sent with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. Ofelia encounters a faun who tells her that she is a princess and must complete three gruesome tasks to claim immortality. The film intertwines the real world with a mythical world, exploring themes of disobedience, choice, and the after-effects of war.

The film's setting in 1944 Francoist Spain

In the film Pan's Labyrinth, the setting is Spain in the summer of 1944, during the early Francoist period. The narrative intertwines the real world with a mythical world. The story follows a young girl, Ofelia, who is the stepdaughter of a violent and sadistic army officer, Capitán Vidal, and is set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship of Franco.

Ofelia's mother, Carmen, is pregnant and very ill. They travel to meet her new stepfather, Captain Vidal, a Civil Guard officer and devotee of Falangism. Vidal is assigned to hunt down the Spanish Maquis, a group of anti-Falangist rebels hiding out in the Spanish woodlands. Ofelia's stepfather is a ruthless and unforgiving idealist, and his troops must weed out these resistance fighters.

Ofelia, fascinated with fairy tales, escapes into a captivating fantasy world. She encounters a faun in a labyrinth who tells her she is a princess and must complete three gruesome tasks to prove her royalty. Meanwhile, in the real world, Ofelia witnesses injustice and violence and tries to tell her mother, but is ignored and told to obey her stepfather.

The film reflects the trauma of war and the importance of standing against fascism. Ofelia's quests symbolise choices and disobedience against oppressive authority figures, with the true terror of the film being the human villains.

The protagonist, Ofelia, and her journey

In 'Pan's Labyrinth', Ofelia is a ten-year-old girl living in 1944 Francoist Spain. She travels with her pregnant mother, Carmen, to meet her new stepfather, Captain Vidal, a Civil Guard officer and devotee of Falangism. Ofelia is fascinated with fairy tales and, during her journey, encounters a fairy who leads her to an old faun in a labyrinth. The faun tells her that she is a princess and must complete three gruesome tasks to prove her royalty.

The first task involves retrieving a key from the belly of a giant toad, which she completes. However, Ofelia becomes concerned about her mother, whose health is deteriorating. The faun gives her a mandrake root to help ease her mother's illness.

For the second task, Ofelia is instructed to retrieve a dagger from the lair of the Pale Man, a child-eating monster. Accompanied by three fairy guides and equipped with a piece of magic chalk, she ventures into the Pale Man's lair. Despite being warned not to consume anything, she eats two grapes, awakening the Pale Man. She manages to escape, but the faun is infuriated by her disobedience and refuses to give her the third task.

During this time, Ofelia becomes aware of Vidal's ruthless nature as he hunts down the Spanish Maquis, a group of anti-Falangist rebels. Vidal's housekeeper, Mercedes, is secretly supporting the rebels and providing them with crucial information. As Ofelia's mother's condition worsens, she is locked in her bedroom.

The faun eventually changes his mind and gives Ofelia the third task: to bring her newborn brother into the labyrinth. Ofelia retrieves the baby and flees into the labyrinth, with Vidal in pursuit. At the centre of the labyrinth, the faun suggests drawing a small amount of the baby's blood to open the portal to the underworld. However, Ofelia refuses to harm her brother. Vidal finds her talking to the faun, whom he cannot see, and shoots her.

Mortally wounded, Ofelia smiles as she dies in Mercedes' arms. In the underworld, she is greeted by the King and Queen, her parents, who invite her to rule at her father's side.

The role of fairy tales and fantasy

'Pan's Labyrinth' is a dark fantasy film written, directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro. The film is set in 1944, during the early Francoist period in Spain. It follows the story of a young girl, Ofelia, who is fascinated with fairy tales. Ofelia escapes into a captivating fantasy world, where she meets a faun who believes she is a princess.

Ofelia's journey in the fantasy world involves completing a series of tasks set by the faun, which allows her to escape the harsh realities of her real world. In the fantasy world, Ofelia encounters magical creatures and faces life-threatening challenges, which parallel the violence and injustice she experiences in the real world.

The fairy tale elements in 'Pan's Labyrinth' also allow the film to explore themes of disobedience and choice. Ofelia often disobeys instructions and makes choices based on her own conscience, such as refusing to harm her baby brother to complete the final task. Her morality ultimately leads to a heroic ending, as she is granted entry into the underworld as a princess.

The fantasy world in 'Pan's Labyrinth' serves as a powerful tool to highlight the film's critique of fascism and the Catholic Church. The human villains in the film, such as Captain Vidal, are portrayed as the true monsters, reflecting the importance of standing against oppressive authority figures.

The combination of fairy tale and fantasy elements in 'Pan's Labyrinth' enhances the film's narrative, allowing it to explore complex themes and provide an escape for the protagonist and the audience alike.

The film's production and release

The production of 'Pan's Labyrinth' was helmed by Guillermo del Toro, who wrote, directed, and co-produced the film. Del Toro is known for compiling books of notes and drawings about his ideas before turning them into films, and he did this for 'Pan's Labyrinth' too. In fact, he left years' worth of notes for the film in the back of a cab, only to have the thoughtful driver return them to him.

The film was shot in a Scots pine forest in the Guadarrama mountain range in Central Spain. Del Toro wanted the fairies in the film to look like "little monkeys, like dirty fairies", and the animation company came up with the idea to give them wings made of leaves.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 27 May 2006, where it received a 22-minute standing ovation. It was then released in Spain on 11 October 2006, followed by a release in Mexico on 20 October. It was released in the US on 29 December 2006, and in the UK on 24 November 2006.

The film's critical reception

The film 'Pan's Labyrinth' received widespread critical acclaim. It premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a 22-minute standing ovation, the longest in the festival's history. It also received a standing ovation at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, its first release in the Americas.

The film blends the horrors of reality and fantasy into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable. It is considered one of the best fantasy films ever made and one of the greatest Spanish-language movies of all time. It also appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006.

Mark Kermode, writing in The Observer, labelled 'Pan's Labyrinth' the best film of 2006, describing it as "an epic, poetic vision in which the grim realities of war are matched and mirrored by a descent into an underworld populated by fearsomely beautiful monsters". Stephanie Zacharek wrote that the film "works on so many levels that it seems to change shape even as you watch it". Jim Emerson of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "a fairy tale of such potency and awesome beauty that it reconnects the adult imagination to the primal thrill and horror of the stories that held us spellbound as children". In his review, Roger Ebert deemed it "one of the greatest of all fantasy films, even though it is anchored so firmly in the reality of war".

The film grossed £83 million at the worldwide box office and won numerous awards, including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, the Ariel Award for Best Picture, and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form.

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