Pan's Labyrinth



We went to see Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth last night in the Lower East Side. Incredible and haunting, albeit a bit violent.

Set against the backdrop of Franco's Spain, Pan's Labyrinth tells the story of Ofelia, her pregnant mother and evil stepfather. Ofelia, it seems, is a long long princess who must complete three tasks before she is permitted to return to her underground kingdom, accessible only through a labyrinth at the back of the old mill where she, along with her makeshift family and a ton of cruel soldiers, live. Pan, or el fauna, guards the entrance and instructs her as to what she should do.

I, of course, loved all the goddess references--from the labyrinth itself to the mandrake root that supposed to cure her mother's pregnancy-related illness-to the final re-visioning of the Mother/child, God and Christ trinity in female form--but, as R pointed out, the metaphor of blind obedience mirrored in the girl's tale and the political "reality" of the film felt a little forced.

Still. See the film. Del Toro's the real deal.