Pan's Labyrinth - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
WITH Guillermo del Toro you can pretty much guarantee something unique. Past successes have included The Devil’s Backbone and Hellboy.
His latest, Pan’s Labyrinth, was among the films in competition at Cannes and continued to win the director much acclaim.
The film is set in Spain in 1944 when, officially, the Civil War has been over for five years. However, a small group of rebels fight on unbroken in the northern mountains of Navarra. Into this equation comes dreamy 10-year-old Ofelia, who moves to Navarra with her delicate, pregnant mother Carmen, to become acquainted with her new stepfather, Captain Vidal, a Fascist officer under orders to rid the territory of rebels.
Captain Vidal has billeted himself inside a crumbling mill; imperious and intimidating, he makes no effort to befriend his stepdaughter. Hence, the lonely child turns to Mercedes, a young cook working for Vidal’s troops, for companionship.
In between, Ofelia, who is fascinated by fairy tales, discovers an overgrown, tumble-down labyrinth behind the mill, in which she meets Pan, an ancient satyr who claims to know her true identity and her secret destiny.
Commenting at Cannes, del Toro explained: “Pan’s Labyrinth unfurls during the middle of the pro-Franco period, and thus deals with fascism – its very essence. Not directly so, but rather horizontally, somewhat coded, as I like films which make people think.
For me, fascism is a representation of ultimate horror and it is, in this sense, an ideal concept through which to tell a fairy tale aimed at adults. Because fascism is first and foremost a form of perversion of innocence, and thus of childhood. (...)
“It is moreover for that reason that the real “monster” is Captain Vidal. A monster all too real compared with those who reside within the labyrinth. Fascism consumes you drop by drop, not necessarily physically but at least spiritually. This idea was already to be found in The Devil’s Backbone, but I think I handled it far better in Pan’s Labyrinth, which is an even darker, more complex and metaphoric film.”
Commenting on his passion for the fantasy genre, he continued: “It’s a genre which has always been opposed to the more prestigious ones. But for me, the most striking images in history of motion pictures come from the fantastic: Beauty and the Beast by Cocteau, Nosferatu by Murnau or The Mask of the Demon by Mario Bava are truly unforgettable.
“But at the moment of the award ceremony, it is always more difficult to convince. [...] The ‘fantastic’ is a creation more easily recognised in the field of painting. But when we turn to motion pictures, it’s difficult to accept that it can give rise to a quality film.”
The film was in contention for the Palme d’Or but despite receiving much critical acclaim, it was never a favourite to take the top prize (which eventually went to Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes The Barley).
Nevertheless, it should be a fascinating film to see when it finally makes its way into UK cinemas on August 25.