Guillermo Del Toro’s Gothic 2006 fairytale horror Pan’s Labyrinth a.k.a. El laberinto del fauno is a social critique of the mental, physical, and emotional impact of the Spanish Civil War on the innocent. Del Toro shows it through the perspective of a little girl who is fascinated with the world of fairy tales. The contrasts between the real world and the fantasy world run parallel mirroring each other until they collide in the end.
Magical Realism
Magical Realism in cinema refers to a story that takes place in the real world but with few fantasy-like elements. Del Toro’s narrative is of the Spanish War led by Franco’s rule that actually happened in 1944. Although the characters set in the real world are hypothetical they do represent the emotions of the vast population who had similar suffering. The real world is separate from the Fantasy world but it is connected through an insect-like fairy that directs Ofelia toward the Labyrinth, the labyrinth itself, the mandrake roots offered by the faun to keep it under Carmen’s bed, and metaphorically Ofelia’s imagination.
Contrasting Maternal figures
Amidst the Fascist rage of military troops, the manipulative faun, and the rebellion of the radical tribe, Ofelia finds solace under her mother Carmen, and the housekeeper Mercedes. However, both maternal figures represent contrasting feminity. Carmen represents an oppressed feminine figure who takes pride in being treated as breeding livestock for the ruthless Captain Vidal. While Ofelia’s Stepfather only cares about the offspring who will carry on his legacy. Carmen tries to force her regressive ideals of feminity on Ofelia to please all the male figures in her life including the Captain.
Whereas, Mercedes is a more inspirational figure for Ofelia who secretly rebels against the powerful and horrific fascists. She passively takes a stand against their unfair atrocities by working for the guerillas (the rebels). Her story runs parallel with Ofelia in the fantasy world. The faun gives three tasks to Ofelia to acquire immortality. The first one is to get keys from the ugly toad while Mercedes hides a key in the storage room to supply food to the guerillas. The second task of Ofelia is to find the dagger from the pale-eyed man while Mercedes keeps a knife in her pocket as a defense in case of confrontation with the opposition. Ofelia turns out to be a rebel with a cause just like Mercedes.
Escapism
Ofelia’s real world is full of misery, oppression, fascism, and apathy. She has to live with her barbaric stepfather due to her sick pregnant mother. Thus, she escapes her sad reality by reading fairytales. Although cautioned by her mother Carmen to separate reality from her parallel world, Del Toro turns her figment of imagination into a reality which is an allegory to the level of agony she is surrounded with. But, Ofelia’s mythological creatures are no symbol of justice. They are equally suspicious in nature as much as they are horrific to look at. In the end, Ofelia neither obeys Captain Vidal nor the faun she goes with her gut instincts and sacrifices herself for her baby brother.
Masculine Apathy vs. Feminine Empathy
During the ongoing war, when the majority of the population has no access to surplus food, Captain Vidal chooses to throw a lavish banquet with luxurious delicacies. He sits on the center end of a long table with pride, placing himself in a position of power, control, and dominance. Whereas Mercedes, secretly rebels against a powerful troupe of dangerous militants in order to feed the radicals hiding in the forest. Mercedes is a compassionate figure and a good role model to Ofelia in comparison to her stepfather whom she refuses to address as ‘father’. Mercedes often hums a lullaby (skillfully composed by Javier Navarrete) to Ofelia filled with pathos and warmth. She hums the same lullaby on Ofelia’s deathbed to make her soul rest in peace.
Cinematography
Guillermo Navarro who often collaborates with Del Toro creates his signature Gothic-like aesthetics. The film’s canvas often transitions from warm color tones of daytime to cool color tones of nighttime. The Cinematographer often shoots Captain Vidal with the law of thirds frame and often contradicts it by placing the characters at the center to show dominance as well as when they are most vulnerable. The real world is mostly shot in cool tones whereas the fantasy world is represented with warm tones.
Allegory
The fantasy world which is a figment of Ofelia’s imagination also signifies that she is entering her adolescence and the labyrinth is similar to a woman’s uterus. The tree branches at the entrance of the labyrinth look similar to the fallopian tubes. As her pregnant mother is sick, the faun offers a mandrake root to keep her mother and the offspring alive. The root drenched in milk is fed with drops of blood to heal her sick mother. Ofelia’s disobeying the faun as well as captain Vidal is an allegory to the political liberation against the fascist government. Unfortunately, Ofelia had to pay the price of her rebellion but she reunites with her parents in the afterlife whereas the captain is left at the mercy of angry guerillas (rebellions). In this magical fable of Good vs. Evil, both fail. But the good triumphs in the fantasy world. Thus, signifying the price people have to pay for righteousness.
Jeane Pierre Jeanet’s The City of Lost Children
In Jeane Pierre’s The City of Lost Children, adults in the position of power kidnap and exploit orphan children. They are used for their selfish needs. The octopus twins exploit poor kids to beg for money while the mad scientist Krank kidnaps innocent toddlers to attain happy dreams. Thus, it is an allegory of the complacent capitalist system that exploits the poor children who are forced into labor. They have to sacrifice their childhood innocence and ambitions. Del Toro’s Pan Labyrinth shows the similar effect of barbaric adult chaos on childhood naivety. Jeane Pierre’s french steampunk aesthetic is set in a post-apocalyptic world whereas Del Toro’s Gothic folklore is set in the historic Spanish civil war time. Jeane Pierre’s The City of Lost Children is also filled with warm as well as cool color palettes and yellow, green, and red hues dominate in both films.
