Pan's Labyrinth

The brutality of reality, the wildness of imagination and the difficulty of making choices - Pan's Labyrinth has them all.

Dubbed the Best Foreign Film by the BAFTA, along with Best Art Direction, Costume, etc. This is a must-see for everyone. I won't say it's at all a fairy tale for children like Narnia, or a serious drama for adults. It's sort of an in-between, maybe, for the not-so-young and not-so-mature people like me.

The film sets at Spain Fascist period when everyone's at war. We can't escape from the portrayal of how cruel war can be. All the bloodshed, bombing, killing and 'stealing' - people show they comprehend well 'the survival of the fittest'. At wartime, soldiers fight to follow commands, 'without questioning'. Ofelia's mom tries to impress her new husband with the well-dressed daughter and a coming son. Mercedes risks her life to deliver mails and food to her brother Pedro. All of them hold on to their last breath to deal with the brutal world.

And as for Ofelia, life is full of pain. She lost her father and follows her mom to the captain, the step-dad. She hates to compromise and she's looking for a way out. Later, the little girl discovers from the faun that she's the long-lost princess of the underworld. Upon the completion of three tasks, she'll be given a chance to go back to 'her kingdom'. She has seen the giant toad that consumes the old tree, 'fairies' that can transform into anything, hideous monster that eats humans and any creatures and all that imagination can lead you or beyond. The magical world fascinates her, so much so she wants it desperately in order to escape from the pains in reality.

But among these, when facing the reality and the magical world, the brutality and the wild imagination, all the people concerned have the most difficult task - making choices. Can choices be said RIGHT or WRONG? We can't deny choices are not always made alongside rationality. Either you choose to live as traitors/cowards or to risk your life in wars, to obey your parents or to follow your heart, or even to sacrifice others for yourself or you for others, you are bound to make (difficult) choices. Here, with the decisions, all characters bear the consequences. Aren't it universal truth? But we judge. We hate to regret on choices we made, and somehow are unwilling to accept the outcomes. So what if...? Who can be there to judge which is better or worse, right or wrong then?

Pan's Labyrinth is certainly not a happily-ever-after-ending type of story and tries to create a hero(ine) for audience to identify with. It's a very dark adult fairy tale. We have every reason to admit all bads turn to goods in the end. Yet, can we be as innocent as Ofelia who believes in fairy tale, or her mom who thinks fairy tale never exists? And more, does the underworld or the long-lost princess ever exist? Or after all, isn't it true that all of us are just drowning ourselves in the fantasy of a desperate and lonely girl who tries to believe there's still hope?

Well, for me, I choose to let my imagination go wild.