Pan and the Fairies - Making Pan's Labyrinth Documentary

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Fantasy films generally do not have the ambition to be historical allegories, but the Pan Labyrinth does. A set of violent fantasy during the Spanish Civil War, this magical film by Guillermo del Toro (Mimic) manages this intellectual undertake, even if it resounds on a primitive and mythical level.

A Mexican writer-director, del Toro knows his Spanish history. But he also knows his Joseph Campbell and his Vladimir Propp. This story of a young woman who escapes into a dangerous world of fairies, magic talismans, moments of failure, and candid triumphs of Campbell. It is a film made with many classic folktale ingredients, as described long ago by Propp, an analyst of Russian history.

The Pan Labyrinth is a dazzling blend of the magically surreal. This contrasts with the real horrors of the Spanish Civil War - torture, atrocities, murders and fighting - with the terrors of fantasy and rewards of an enchanted maze.

Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), about 10 years old, discovers upon arriving at the new post of her bloody stepfather (Sergi Lopez), a sadistic captain in the fascist army sent to knock down the rebels in this leafy corner of Spain. Ofelia reads her fairy tales and tries to comfort her weak and pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil). But upon arriving at the old mill where they are now living, she spies fairies. She soon meets Pan, who enchants her and tells her that she is the queen they were waiting for in their enchanted ancient labyrinth.

Ofelia, to take the throne, has to prove herself. Every night she gets a chore. Some missions she misses. Some flaws.

The magic spreads in her daily life, where she must protect her mother and unborn brother from the monster that Mama has married. The captain personally extracts confessions from suspected partisans. He performs them personally. He seems to like this. Ofelia tries to use the magic she discovered to protect herself, her mother and her brother-to-be.

Del Toro has an enthusiasm for fantasy and relentless horror (Hellboy, Devil's Backbone). Here, for all the faceless hawks and giant frogs Ophelia faces at night, the reality of the days he evokes is much worse. Life in a combat zone is not pretty.

Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), the housekeeper, struggles to hide her partisan loyalties from the murderous captain and to save Ophelia. Lopez makes the man so mean that he would twist his mustache if he had one.

Lyricically written, affected and filmed poetically, Pan's Labyrinth, in Spanish with English subtitles, is brilliant enough to raise a whole genre simply by its presence. It's one of the most acclaimed films of 2006, and rightly so.

And Baquero, like the heroine, written in a tale that dates back to when time began, touches us with humanity, the will and the hope that, somewhere deep down, we all have what it takes to navigate this maze.