Film Review on 2006 'Pan's Labyrinth'
“Pan’s Labyrinth” Film Review “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a 2006 film directed by Guillermo del Toro. It was a widely acclaimed film because of the imaginative and dark fantasy storyline. It received numerous awards and such as Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Design, and Best Makeup. Pan’s Labyrinth is about a young girl named Ofelia who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her new husband/stepfather—Captain Vidal during the Spanish Civil War in Spain through the Francoist period. To escape the hardships of the real world, Ofelia delves into a fantasy world. There she discovers a deserted labyrinth and encounters a mystical faun creature. She interacts with the faun along with other mystical creatures that guide her through three tasks that will lead to her seat as Princess Moanna of the underworld. She experiences the death of her mother at childbirth, hardships of the Francoist regime, an urge to leave this world and join the fantasy world, and experiences death and a new life all at the same time. This is her story. The point of view is seen through Ofelia’s eyes, we see all what she can see. The fantasy world she becomes affiliated with through the faun is essentially the motivation that moves Ofelia. She believes the fantasy world is real and would rather live in it than the real world of fascism with Captain Vidal. The story is structured as an allegory; the interpretation is open up to anything due to the numerous amounts of symbolism. It is also structured as a circle story, it begins with the ending and the whole film is events leading up to that important moment. The narration is done in the beginning of the film by a third person who explains the fantasy story Ofelia. The film is structured where in some parts you see things through the eyes of Captain Vidal. In those scenes you see how orderly and ruthless Captain Vidal actually is. This all makes sense in order to understand the chronological time line of