Sunday, November 25, 2007

 

Pan's Labyrinth


What can I say that hasn’t already been written about this movie? That it is not a fairy tale for children is an understatement. I’m as guilty of the North American prejudice against reading subtitles while attempting to watch a movie as anyone and this one, in Spanish, is no exception. Somehow the words disappear before I get a chance to read them. The un-answered question here is what Ofelia’s Mother saw in the Captain aside from the fact that he was the father of her child. Ofelia, certainly, has no qualms about posing the question. Certainly she was done no favours by being dragged into crude housing in the middle of a war zone.

As far as cruelty is concerned there is little to choose between the guerillas and their fascist advisories. As the movie progresses the body count mounts in cross piles of Shakespearian proportions. By the end the only principle character who still lives is Mercedes, the housekeeper. The mystery is how she could support the rebels so openly for so long under the Captain’s nose without arousing his suspicions. Certainly Ofelia had no doubts. Given the carnage around her an attempt to escape reality would seem the only sane course of action.


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