Lost in the Labryinth

Hang on. This post will be rambling, large, and lacking in depth

and clarity - kind of like Rosie on The View.

I finally saw Pan's Labyrinth, which while visually

stunning, suffers from the fatal flaw that Guillermo Del Torro

had, until this point, avoided in previous films, and that is to

fall into the temptation of trying to reach profundity, and falling

very short of the mark.

The "Labyrinth", a term which was often used to describe Franco's

Spain, is the central theme throughout the movie, as a Labyrinth also

serves as the escape mechanism of the film's protagonist, Ofelia (Ivana

Banquero).

The fairy tale in which Ofelia immerses herself, runs as a sort

of allegorical parallel marking pre, present, and post Franco Spain.

The dilemma with Mr. Del Torro's weighty subject matter is that

it suffers from a certain post-modernist pretension that has run amok

in modern cinema - that being the tendency to sacrifice character

development, and/or plot, with audio and visual wizardry. We are

expected to accept the sacrifices of Ofelia's mother, (remarrying the

crazed Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), after the death of her husband,

a tailor whose death we are left no clues with), without any explanation

other than the overall implication that this is post civil war Spain, and

Franco's Spain is a rather brutal and bleak place.

So to, are we to accept the sociopathic cruelty of Captain Vidal, who

makes Ted Bundy look like a cuddly teddy bear.

And perhaps, this is not entirely, a bad thing. Hollywood buys heavily

into the mythology of moral relativism, and it was somewhat

refreshing to find a movie that was bold enough not to blur the lines

between good and evil, but still within the confines of fairly safe

subject matter for the left minded intelligentsia. If only Stephen

Spielberg had been so bold in Munich!

I won't spoil the plot, but the theme of fathers, and fatherlessness runs deep,

as well as some rather daft pot shots at the Catholic church, in the form

of an emaciated, eyeless monster, who sits at a table filled with a rich

feast from which no others can eat. The imagery is creepy and effective,

but also was somewhat offensive, given the monster is also afflicted with

stigmata.

I have to recommend Pan's Labyrinth for it's cinematic beauty, and

the haunting musical score composed by Javier Navarette. Just remember,

this is NOT a children's movie. It is graphically violent. If you show this to

your kids, be prepared to pay for 10 years of on going therapy!

Cordially

Joe