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Review

Young Ofelia sits next to her pregnant mother Carmen in a car bouncing and rattling over a pitted country road. It's 1944, and a pall hangs over the seeming pastoral peace outside the vehicle's windows. Mother and daughter travel as though in a funeral cortege to a rural military outpost operated with the dismal repression which inundates postwar Spain. Her new stepfather commandeers this compound in the spirit promulgated by his hero Franco. Capitán Vidal is the polar opposite of Ofelia's beloved father, whose death profoundly altered Ofelia and Carmen’s lives. Carmen tries to adjust to her new realities, but has placed her trust in a man who wants only the son in Carmen's womb, not the family who accompanies it. Ofelia clings to her beloved collection of books, fairy tales which provide solace and an eerie reflection of her new, harsh environment. Upon their arrival at the converted mill now functioning as a military headquarters, Ofelia's only real welcome comes from the housekeeper Mercedes...unless you count the dragonfly which accompanied the car along the final leg of its journey.

Mercedes shows Ofelia the unkempt labyrinth which sits a bit removed from the buildings. It's frightening and daunting and comes to house the fantastic characters through which Ofelia grapples with the real horrors surrounding her. The mindless cruelty of the government enforcers is met by a small but growing resistance. As she defends against the merciless viciousness encircling her, Ofelia finds a faun in the center of the labyrinth, ogres behind her bedroom walls, and fairies everywhere. Savagery and heroism, treachery and bravery inhabit both of Ofelia's worlds; and these worlds merge in a final act of sacrifice.

This is the second entry in director Guillermo Del Toro's projected Spanish Civil War trilogy. The Devil's Backbone was the first title in the series, and the third entry 3993 has an announced release date of 2009. Del Toro masterfully combines stark realism with extravagant grotesques, exposing the thin veil that separates the material from the imaginary. The ensemble is uniformly excellent with special mention to Ivana Baquero, who portrays Ofelia with remarkable sensitivity and nuance. The first film to fully realize Del Toro’s seemingly boundless potential as an auteur, Pan's Labyrinth is an instant classic.

 -- Ann Yarabinee