CURRENT MOON

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Pan's Labyrinth -- A Review


I saw Pan's Labyrinth today and, oh my. It was complex, and dark, and wonderful, and magical in the dirty, rainy way that the real world is magical. And dark; did I mention dark?

It's "about" so many different things and it works on so many different levels. But what struck me immediately is that it tells a truth (as real fairy tales always do) about childhood that we're very reluctant to admit: children are really all on their own. The adults in their lives, even those who love them, won't/can't/don't help them -- not really. Adults are hostile, or powerless, or deluded, or just not capable of doing any better. They want children to be good, be quiet, be pretty. And even the forces of nature use them more often than they help them. (There is no fairy godmother providing magic carriages in this fairy tale. Pan is as scary and capricious as he is helpful.) And so, children, young, innocent children, just have to do the best that they can and try to cope with all sorts of powers, human powers and forces of nature, even though they lack much of the information that would help them to deal with those powers. Meanwhile, they have to sort of sneak in their "real" lives, their "real" work. It reminds me of a deep and scary poem by Mary Oliver.

The movie is also clearly "about" what's wrong with patriarchy, what's wrong with the way that men living in the patriarchy wound their sons and how that wound hurts everyone in the vicinity. Guillermo Del Toro says, using some lovely symbolism, that it's "time" for this passing on of the wound to "stop." In fact, once that wounding stops, our entire understanding of time can change, can become much more natural and less regimented. (Which, of course, is what magic requires in order to exist.) And it is, here, a peasant woman who says "No" to the passing on of the wound, who will not allow the wounded father to offer his son up to the love of machismo, war, intolerance, regulation, strict schedules. She says it before the wounded father can even finish his speech about ensuring that his son receives the wound of patriarchy. You believe her.

I also came away thinking how incredibly strong and vital the story structure of "perform three tasks" still is. I can't count the number of times that I've read that story, yet it still works. Three tasks before the moon is full. It works really well, here. Some say that there are really only two plots in the world: a stranger comes to town and someone goes on a journey. And, really, they're the same tale, told from two different perspectives. This movie is about a young girl going on a journey.

I'd read that Pan's Labyrinth could be considered a horror movie, and I admit that I'm not a big fan of horror movies. I didn't find it horrible. The scenes that I couldn't watch (I am a huge believer in closing my eyes; there are things I don't want to take away with me) were the scenes of torture and human cruelty, not the scenes with strange magical creatures. Still, it's not a movie for young children. They've got enough to deal with every day, as this movie reminded me.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was hoping you'd go to see it before I did. I'm very squeamish about torture scenes -- The Deer Hunter made me throw up. So if there's anything that horrific, please email me before Sunday afternoon. I don't want to be awake all night, sick over MAN's inhumanity to MAN.

Hecate said...

Dear Anne,

Don't have your email address. There's one torture scene, but you can see it coming in plenty of time to shut your eyes and it doesn't last long. I didn't see the Deer Hunter and, truly, I didn't see this torture scene because I shut my eyes. It's worth going.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that review, Goddess. I, too, wanted to see this but cannot bear watching horror and violence (I have a sleep disorder--night terrors--so I don't need to add to that affliction).

I hope to see this next week.

Thanks again.

Sandy-LA 90034 said...

I love, love, love Mary Oliver's poems. I've read that poem before, astonished with the depth of feeling it brought out in me. And I thought about my journey this lifetime and hoped that I have the courage to listen to my own voice.

Anonymous said...

I also have a terrible aversion to torture/violence scenes, so I wait until the movies get to DVD or TV. Then I can mute the sound.

Anonymous said...

Pan's Labyrinth is playing on HBO Latino, if you speak Spanish. Unfortunately, I don't. But I think I'd rather see it in a theater. I'll still close my eyes and cover my ears in a theater.

Anonymous said...

I went to see it. I judged it wise at one point to get up and go to the ladies' room. Ever since I've been trying to think of the last film I saw that depicted war and all its atrocities. It must have been "Glory."

Anyway, I would definitely categorize this as an adult film, very dark, but fascinating and challenging. My daughter The Heir absolutely loved it. She has taken enough Spanish that she was able to understand more dialogue than the subtitles provided. Bravo for her!

SOPKA said...

They will not show it here no where here. Not only did del Toro refuse Narnina a sin worthy only of a modern Iscariot but it is in spanish. well they did not show Suspect Zero here either.

Anonymous said...

I saw that movie and absolutley loved it. It was dark and demented in some ways but absolutely genius at the same time. If I could watch the whole movie without closing my eyes, then you could too. You don't see anything in the torture scene but the results of the torture.