Laberinto del fauno, El (Pan’s Labyrinth) (2006) – 3.5/5

Laberinto del fauno, El (2006) (Pan’s Labyrinth)

Weird, but interesting. I didn’t see the prequel but I listened to a bit of the commentary and it seems they are related by theme.

The visuals are great and the reality mixed w/ fantasy is really good. The gore and brutality of the soldiers is hard to watch at times.

My view of the main theme is something like: people that follow orders (or see things as black and white) are brutal, wrong and evil. Something like that.

SPOILERS

Vidal is set quickly to be someone who doesn’t compromise or question what he’s doing or why. He has no mercy, pity, conscious or humanity to him. He cares only about being the man his father was and thus passing on the burden to a son of his own.

The rebels are seen as caring, natural and righteous despite not actually communicating their cause other than to kill the military presence. W/o saying how or why, it’s clear we’re to believe they are right in their attempts to kill the soldiers but not the other way around.

The plot w/ Pan is that he directs the girl, but in her completing the tasks, she breaks some rules. The first time, it hurts her parents, the second time 2 fairies die and the third time, she saves her brother by sacrificing her life, but that was the test of the task: to see if she wd allow her brother to die to save her own life (though it wdn’t have saved her life IMO).

So question authority and do what you believe is right despite everything else b/c ultimately that’s what’s right. Hmmm….

Haiku Summary
Girl moves to country.
Pan’s tasks to become princess.
Question author’ty.

NEXT: “Fool’s Gold (2008)”

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