** Warning: Spoilers ahead! **
Guillermo del Toro is upheld as one of the most visionary horror directors of the modern era. His distinct brand of horror emphasizes that those traditionally labeled as “monsters” are often the most vulnerable, while the true threat to mankind is man himself. Instead of demonizing the supernatural, del Toro scrutinizes manmade injustices such as racism, nationalism, sexism, and even more daunting, fascism. None of his films achieves this as masterfully as his magnum opus, Pan’s Labyrinth.
Admittedly, when I watched Pan’s Labyrinth for the first time, I was too young to understand anything. Maybe it was because of the war plot that was too complex for my young mind to comprehend, or maybe it was the thick Spanish accents complicating what little Spanish seven-year-old me knew. At that time, the film was a scary movie that had a confusing ending, but when I rewatched it as a teenager, it quickly became one of my favorite movies of all time.
Set in 1944 Spain, under the Francoist dictatorship of extreme violence and oppression, young Ofelia must decide whether or not escaping the grim cruelty around her is worth following the word of an ambivalent Faun, who claims she is the lost princess of the Underworld. Additionally, Pan’s Labyrinth was released in 2006, during Bush’s administration that led to the Iraq War and the War on Terror, which only emphasizes its anti-war and anti-authoritarian message.
Beyond this context, I believe that a film like Pan’s Labyrinth has never been needed more than in the year 2023. With U.S. politicians banning books that expose the racist foundations of the country, the United Kingdom threatening transgender rights, and a war in Ukraine that feels like the sequel to the Cold War, it feels as though the world is regressing. Within the last decade, countries such as the United States, Italy, and Brazil have all elected leaders that are openly bigoted and sometimes blatantly fascist.
It is hard for people to not feel an intense sense of impending doom anytime they turn on the news. In these times, people believe that the fight for defending human rights is imperative, and Del Toro suggests the best way for people to learn how to fight against totalitarianism: fairy tales.
Pan’s Labyrinth is set up as a fairytale of its own. It starts and ends with a narration from the Faun, and the characters are three-dimensional fairy tale archetypes. Ofelia is the innocent, curious child protagonist enveloped in a magical world, similar to Alice in Alice in Wonderland, while Captain Vidal is Ofelia’s evil stepfather who only cares about himself and his legacy.
Beyond the typical Brothers Grimm fairy tales, there are influences from Greek and Roman mythology, The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, and the magical realism genre. Del Toro utilizes these influences to emphasize that the fascist regime and the after-effects of the Spanish Civil War are unnatural to the world, whereas the magical aspects of the Underworld, the fairies, and even the Faun are much more grounded in reality.
In order to return to the Underworld, Ofelia must complete three tasks before the upcoming full moon. The tasks’ severity gradually grows, but all three of them emphasize taking action against the wrongs of oppressive systems. The first task touches on getting rid of the root cause of societal ailments, the second task represents oppressive greed by those with socio-political power, and the final task is a symbol for the innocent lives lost in war.
The most iconic scene in Pan’s Labyrinth is from the second task, as this is the task that features the Pale Man. Even if you haven’t seen Pan’s Labyrinth, you have most likely seen the tall, white, faceless creature with eyes on its hand and a striking resemblance to Mitch McConnell. While The Pale Man is a horror staple and could easily be written off as a generic monster, he simultaneously serves as a parallel to Captain Vidal and a representation of oppressive greed.
Captain Vidal, like the Pale Man, has all he could desire in front of him, yet does not want it unless it is seemingly unavailable to him. According to a 2017 tweet from Del Toro, “The Pale Man represents all institutional evil feeding on the helpless. It’s not accidental that he is a) Pale b) a Man,” a description that could easily be given to Captain Vidal as well. He takes whatever he wants and cares not for who gets hurt in the process.
Ofelia could easily become like Vidal by the time the third trial takes place. Ofelia knows that if Vidal catches her, he will kill her, but killing her brother would guarantee her freedom. Yet, Ofelia’s morals override any sense of selfishness she may have had, and she ultimately sacrifices herself, her last act of defiance, showing her refusal to become like Vidal.
Many viewers believe that Ofelia created this world in order to escape her reality and that her waking up in the throne room was her in the afterlife. Others believe that the Faun, the fairies, the Pale Man, and the trials were real.
As a child, the concept that everything had been in Ofelia’s head was never even a possibility, because just like Ofelia, I was a young girl who preferred books to the real world. As a teenager reintroduced to Pan’s Labyrinth, I thought those who didn’t believe that the fantasy world existed were all pretentious film bros who hated happy endings. However, as a more critical adult, I can see the validity in this interpretation, even if I personally don’t believe it.
While Del Toro allows everyone to interpret art in their own way, he has stated in an interview with ScreenAnarchy that all of it was real. While art is subjective and the ending purposefully could be seen either way, the magical world being real is integral to the story.
Like any fairy tale, Pan’s Labyrinth has a moral lesson that it is trying to convey: obedience is not an inherently good thing, and disobedience is often more necessary than society tells us it is. If that is the moral lesson, then the interpretation of Ofelia hallucinating this fantasy world and being a casualty of war is punishing her for disobeying cruel leadership.
This tells the audience that going against the oppressors will only lead to tragedy and should not be done, which goes against the entirety of the film. The tragedy of the film is that Ofelia knew the difference between right and wrong, and because of this knowledge, she was killed for it.
There is a line in the film, spoken by Dr. Ferreiro, that is the thesis of the entire narrative: “To obey—just like that—for the sake of obeying, without questioning…that’s something only people like you can do, Captain.” Fairy tales, though often relegated as simply childish stories, are meant to be cautionary tales, and this quote is the lesson Pan’s Labyrinth and del Toro want to teach.
It is why, despite the Francoist regime lasting 30 years after the film takes place, the rebels are framed as victorious at the end of Pan’s Labyrinth. Their resilience will continue on.
Blind obedience is not something we as a society should have, especially when corruption exists. It is our right and our duty to question and to fight against injustices. This lesson is needed more than ever. With the worldwide rise of fascist idealization, and the domestic threats of reproductive rights, trans rights, and human rights in the United States, a film like Pan’s Labyrinth is a constant reminder that people have always fought for the right side of history. To obey without question is to be complicit, and we must find our own ways, no matter how big or small, to disobey demagoguery.
Kindergarten 