Pan's Labyrinth (Time)

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth poster 

The film Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro, released in 2006 is another film that has a relation with the theme of time and a drama-fantasy genre film.The story goes back to 1966 in Spain under the Facist Regime, the civil war has ended. Captain Vidal ( Sergi Lpez) is a harsh ruler but hidden men, armed coming from the hills and secret places are willing to fight him. The opening of this movie, the narrator tells a story of a Princess who lived in an underworld kingdom with her father were she dreamt of a place where there is no suffering and pain but calmness and peace. Once she escapes from the kingdom but her body suffers from sickness and coldness, until she slowly dies. Her father the king believes that his daughter would return back in one form or another. Carmen ( Adriana Gili) and her daughter Ofelia ( Ivana Baquero) are on their way to the Captain's house in the countryside since Carmen marries the sadistic and harsh captain Vidal,also she is pregnant with his own child. Ofelia is very imaginative and believes in fairies that they do exist. The very first night at the Captain's house, a creature visits Ofelia while sleeping and indicates her to follow it which leads her to a place underground, and there she meets a creature named Pan ( Prince of Fauna).

Pan and Ofelia

He tells her that she is the lost Princess Moanna and assigns Ofelia with three life-threatening tasks in order to go back to the kingdom. He gives her a blank book, and has to be opened when she will be alone, to guide her for the tasks. The tasks given are to be done before the full moon and the three of them will be in danger of loosing her life. Captain Vidal cruel and harsh character is shown when he kills two men brutally after they fall into suspicion that they are rebels.The first task for Ofelia was to get the key from a giant toad. As time passes her mother's health will get worse, in order to this Pan the faun gives Ofelia a mandrake plant to hide it under her mother's bed and cures her illness and pain. For the second task three creatures will accompany her, she has to acquire the dagger from Pale Man, a monster who eats young children. Ofelia  disobeys the order not to eat or drink anything but she does the opposite and in result this Pale Man awakens and tries to eat her, but manages to save herself.

Pale Man

 Meanwhile Mercedes ( Maribel Verd) the housekeeper and the doctor ( Alex Angulo) are part of the anti-franco rebels and they spy on the captain. Vidal captures one of the rebels and tortures him and he dies, later Vidal suspects in the doctor and shots him.  Ofelia and her step-father the Captain don't have a good relationship, and when he discovers the mandrake root under the bed he throws it and her mother burns it. As soon as it burns, Carmen gives birth to a boy but had to suffer from painful contractions and eventually she dies. Later Vidal discovers that Mercedes is one of the rebel and keeps her a hostage while Ofelia locks her up in the bedroom.Mercedes manages to free herself and injures the captain. The rebels come and rescue her in the woods. Ofelia is given her last chance, so Pan gives her the last task to complete and orders her to take her baby brother to the labyrinth. Vidal follows her to the labyrinth while the rebels surround the mill. In order for the kingdom's portal to open Ofelia has to give a drop of blood from her brother but she refuses to hurt him.Vidal see her and thinks she's alone because Pan is not visible. He shoots her and kill her, take the baby and when goes outside he find the rebels all waiting for him and kill him. Now Ofelia reunites with her father in the kingdom.

Setting

The setting of Pan's Labyrinth portrays the darkness, sorrow and brutality that the rebels and Ofelia went through. The underground kingdom was dark, lifeless and everything still as only Ofelia could give her life back to the kingdom.When Ofelia meets Pan in the labyrinth we can see beautiful, detailed sculptures such as the representation of the King, Pan and the Princess. The location of the film is somewhere in the countryside and surrounded with a forest. In this film we see a lot of nature since they are living in the countryside but also two of Ofelia's task's have to do with nature. It is when she enters the hole in the forest to fight the toad and get the key and the mandrake root under Carmen's bed. In the last part of the film the setting is more peaceful, nature at it's best and everything glows because Ofelia was now the queen. 

Time  

How time is related with the film? To begin with Ofelia in the story is the reincarnation of Princess Moanna. The film is set in 1944 after the Spanish Civil War. Captain Vidal is very concerned about time example when Ofelia and Carmen arrives he was disappointed that they arrived 15 minutes late, even he was always waiting for the rebels to come and fight them.Tasks given to Ofelia all of them had to be done before the first full moon of the month. Also in two of her tasks nature played an important part. Such as the mandrake root under the bed...the energy and health that gives to Carmen is due to time because it starts to grow and develop more by time. When it's thrown away Carmen suffers and dies, the mandrake was keeping her alive. When she encounter Pale Man to get the dagger, she has to get it before the last grain falls of in the hourglass.Captain Vidal managed to catch her just in time before the labyrinth closes and kills her. Sometime we see Ofelia very anxious or panicked especially when she opens the book or doing the task. Every time she carries out something she has a very limited time to complete it.The reasons were she fears that she get caught in doing them or the full moon occurs.Her death makes her soul reunite with her father the king and her beloved mother. Ofelia reigns for many centuries in the kingdom and loved by the people, and as result she leaves the traces of her time on Earth. 

Personal Reflections

This movie I really enjoyed watching it, I saw it two times and not for a minute I got bored. Guillermo Del Toro ideas of characters are brilliant and very original.Although the story is a mix of fantasy and drama, it's not a children's film, since certain scenes are very brutal and harsh. I was impressed with the kind of story Del Toro wrote, because it is a mixture of reality and fasntasy, rebels fighting against the regime and Ofelia completing the tasks to return to the kingdom.