Amanda: Pan’s Labyrinth

I thought this movie was great, and certainly lived up to all the hype. I found this exploration of make-believe and the differentiation between the reality of children and adults to be a very unique and interesting story line. The topic of human connection and the common flaws that are possessed by all is also worked in throughout the film providing for some very challenging material.

The structure of the plot allowed for many layers of interpretation and expansion on the characters in the film. The most obvious example of this is the fact that the story takes place during a time of war, the most serious, dramatic experience of life, where one comes face to face with the ultimate reality of life and death. This point is wonderfully contrasted with the young girl’s exploration of the cave, and her complete inhibition to believe the faun and continue on this quest without thinking of any possible consequences.

The scene where she takes off the dress her mother made her for the formal dinner and crawls into the tree to defeat the toad really culminates her character’s world, outlook on life. What is important to her is believing in something more, not facing this ‘reality’ her mother has told her to accept. It is easier for her to accept that there is a giant toad living in a tree that she must defeat than for her to participate in the adult world and accept the general as her father.

Another scene I really liked and thought was vital to the plot was when her mother throws the root into the fire, and then begins to bleed soon after. The girl believed with all her heart that the faun’s magic solution would help her mother and brother’s health, and her mother going against this idea is a direct challenge to the fantasy world.
It is remarkably true that when we are young we believe what we are told without question, and for this reason are able to accept fairy tales and fantasy much easier than adults who have been worn down by the world. I found this particular point to be quite similar to the boy in the Decalogue who was questioning God while his father was rejecting religion.

For me, the most interesting part of the class discussion provoked after the movie was deciding what the distinguishing factors for what it meant to be a human were in the film. The little girl was clearly different than most of the characters in the film, with a vibrant imagination, and still believing in fairy tales, but there is something more that sets her apart. To me, she portrayed a much more selfless character than the rest, and she truly believed that every human life was equal. Most of the other characters express some sort of idea about the future and how they will go down in history, yet she focuses much more on the present.

The human need to be remembered, leave a legacy, particularly the character of the general is what I found to set the little girl apart from the rest. All the general wants is a son to follow him and continue his power and status, he doesn’t care about the means in which he has to use to achieve this or the amount of lives he needs to take. This is hinted at in the beginning of the film the narrator says, “Men talk about leaving a legacy but not about eternity.” Whether we like to admit it or not, most humans spend more of their time concerned with how they will be remembered than if they are actually a good person.
The girl doesn’t seem to do this even when she is promised eternity she still thinks of others. She makes the decision to protect her brother rather than sacrificing his blood for her benefit, allowing her to pass the final test and revealing that she has not been tainted by the evils of the human world.