Pan's Labyrinth: A dark yet enchanting fairy tale for children and adults

If you're an adult who still longs for childhood, you might enjoy watching Guillermo del Toro's films, just like me. From 2006's "Pan's Labyrinth" to 2022's "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio," del Toro has never hidden his love for folklore, monsters, and dark fairy tales.

It's said that he loved watching monster movies since he was young and was very imaginative. He once had a dream that the Fauno from his watch came out and monsters ran around under the green carpet. A scared young Toro wanted to go to the toilet, and the Fauno proposed a deal: if they let Toro to go, they would become lifelong friends.

Perhaps because of this childhood experience, del Toro's entire career has been dedicated to presenting a fantastic monster world. After entering Hollywood, he worked as a special effects makeup artist for ten years. He also collects various items related to monsters. The 2022 mini-series "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities" is drawn from del Toro's accumulation of monster stories over the years.

In addition, he has a great interest in Spain's Civil War history. He has been keeping a notebook for many years specifically for recording everything about the Spanish Civil War and related folklore. One time, he lost this notebook in a taxi, but the driver returned it. Del Toro thought it was a sign from above, so he began making "Pan's Labyrinth" afterwards.

Perhaps it's this fascination with monsters and movies since childhood that gives del Toro's works a unique personal style. He blends fairy tales with horror, reality with fantasy, and uses parallel narratives and metaphors to allow both children and adults to see what they want to see.

Today, I want to discuss del Toro's metaphors in "Pan's Labyrinth" and highlight del Toro's talent in film art design. I hope that after reading this, you'll find del Toro's created monsters and fantasy world as interesting as I do.

1. Monsters and Folklore Myths in Movies

Toro is very good at adapting folkloric characters and incorporating them into his films, using monster-like figures as a metaphor for the real world.

The original prototype of Pan is from Greek mythology, a god who watches over flocks and shepherds. He has a human body, horns on his head, long ears, and goat-like legs and feet. The belief in Pan originated in Arcadia, which was considered a paradise by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Arcadians used a square pillar as the image of Pan, which had a worshipful connotation of male genitalia.

Additionally, as a god who oversees reproductive ability, Pan has ambiguous relationship with many fairies, hence known as the god of lust. Due to the derivation from Greek mythology, in Christian legend, Pan's image is more negative. The image of the devil in Christianity is a monster with horns and hooves, who seduces women on the Sabbath. This is very similar to the transformation of Pan's image and ritual.

In the film, Pan's image is very close to the one in Greek mythology, while also carrying a kind of ambiguous quality of good and evil. In the process of guiding Ofelia back to the underworld, Such ambiguity is particularly evident in the process of guiding Ofelia back to the underworld.

The prototype of the Pale Man is similar to Lamia, a tragic figure in Greek mythology. She was chosen by Zeus as his mistress because of her beauty, but was punished by Hera out of jealousy. Hera killed Lamia's children and turned Lamia into a half-human, half-serpent monster. Under Hera's curse, Lamia became crazy and constantly ate children. At the same time, Hera also took away Lamia's sleep. In order to make amends, Zeus gave Lamia the ability of removing her own eyes to get some sleep.

In the movie, the Pale Man also eats children and has the ability to remove his eyeballs. The little shoes at the corner suggest the victimized children.

Toro said the plate with eyeballs was inspired by the image of Saint Lucy in Christian history who secretly practiced Christianity and was tortured to death during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Later depictions often show her holding a plate with her eyes on it. After reading the story of St. Lucy, I realized that Ofelia also has similarities with St. Lucy. They both have a sickly mother, believe in things that others don't believe, and unfortunately die.

There is another detail worth noting in the Pale Man scene: a fleeting mural that mimics Goya's "Saturn Devouring His Son".

This Saturn is actually the Greek mythological god Cronus, who was prophesied to be overthrown by his own children and therefore always ate his newborn children. It was said that only Pan, the god of the wild, survived. Therefore, when Pan guides Ofelia to steal from Pale Man, it also means a layer of rebellion against patriarchy.

It can also be seen that the scene of Pale Man's feast is basically the same as the scene where Vidal entertains guests in reality. The position where Vidal sits is also the same as where Pale Man does. Captain Vidal, in Ofelia's eyes, is just like that Pale Man. They represent the fascist rulers of the society. As long as their interests are slightly damaged, whether it is a grape that Ofelia ate, or a box of antibiotic, it will provoke their anger and then be violently suppressed.

2. Using color and lines to differentiate reality from fantasy

In addition to adapting characters from myths, Toro is also skilled at using lines and colors to design the differentiation between reality and the fantasy world.

"Pan's Labyrinth" has two distinct storylines. One is Ofelia's return to the underground kingdom, and the other is the confrontation between fascist officers and guerrillas. The former is full of fantasy colors, while the latter appears brutal and realistic.

The two storylines often intersect and connect with Ofelia's perspective as the main character. Through different visual elements, the director hints at the audience how to distinguish reality.

In the movie, circles and arcs represent the magical world, while straight lines, sharpness, and darkness represent reality. For example, the passage Ofelia enters to the underground kingdom is a downward spiral staircase, implying that she is about to enter the fantasy world.

For another example, the window in the bathroom is circular, like the moon. Every time Ofelia reads a book alone in the bathroom, the light shines through this circular window.

But if she enters the bathroom with her mother, there is no window in the shot, indicating that there is no fantasy in life when her mother punishes her.

In the fantasy world, warm colors are often used. For example, although both scenes where Ofelia completes her tasks twice are dangerous, the lighting tends to be brighter

In contrast, scenes related to Colonel Vidal and the real world are shown in a dim and cold manner.

The similarity between patterns indicates a connection between the real world and the world of fantasy.

For example, the bed where Ofelia and her mother sleep has a pattern of horns. This pattern is very similar to that of the withered fig tree that Ofelia saw.

Figs have the meaning of female reproduction. The fig tree here is linked to Ofelia's mother's uterus. And the toad under the tree that constantly absorbs nutrients causing the fig tree to wither is also Ofelia's understanding of reproduction: the fetus continuously absorbs nutrients for its own growth, regardless of the health of the mother's body, even if the mother is weakened and close to death. After Ofelia kills the toad, her mother also shows signs of miscarriage.

Moreover, outside of Ofelia's perspective, the toad has a deeper meaning for the audience, which is the fascist ruling class that exploits Spanish society's wealth for their own benefit. They are rich, but still relentlessly extract nutrients without any shame.

These images convey information to the audience at the subconscious level, making it easy for the audience to connect different things together and see the interaction between the fantasy and the real world.They also enable the story to convey more information beyond the characters' experiences and makes the movie worth revisiting.

3. Political Metaphors in the Spanish Civil War

Toro is also very interested in the history of the Spanish Civil War. In "Pan's Labyrinth", he presents the chaos and darkness of that period through the fantasy vision of a little girl, as well as the hope that was born from that darkness. This also allows for some political interpretation, making it even more adult-oriented.

For me, the most impressive thing was Ofelia's choice when completing the second task and the series of results that followed. Ofelia did not follow the fairy's advice to choose the middle option at the pale man's place, but chose the sword which symbolizes the left-wing forces represented by the Spanish guerrillas. This sword also became the key prop for Mercedes to rebel against Vidal and flee later on.

At the end of the story, Pan also takes out this sword and tries to stab Ofelia's brother to take his blood. If Ofelia wants to return to the kingdom, she should obey Pan's orders. However, at this moment, Ofelia refuses. She does not want to sacrifice her brother to return to the kingdom.

Here, I tend to believe that the brother at this moment symbolizes the future of Spain. It was born in chaos and struggle, with a weak but gentle mother and a cruel and ruthless father. His future development is uncertain.

In the end, Ofelia's refusal to sacrifice his brother metaphorically represents that the revolutionary forces in Spain did not sacrifice innocent lives or launch a destructive war for the sake of a pure revolutionary ideal. Although the revolutionary forces failed in the civil war, the Franco government would eventually end its dictatorship.

After watching "Pan's Labyrinth", many people ask a question: Is Ofelia and Pan's story true or just her own imagination? Personally, I tend to believe that reality and imagination are both real. For Ofelia, the fantasy world is a means of escaping the loneliness and helplessness of the real world. She sincerely believes in her own imagination and acts accordingly.But for the other adults in the movie, the fantasy world does not exist. Just like when Vidal catches up with her, the director gave a perspective of Vidal, in which Pan who was talking to Ofelia did not exist.

But this is the charm of Toro's story: mixing the cruel real world and a child's fantastic ideas together. By presenting a simple and easy-to-understand story, it also constructs a deep story through visual metaphors, allowing audiences of different ages to interpret the content that interests them.

In addition, visually, Toro does not shy away from showing the brutal reality in the movie. There are several visually striking bloody scenes: Vidal brutally smashing a farmer's nose with a bottle, a doctor sawing off a guerrilla's leg, and Vidal himself using a needle to stitch up his torn face. So real that it is chilling.

In the fantasy part, the fantasy world that Ofelia faces is not all beautiful either. Pan reveals an evil temperament, and the bloodiness and weirdness of the Pale man, the slime, the blood vessels, the dense insects, and the deformed toads under the fig tree all bring strong visual impacts.

Perhaps this is also the reason why this movie can still touch me after 17 years. Fairy tales are not meant for children to escape the world, but to help children understand the real world. Folk tales, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales around the world all hide the cruelty and darkness of the adult world. It's just that when we were children, we only saw the fantastic side of it. And as we grow up and understand the cruelty within, we may tend toToro's fairy tale to recall our childhood innocence.