Pan's Labyrinth

Pans labyrinth is an intense movie of a young girl struggles to break free of the restraints of being a child and the cruelties of living through Spanish fascism. Pans labyrinth is anything but your ordinary ‘time filling’ movie. It has great depth and an intricate web of occult and archetypal symbols. Guillermo del Toro, the director, does not shy away from exposing the harshness of reality and the intertwined fantasy. This one of a kind movie gives you a rare moment to see the world with a different light. You begin to appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature and life. It brings up the question of have people living in the materialistic world of the 21st century lost sight of what is real. The movie’s compelling storyline, rich mythological background and strange fantasy world give it the ability to be interpreted psychologically, sociologically, politically and myth-logically.
Pans labyrinth begins with the “once upon a time” theme which sets up the movie for the viewer. This theme makes the viewer unconsciously think of mythical archetypes. For example the characters Captain Vidal, Ofelia and the Fauno each portray archetypes of the evil king, the heroine in distress and a chimerical creature respectively.
In the first scene Ofelia, played by 11 year old Ivana Baquero, wanders off into the nearby forest and finds an old stone statue that looks somewhat like a faun with a missing eye. Ofelia finds the missing eye and places it back where it belongs. Once she does this a magical insect creature appears, Ofelia doesn’t know this but it is the beginning of her magical journey. This scene at the beginning of the movie gives a lot of importance to ‘eyes’ as an occult symbol that signifies the ability to see the invisible world. Telling us that Ofelia’s journey will be occult in nature through her ability to see what others can’t see.
Once arriving at the military camp where she is to live from now on with her pregnant mother and new step father captain Vidal