Issue One 2011

Many, many years ago, in a sad, far away land, there was an enormouS mountain made of rough, black stone.  At sunset, on top of that mountain, a magic rose blossomed every night that made whoever plucked it immortal.  But no one dared go near it because its thorns were full of poison.  Men talked amongst themselves about their fear of death, and pain, but never about the promise of eternal life.  And every day, the rose wilted, unable to bequeath its gift to anyone…forgotten and lost at the top of that cold, dark mountain, forever alone, until the end of time.”    —From Pan’s Labyrinth
   
    In the movie Pan’s Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo del Toro, some of the movie’s main characters suffer violent deaths, including the cruel Captain Vidal, a fascist captain in Spain, and Ofelia, the story’s leading protagonist, who moves to the captain’s home with her mother, Carmen, who has married him.  Vidal is a representation for Spain and for real life and the real world.  Ofelia, on the other hand, symbolizes magic and the world it belongs in.  Out of these two, only Ofelia, who is not afraid of death, lives on as Princess Moanna in her magical world, while Vidal, the sadistic killer, dies, suddenly and alone.  By using symbolism and the idea of death, del Toro portrays the world of humans and logic as a place for cowards to die without legacy, while portraying the magical world as the opposite, a place for the courageous and unforgettable.
    Captain Vidal’s character reflects his world, the real world.  The film takes place in fascist Spain, in 1944.  Franco’s regime appears to be strong, with posts set up around the country (one of which the film takes place at).  However, Spain does have a weakness.  It comes from within: resistance fighters hide in the forests, waiting for the chance to rebel against their country’s suppressive government.  Captain Vidal is just like Spain in that he keeps up a seemingly strong façade.  He walks around with his head held high, in his military suit and tall, shiny boots.  He kills for no reason, and without shame.  However, the captain has weakness within himself, just like Spain.  He only lets his cowardliness show when he is alone.  The viewer can see it in specific scenes.  For example, in one scene, Vidal is shaving.  Unexpectedly, he holds the sharp silver blade up to his reflection and makes the swift motion of slitting his throat.  The fact that he could watch himself hold a razor up to his own throat shows that he really has no backbone.  It shows that inside, he is insecure, that he has suicidal thoughts, a sign of weakness.  The symbolism between Spain and the cowardly Captain Vidal proves that the real world is a place for people without courage.
    Ofelia’s character does the same as Vidal’s by reflecting her own world, the magical world.  From the outside, the labyrinth appears to be nothing but rubble.  When Ofelia first discovers it, Mercedes, one of the captain’s servants, even tells her that the labyrinth is “just a pile of old rocks that have always been there.”  However, the labyrinth is actually the portal to a whole new world.  Unlike Spain’s, the magical world’s strengths are real, existing underneath its exterior.  Ofelia is just the same way.  When she is in the real world, visible to humans, she is almost always hiding, panting in fear, or crying.  However, this cowardliness is only an outward appearance.  Her strength and courage shine through when she is in her magical world.  Perhaps the most obvious instance of this fearlessness is seen in her encounter with the giant toad.  At first, when she sees the monstrous creature, Ofelia’s expression is filled with fear.  She still manages to say, “I’m Princess Moanna, and I’m not afraid of you.”  She proceeds to carry on a “conversation” with the toad, showing her fearlessness.  Ofelia’s representation of the magic world is evidence that this world is meant for the brave and unafraid.
    Guillermo del Toro uses death as well to portray the differences between Vidal and Ofelia, the real world and the magical world.  When Pedro, a resistance fighter and the brother of Mercedes, shoots Captain Vidal, the captain is alone, and dies without a legacy.  He asks Mercedes before his inevitable death to tell his son “what time his father died.”  He begins to say something else, but is interrupted by Mercedes, who says, “No.  He won’t even know your name.”  Vidal’s expression is one of complete horror and disbelief, then frozen fear as Pedro aims and shoots him in the cheek.  He crumbles to the ground and curls into fetal position, the ultimate sign of his weakness, as his world is blown up in hues of red and orange in the background.  When the captain shoots Ofelia, on the other hand, Ofelia falls, almost gracefully sprawled out, at the edge of the portal, her blood-covered hand over the edge, a contrast to Vidal’s death pose that is further proof of her courage over his cowardliness.  Ofelia’s blood opens the portal to the world that she rules as Princess Moanna “with justice and a kind heart for many centuries.”  Ofelia takes her last breath in the world of humans with the trace of smile on her still, pale face.
    Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is filled with symbolism and themes that prove that the real world is the complete opposite of the magical world.  Del Toro compares his most savage character, Captain Vidal, to the real world and his innocent Ofelia to the magic world, while also using the idea of death to depict the real world as a place for the feeble to die forever and the magical world as a place for the very few brave to live on for eternity.  Ofelia is shown as a character who is not afraid to climb that dark mountain full of pain and poison to reach the magical blue rose and achieve eternal life, and she does just this, leaving a legacy in the real world.  On the almost dead tree that the giant toad once lived in and fed on, a single, beautiful white flower blooms right at the end of the film.  This flower is a part of Ofelia’s legacy; it is her own blue rose, her own sign of immortality.