“…the beauty in the villainy” There are few words that have consumed my mind quite like these spoken by Guillermo del Toro. This statement was made during the chat between the director of Pan’s Labyrinth and Cornelia Funke, who did the novelization, and it was something that stuck with me as I rewatched the film for the first time in years that to Criterion’s release of the film.
What I love so much about Criterion, more than the awesome cover art, restoration of the films (the tech specs here are magnificent), and other many wonderful things, is the chance to commune with a film in a different way than what you might originally have. I started this site because I enjoyed talking about film and TV and it was really cool to hear this chat between the two artists before going back and watching the film.
The reason why I was so taken by Pan’s Labyrinth this time was I truly understood why the story works so well. The first time I saw the movie I was dazzled by the visuals and intrigued by how they fit into this overall story of war. Now, 10 years since I saw it, i was able to look at it from a more scholarly perspective. Fairytales, by their nature, need a bit of horror and challenge in order to communicate their point. You read any of the original Grimm tales and its nothing but sad endings and awful lives. It’s this place that del Toro fashions Pan’s Labyrinth and something I didn’t notice that much when I first saw the film. I enjoyed looking at this not just as a film with cool monsters, but finding the hidden meanings in the darkness. The juxtaposition of the human and underworld, the Captain’s relentless evil against our protagonist’s wide eyed nature, all of these things allow us to really examine the good and bad in a new way. Despite the monsters of the underworld being incredibly frightening (I’ll never forget the one with eyes on its hands), the design is incredible and you can’t help but marvel. When we see our hero get tempted by the food, you understand how sometimes the dangers of the world entice us to the bad side. It’s thrilling to watch here, through the eyes of a young girl, and discover new things about the world we live in.