Portly, wildly creative Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is best known for his action hits "Blade II" and "Hellboy," but his best films have come while working in his native tongue, focusing on horror fantasies set in the wake of the Spanish Civil War.
First, del Toro brewed chills with his excellent ghost story, "The Devil's Backbone" (2001). He follows up that with the stunning "Pan's Labyrinth," a grim fable that interlaces a young girl's struggle to make sense of senseless violence and crumbling family life by exploring a hidden world of fauns, fairies and monsters.
Del Toro's Spanish-language film accomplishes everything Terry Gilliam's "Tideland," an equally dark and disturbing yet scattershot effort, fails to do.
With masterful visuals and fevered performances wrapped together in a timeless story, "Pan's Labyrinth" is an astounding, resonant success — "The Princess Bride" with harder edges.
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The heroine is preteen Ofelia, played by Ivana Baquero in what should be the breakout role of a long, prosperous career. Ofelia is forced to move with her widowed mother into the home of her cruel, egomaniacal stepfather, fascist Capitán Vidal (Sergi López), who is quick to torture and dispose of all who stand up to him. The year is 1944, and Franco's regime strangles the populace.
Rebel factions swarm in the background, working to undermine the government and restore freedom. They've managed to place an informant, Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), right under the capitán's nose as his maid and personal assistant. She funnels information and supplies to the guerrillas, and only Ofelia is on to her. Ofelia, eager to undermine the capitán however possible, is an understanding confidante.
As if Ofelia didn't have enough to worry about — her mother is suffering through a rough pregnancy with the capitán's child — she's lured into a magical realm by an insect that transforms into a fairy. She tiptoes into a forest cove and meets a shifty faun (Doug Jones) who claims to have wondrous powers and tells Ofelia she's fated to become a princess — but she must prove her worth by completing a variety of quests.
Only Ofelia can see the magical creatures and realms she encounters, which leads to the assumption that it's all inside her head, dreamed up as a coping mechanism. Or maybe the fantasies are real, and the adults are too deadened and closed off to see. Either way, the fantasy elements are powerful, drenched in alluring symbolism.
"Pan's Labyrinth" is one of those films that's so moving, heartbreaking and wonderfully haunting, you sigh when the end credits roll. Its Spanish title is "El Laberinto del Fauno," which translates, at least in spirit, to "One you'll never forget."
Pan's Labyrinth
****
Rated: R for graphic violence and some language.
Cast: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil.
Writer/director: Guillermo del Toro.
Family call: It's very violent.
Running time: 110 minutes.
Et cetera: In Spanish, with English subtitles.
