El Laberitno del Fauno Review

El Laberitno del Fauno is Mexican director Guillermo del Torro most well know film and features many memorable scenes and characters, most vividly the pale man with eyes in his hands. The film has an unusual blend of fantasy and reality, having the two main narratives’ co-exist, Ofelia’s quest to become a princess again and the Captain’s mission to eliminate the rebels from the surrounding hills, but both are metaphors for their quests in vying for her mother Carmen. The Captain must remove the disobedient daughter (the rebels) so his son can be born and take up his legacy (The New Spain). Ofelia must complete the 3 challenges to earn her rightful as the princess (her Mothers most important person). Both characters have mixed results in their challenges but both ultimately lose everything (as it is implied at the end that the underworld and Faun are figments of her imagination) giving the film a darker tone overall than it tries to show by saying that chasing after your dreams that will only help you, will ultimately destroy what you love, but that sacrificing for the greater good as Doctor Ferreiro, Mercedes and the stuttering rebel, goodness can triumph. The film has a distinctly beautiful style which gives the films fantasy elements a level of realism and a feel of being part of the world that the film holds together the fantasy and the normal world together simultaneously without it every feeling like they are clashing. Also the scene where the Captain offers the stuttering rebel the chance to avoid torture if he can count to three without stuttering is so powerful and moving.