Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

This an archived critique from my work in the American Studies department at Brandeis University.

The success of Pan’s Labyrinth with international and domestic audiences reveals how to correctly navigate international markets in contemporary cinema. By uniquely avoiding the pitfalls that foreign films often encounter when transported to global audiences, Del Toro managed to deliver a film tremendously successful both in American markets and global markets. It accomplished this in two main ways. First, the basic story of the film is universally understandable. Second, its cinematographic style conveyed both political/thematic meaning to adults while remaining understandable and accessible to younger audiences more easily entranced by the fairy-tale nature of the film, accompanied by an adult of course given its MPAA rating. The result is a film that beautifully adapts itself to the consciousness of any culture it reaches. Ultimately, Del Toro’s film reflects a careful understanding of the way films become successful in international markets—by telling stories that resonate across borders, ages, and cultures.

The story and aesthetic are ideal for international audiences. Simply put, it is a classic fairy tale molded by the vision of Guillermo Del Toro. The archetype of a child’s adventure away from the horrors of reality has examples in nearly every cinematic and literary tradition. This “Alice and Wonderland” like tale easily bridges the linguistic gap that’s naturally in place for foreign films. By forcing the audience into a fantastical world, the director avoids a central problem for some foreign films, the feeling that an international crowd is missing something that a domestic crowd would not. Other than the initial Francoist scenes, once Ofelia descends into the labyrinth, we are just as mystified as the protagonist. In that sense, like in other similarly configured tales like “The Wizard of Oz,” Del Toro evokes a sort of universal wonderment. Every audience, regardless of national origin, is in the same cinematic position. Even the mythology is concocted in a way suitable for more than just a Spanish domestic crowd. While the folktale at the start of the movie is technically pseudo-Hispanic mythcrafting, the core mythological figures found within the labyrinth are Roman, therefore as classically well-known as they come. When Ofelia eats the forbidden grapes, it is easy for Western audiences to recall the story of Persephone’s Garden in Greek mythology or the story of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. There are additional places where the film modifies itself for a global market. Notably, the title of the film is a misnomer in its translated versions, as the film in the original language is titled “El laberinto del fauno, “the labyrinth of the faun. But in England, the United States, and most parts of the world, the title refers to Pan, a Greek god of the wild. Perhaps the name change is intentionally designed to further reconcile the foreignness of the film with ideas and myths that international and American audiences might already know.

Like in many animated films, especially those produced by Pixar, Pan’s Labyrinth displays a clear intention to appeal to both adults and younger groups. The latter group’s intended understanding of this film is the most obvious. Simply put, it’s a fairy tale. A young girl goes through a coming-of-age transformation throughout the film as she pursues her quest. Kids will place themselves in Ofelia’s shoes and identify with her. Even putting aside the obvious similarities between this film and other works of art that bear similar thematic ideas, the screenplay of the film is critical to Del Toro’s ability to create a world in which teens would become entranced. The writers are aware that the use of subtitles could endanger the focus and attention of both younger audiences as well as older American audiences traditionally averse to subtitled films. For example, most of the labyrinth scenes have little to no dialogue. We gain our perception of the film from the reactions of Ofelia to her surroundings. The Pale Man scene is particularly notable in that regard. Through that entire sequence, with no dialogue, the screenplay manages to carefully instill a sense of wonder turned dread as Ofelia reacts to the slaughter of the fairies. In the labyrinth, the camera and aesthetic drive our attention, not the dialogue. By choosing this approach, Del Toro’s film avoids the linguistic problem inherent in films marketed to international audiences, especially when younger populations are involved. Not to say that this film is suitable for young ages; Pan’s Labyrinth is a terrifying movie (My experience as a 9-year-old is a testament to that). It’s also rated R, so by nature, it requires both children and adults to be together.

The political horror scenes of the film reflect a similar but altered approach. Just as Del Toro uses coming-of-age ideas and aesthetics to draw in teens and younger adults, in these scenes, he again seeks to find ideas that would be universally applicable to international adult audiences. He settles on the classic story of a family torn apart by an oppressive force. Here, Del Toro uses these universal stories to his benefit. We become sympathetic not only to Ofelia and her sickly mother but also to Mercedes, the housekeeper that cares for the house while secretly supporting the rebels. The intense tragedy overlaid with the journey that Ofelia must undertake is an intelligent way to draw in adult audiences to what is foundationally a children’s story. Even the screenplay signals an awareness that the war/Francoist scenes are where adult audiences will find themselves the most interested. Accordingly, it is here where the screenplay becomes more dialogue dense. It becomes a political drama of sorts, intended to reflect the dual horrors that Ofelia and her mother both experience. While Ofelia descends into the labyrinth in search of the quest, Carmen contends with the brutal Capitan Vidal.

Pan’s Labyrinth was one of the most successful foreign films in the United States.[1] It appealed to international audiences all over the world, regardless of age. Pan’s Labyrinth accomplished that objective because it was a film influenced and inspired by universal thematic archetypes found in nearly every modern culture. Mythology was a central part of the film, but the mythological components were not obscure referential tales that only Spanish speakers would recognize. Rather, it drew on classic Greek and Roman myths that have been entrenched in the Western consciousness for centuries. In addition, the screenplay carefully dodged linguistic challenges by only using dialogue when necessary. It avoids it in places where cinematography and camerawork could better drive the storytelling while embracing it in moments of more adult focused drama. Although Pan’s Labyrinth was markedly before the rise of streaming services and the widespread adoption of subtitled films by the mainstream American marketplace, Del Toro’s work reveals a vision of the shift that would come nearly a decade later.