Pans Labyrinth (2007), directed by Guillermo Del Toro, shows a harsh look at Spain in the aftermath of the civil war while enveloping the audience in a fairy tale environment with rich lore and immersive techniques.

The film uses gore and a darker tone in order to subvert audience expectations of such a situation. Usually the fairy tale theme is used to show a lighter tone with high key lighting and easy to understand motives from the antagonists. This is not the case for Pans Labyrinth. The aura of mystery and confusion around the plot and characters is much thicker and more intriguing than a standard fairy tale story.

We are introduced to Ofelia, a young girl who enjoys reading books and using them as an escape from the horrible reality of Spain at the time. This is immediately shown through her curiosity and will to explore and try and understand her surroundings and create scenarios in her head that may not actually be taking place.

The antagonist, Captain Vidal, is cold cut and cruel. He thinks of himself as regimented and law abiding, but it is obvious to the audience that he takes extreme pleasure in the horrific acts that he commits in the film. We see his daily routing and how he is structured and committed to what he has been tasked with. His loyalties and dedication lie in 2 places, his mission to eradicate the rebels and passing on his legacy to his soon-to-be son.

We feel sorry for Ofelia for having almost no allies at the start of the film. Her mother is her only friend, but even she has a strict dedication and commitment to her husband, Vidal.

Sadly, her mother dies later in the film. By this point we feel that Ofelia has no friends or allies to side with. This invokes an emotional response for the audience because she is a vulnerable young child and has no one to turn to in her hour of need of completing the mysterious tasks presented to her by the Faun.

Pans Labyrinth is a detailed and expertly crafted narrative that uses a perfect blend of low key lighting and occasional high key to present the tone and experience in exactly the way it needs to be to generate sadness and excitement from the viewer. The characters are played fantastically by their respective actors. Child actors are notoriously underwhelming, but Ivana Bequero delivers the role with powerful emotion and a very real feeling to her performance. Despite fantastic acting from everyone, Doug Jones absolutely stole the show in every scene he was in as the Faun. A mysterious and terrifying character that had to be equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking required some Oscar worthy acting, and it was delivered flawlessly.

My favourite shot in the film would have to be when the resistance are attacking and have the high ground on a hill, at this point Vidal and Garces are hiding behind the trees and the camera does a wonderful tracking shot around the tree and behind Vidal as he strolls uphill firing on his enemies.

Overall, Pans Labyrinth deserves a huge amount of praise for its fantastic direction and performance, with respectable SFX for 2007. It cannot be described as an uplifting experience, but it combines the weird with the real seamlessly. Additionally, the protagonist being young and vulnerable means it is more likely to receive an emotional reaction from the audience.