Last night after my brother picked me up at Washington-Reagan airport when I arrived from Seattle, we stopped by my old haunting grounds in the Shirlington area to get some Chinese food and watch this Spanish-subtitled fantasy movie, which has been nominated for 6 academy awards, including Best Foreign Language Film.
This Mexican movie was originally titled in Spanish as "El Laberinto del Fauno." I preferred the literal English translation, "Labyrinth of the Faun," than the current English title, "Pan's Labyrinth." It's a minor point, but it is still my title preference.
Why name it as so? Marketing efforts, I guess. What can Hollywood or movie makers do? Anything that will promote the movie, obviously.
Even with slight jet lag, I enjoyed the flick.
How would I describe it?
Magical.
Scary.
Sad.
Dreamy.
Yes, it indeed had a fairy tale quality about it. It is also a story about sacrifice.
The movie was set in Francisco Franco's Spain (1940s) in the mountain areas, where rebels are hiding out. The main character is a young school girl Ofelia uprooted from her familiar environment, along with her pregnant mother (portrayed by Ariadna Gil), to live in a rural area with her mother's new husband (Sergi Lopez), a captain in the Spanish military. His mission is to take the rebels out.
A very bright girl, Ofelia (portrayed by Ivana Baquero) is a lover of books. In particular, she likes reading her books on fairies. Her concerned mother wants her to stop reading such nonsense. In the movie, the young child discovers another world outside the reality she currently resides. She visits upon a labyrinth that is close to her new home. This labyrinth allows her to step into this new world of fantasy, where she meets fairies, a faun, and monsters.
Upon meeting the faun, she must complete three tasks in order to open a portal to this other heavenly kingdom.
Guillermo Del Toro wrote the story and directed the movie. The director's use of two story lines in the movie was effective: a single story set in historical reality and the other, set in the young girl's imagination or set in the supernatural. As the end of the movie approaches, you see glimpses that the two realities will either integrate or collide.
Ofelia must live and confront her step-father's world of fascism, violence, and cruelty. She searches for a way to get away from this world, but she only finds a way out from this world by searching for that supernatural world.
Conclusions or interpretations can be drawn here. We as Christians also live in a two-world dichotomy. We live in this reality of the world, while we also live in the supernatural (God's kingdom).
We do our best to live in this world, while we wait for God's kingdom.
Like the little girl Ofelia, we hope for that other worldly kingdom to come. We long to get away from the isolation of this reality.
She wants to be a princess, as the faun character explains to her that she is lost royalty from another kingdom and tells her that her father has been looking for her. As a parallel, we also want to be part of royalty, as part of God's lineage.
Although the story line will interest children, I wouldn't recommend this movie due to the violence and horror of some scenes. It has an "R" movie rating.
As I recall the events, I realize that it has been some time since my brother and I caught up with each other.
It was a good time for a movie and a meal.
He is not usually fond of foreign movies. His claim is that he does not have the patience to read the words on the screen, while he watches a film. Surprisingly, he even enjoyed the sub-titles.
What else could he do? I paid for his ticket.
Personal note: Do not order sushi at a Chinese restaurant. It's a hodgepodge selection.
Today's Scripture: John 12:25 (New International Version)
25The man who loves his life will lose it,
while the man who hates his life in this world
will keep it for eternal life.
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