El Laberinto del Fauno

El Laberinto del Fauno
Pan's labyrinth (2006)
   In 2000, Guillermo del Toro shot his first Spanish film, El espinazo del diablo /The Devil's Backbone, about an orphanage haunted by monsters both real and imaginary, in the context of the Spanish Civil War. These themes were revisited six years later in the more ambitious El laberinto del fauno, a complex, technically outstanding production that used the conventions of classic fairy tales and fantasy to comment on Spanish history and the power of imagination as a strategy for survival in the darkest periods.
   Set in a forest near the French border in 1944, after the end of the conflict, the story focuses on bookish Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl whose mother (Ariadna Gil) has married a sadistic fascist colonel (Sergi López). At night, she is visited by a strange faun (modeled, according to del Toro, on David Bowie) who commands her into a number of trials that will allow her to escape the grimness of ordinary life and, he assures her, regain her position as a princess in an underground kingdom. This will lead her to face dangerous trials: a giant bullfrog living under a tree's roots, a child-devouring monster (suggesting the cruelty of some representatives of the Catholic Chuch), and the labyrinth itself. But there are hints that the faun might be lying or that, at best, he could simply be a figment of the girl's imagination. At the same time, real struggle dominates life in the forest, as rebel fighters attempt to bring down the Colonel's army.
   Both scary and emotionally engaging, the film was a huge international success and was awarded seven Goyas and three Academy Awards, mostly in technical categories. Critics focused on special effects and atmosphere, fascinatingly realized through detailed art direction, but it is also important to notice how the film was a return to traditional dramatic motives in Spanish cinema about the past, evil, and history: as in many post-Transition films, an attempt is made to come to terms with a very dark period and to trace the existence of monstrous individuals. Another traditional motif in Spanish film is that of a child who watches reality and tries to make sense of it, as featured in El espíritu de la colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive, Víctor Erice, 1973), Cria Cuervos (Raise Ravens, Carlos Saura, 1976), El sur (South, Víctor Erice, 1983), and La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly Tongue, José Luis Cuerda, 1997).
   Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema by Alberto Mira

Guide to cinema. . 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Laberinto del fauno — Le Labyrinthe de Pan Le Labyrinthe de Pan Ivana Baquero et Guillermo del Toro debout pour une standing ovation lors de l avant première du film à Toronto (Canada) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • El laberinto del fauno — Pan s Labyrinth Título El laberinto del fauno Ficha técnica Dirección Guillermo del Toro Ayudante de dirección Jorge Calvo …   Wikipedia Español

  • El laberinto del fauno — Le Labyrinthe de Pan Le Labyrinthe de Pan Ivana Baquero et Guillermo del Toro debout pour une standing ovation lors de l avant première du film à Toronto (Canada) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • El Laberinto del Fauno — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Pans Labyrinth Originaltitel: El laberinto del fauno Produktionsland: Spanien, (Mexiko) Erscheinungsjahr: 2006 Länge: ca. 120 Minuten Originalsprache …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • El laberinto del fauno — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Pans Labyrinth Originaltitel: El laberinto del fauno Produktionsland: Spanien, (Mexiko) Erscheinungsjahr: 2006 Länge: ca. 120 Minuten Originalsprache …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • El Laberinto del Fauno — Pan s labyrinth (2006)    In 2000, Guillermo del Toro shot his first Spanish film, El espinazo del diablo /The Devil s Backbone, about an orphanage haunted by monsters both real and imaginary, in the context of the Spanish Civil War. These themes …   Historical dictionary of Spanish cinema

  • El Labirinto del fauno — Le Labyrinthe de Pan Le Labyrinthe de Pan Ivana Baquero et Guillermo del Toro debout pour une standing ovation lors de l avant première du film à Toronto (Canada) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fauno — Un fauno tocando la flauta, por Pál Szinyei Merse. Fauno (en latín Faunus, ‘el favorecedor’ de favere o quizá ‘el portador’ de fari ) era, en la mitología romana, una de las divinidades más populares y antiguas, los di indigetes, identificado con …   Wikipedia Español

  • Guillermo del Toro — firmando un disco durante una entrevista con la revista española de historieta TRAMA 39, en 2002. Nombre real Guillermo del Toro Gómez …   Wikipedia Español

  • Guillermo Del Toro — Guillermo del Toro lors de l avant première de L Orphelinat à l UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles à …   Wikipédia en Français

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