Discussion by members of the film group
PAN`S LABYRINTH (2006)
A Spanish film written, directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro which takes place in Francoist Spain in the summer of 1944.
Introduction to the film and plot
Pan's Labyrinth (translated into Spanish means 'The Labyrinth of the Faun') premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 where it received a 22-minute-long standing ovation. It is a dark, shadowy fairytale mixed with reality portrayed by an amalgamation of animatronics and computer-generated imagery to bring the characters to life.
The film cleverly intertwines the real world of Francoist Spain in 1944 with a mythical world set in a labyrinth where the central protagonist, Ofelia, interacts with mythical creatures. Ofelia's stepfather, Captain Vidal, hunts down resistance fighters to the Francoist regime (the ‘Maquis’). Her pregnant mother’s health declines as the film progresses.
The film has a complex plot so I recommend watching it to appreciate the deeper complexity which mirrors the difficulty in breaking through the real world into the fantasy world. It aims to show how, in essence, both exist together.
Plot – The real world and characters
- Ofelia: A young, imaginative girl who tries to escape the harshness of her environment through fairy tales.
- Captain Vidal: Ofelia's cruel, sadistic stepfather and a ruthless military officer hunting Republican rebels - the ‘Maquis’.
- Carmen: Ofelia's fragile, pregnant mother who is married to Captain Vidal.
- Mercedes: Vidal's compassionate housekeeper who secretly works as a spy for the anti-fascist rebels.
- Doctor Ferreiro: The local doctor who outwardly obeys Vidal while secretly aiding the resistance.
- Pedro: Mercedes’ brother and a leader of the local Republican guerrilla fighters.
Ten-year old Ofelia travels with her mother to meet her new stepfather, Captain Vidal.
Vidal announces that, to weaken the Maquis, he plans to stockpile food and supplies in a granary store which has a thick padlock, to which Mercedes has a copy of the key. Vidal discovers that the lock to the store has not been forced and tortures a captive member of the Maquis. Ofelia thus becomes aware of Vidal's ruthlessness.
Ofelia is tending to the mandrake root given to her by the faun in the fairytale when her mother grabs it and throws it into the fire, immediately developing painful contractions and dying giving birth to a son.
Mercedes tries to escape with Ofelia but they are captured and Ofelia is locked in her bedroom, while Mercedes is taken to be interrogated though she manages to free herself and escape.
Plot - The fairy tale aspect and characters
- Princess Moanna: The immortal underworld princess and Ofelia's true identity, according to a magical prophecy.
- The Faun: An ancient, enigmatic creature living in a labyrinth who gives Ofelia three dangerous tasks to prove her royal heritage.
- The Pale Man: A grotesque, child-eating monster with eyes in the palms of his hands who guards a forbidden feast.
- The Giant Toad: A monstrous creature living beneath a sick fig tree that represents the sapping of life and innocence.
- King of the underworld: Princess Moanna's royal father who awaits her return at the end of her journey.
The king`s daughter, Princess Moanna, is blinded by the sun when she visits the human world. Her memory erased, she becomes mortal and dies. The king holds onto the belief, however, that her spirit will return one day to the underworld so he builds labyrinths to act as portals to enable her return.
Ofelia finds herself alongside a large stick insect she believes to be a fairy, which leads her into an ancient stone labyrinth. There she meets a faun who recognises she is the reincarnation of Princess Moanna and he gives her three tasks to complete in order to acquire immortality so she may return to her kingdom.
Ofelia completes the first task but becomes worried about her mother’s failing health. The faun gives Ofelia a mandrake root, instructing her to keep it under her mother’s bed and regularly supply it with blood. Ofelia then completes the second task — retrieving a dagger from the Pale Man. The faun warns her not to consume anything there but Ofelia, tempted, eats some fruit. This awakens the Pale Man who devours two of the fairies who are helping Ofelia. Ofelia escapes but, as a punishment, is not given the third task.
The faun eventually changes his mind about withholding the third task and tells Ofelia to bring her newborn brother into the labyrinth to complete it. Ofelia retrieves the baby and flees into the labyrinth. The faun states that the third task is to draw a small amount of the baby's blood, which will open the portal to the underworld. Ofelia steadfastly refuses to do this.
Meanwhile, Vidal pursues Ofelia into the labyrinth as the Maquis launch an attack on a Civil Guard outpost.
Reality and fantasy come together
In the labyrinth, Vidal finds Ofelia talking to the faun, whom he cannot see. The faun leaves and Vidal takes the baby from Ofelia's arms before shooting her.
Coming out of the labyrinth, Vidal is surrounded by the Maquis. Knowing that he will be killed, he hands the baby to Mercedes, asking that his son be told the time of his father's death by his smashed pocket watch (just as he had faithfully kept his own father’s watch, broken at the time of his death). Mercedes replies that his son will not even know his name. Mercedes’ brother, Pedro, shoots Vidal dead.
Mercedes comforts a dying Ofelia. Drops of Ofelia's blood fall down the stone staircase. Ofelia then appears in a golden throne room magnificently dressed and uninjured. The King of the underworld tells her that, by choosing to spill her own blood, she has passed the ultimate test.
The final section of the film completes the tale of Princess Moanna, stating that she returned to the Underworld, ruled with kindness and justice for many centuries, and left small traces of her time in the human realm, `visible only to those who know where to look`.
Discussion of this film by APPCIOS Film Group members
I hope to bring alive the impressions of this film discussed by members of the APPCIOS film group to give a flavour of the depth of our musings while keeping a psychodynamic lens in mind.
Despite the vibrant imagery, which might imply a sense of wonder and mysticism, it was a difficult film to watch but so worthwhile. One of the first words used to describe this film was `brutal`. There were characters who drew our hatred, others we saw as heroes and still others who remained enigmatic.
From the very start, the film draws you in to Ofelia’s imaginary world; this is perhaps her only way of surviving the relentless barbarity of the time. There is an underlying theme of vengeance which links reality and fantasy together, and brings the audience along with it.
We see early on how Ofelia is courageous in her adventures, seeking answers and holding on to a moral stance that seems to be her birthright in both reality and fantasy. Her defiance of the brutality she is witnessing and being asked to accept because of her mother’s survival choices shows both the horror of her situation and that she does not collude with it. It is no wonder Ofelia finds herself navigating the challenges posed by powerful and scary figures who turn up in her fantasy world.
Her mythical father was the King of the Underworld from her identity as Princess Moanna. The group brought to light the importance of a father, however, and the loss (death) of Ofelia’s real father who died at the start of the Spanish Civil War (she would have been around three-six years old but the exact age is not given). This loss was very keenly felt as a backdrop of immeasurable pain; it would have brought a sudden change to her entire world at that time. Needless to say, the Oedipal themes abound in Ofelia’s hatred of her new stepfather (we all felt that) and her need to navigate the love and hate towards her mother and future stepbrother (sibling rivalry). The Mandrake root, put in milk under her mother’s bed, also had an element of foetus-like malevolence to it.
The film does not hold back on its portrayal of the inhumanity and cruelty in Francoist Spain. The wielding of power by those in authority is palpable in the violent scenes involving Ofelia’s stepfather, Captain Vidal, a ruthless, evil and wicked character. In the group, we fleetingly considered his vulnerabilities and past influences, highlighted by the need to hold on to and care for his father’s watch.
The cinematography emphasises the unconscious in the way the camera shot takes you down the steps into the labyrinth and through Ofelia’s eye at the very start of the film, as if we are drawn to entering her internal world. We spoke in detail about the role of the Faun and the Pale Man who are all parts of Ofelia’s internal world or representations in her mind. This took us to a thought about how children have imaginary friends to cope with the adult, sometimes scary, world they live in. So the need for imagination and fantasy to escape the harshness of reality brought us to consider our own experiences as children, where we might have immersed ourselves in reading books and daydreaming to escape into fantasy worlds.
We did not overlook the fact that Ofelia had, in effect, two mothers as Mercedes (the housekeeper) is very protective and caring towards Ofelia and also has courage herself when confronting the unbearable depravities of that time.
There is a moment in the film when the camera shows a pile of children’s shoes, linking the viewer to the atrocities of Auschwitz. It made some of us want to watch the film again as we were sure there would be so many hidden parallels yet to be noticed – it is the kind of film that one can watch a number of times (if we can bear the brutality) and see the shadows that are subtly built in.
Someone pointed out that Kleinian themes abound in this film. For example, our need to split the world into `all good` or `all bad` to manage anxiety. In reasonable circumstances, this develops towards a realisation that both exist in the same person but this brings in a sense of guilt and a desire for reparation. We could see many occasions when projection is used as a defence mechanism against intolerable feelings and the need to project and locate these in another.
The Pale Man is a scary figure with eyes in the middle of his hands. There is a scene where the Pale Man eats the fairies because Ofelia succumbs to temptation (a strong link to Adam & Eve). Again, this was a moment that affected members of the group profoundly, yet we also acknowledged how fairy tales are gruesome. Disney films can portray terrifying colourful imagery – are we becoming more acclimatised to this? Bearing in mind this film was released in 2006, was it even more compelling in its imagery of only 20 years ago?
We would say that it is better to face our fears, to understand them, come to appreciate where they might sit in our own histories, including across generations. These are powerful influences in our lives, brought forth into our conscious minds through dreams, imagery, symbolism and metaphor. Hence, the film is such a rich tapestry for appreciating the power the unconscious mind has over us. We thought of the Jungian concept, collective unconscious, which prevails strongly in times of war. The group asked a vital question, `how can you be a child in a time of war?` Is it even possible without the use of fantasy or disassociation to survive the moment? Childhood, as we might think of and cherish it, is not able to be experienced fully. Playfulness itself would be too scary when the need for safety prevails.
The group went on to discuss the idea of sacrifice. We might see this from the Francoist regime that sacrificed the weak for the selfish gain of those in authority. Yet we also see something of a sacrifice being requested when Ofelia is told to shed some of her baby brother`s blood to open the portal back to her father’s kingdom. She is told by the faun that only the blood of an innocent can be used. Ofelia refuses, once again holding on to her moral compass even when under pressure.
The ending is, perhaps has to be, fairy-tale like or it might feel unbearable, given the dark and weighty subject matter. The film makes the point, however, that the female characters are almost invisible to those in authority yet they are the very people who hold the moral authority.
Ultimately, we realised that to understand this film requires the viewer to stay with both reality and fantasy to appreciate the depth of suggestions and subtleties being portrayed. In this case, reality and fantasy are both terrifying as the viewer is immersed in the importance of morality at a time when evil is its antagonist.
Perhaps, as I write this in June 2026 when the world feels precarious and truth and morality feel as if they are under attack, we might encourage people to watch PAN`S LABYRINTH as it is a gift in disguise showing us the path of destruction if we don’t heed its warnings.
The Intricate Dance of Sun and Saturn refers to the dynamic interplay between vitality and restriction. The Sun represents your core identity, ego, and life purpose, while Saturn dictates rules, boundaries, and life lessons. When these two align or interact, it signals a period of learning and maturity.
© Jacqueline Horsburgh 2026