One of the best movies I’ve ever seen is “Pan’s Labyrinth.” It is an amazingly beautiful film with a sometimes gruesome but sometimes beautiful plotline. The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles and I believe that it would not have been as powerful if it had been in English. The movie takes place in Spain during the fascist regime in 1944. There is a group of rebels refusing to surrender and a General is sent to the area to try and take them out. His pregnant wife travels to be with him there, with her daughter from a previous marriage. This daughter, Ofelia, is the main character of the story and her soul is that of the Princess of the Underworld. To prove that her soul is still intact and has not become mortal, she has to go through certain tests, which are usually dangerous.
One question that this movie raises is, is it alright to obey just for the sake of obeying? The General expects everyone around him to do what he says without asking questions. He is a cruel man who seems to take delight in torturing his enemies. At one point he has caught one of the rebels, a stutterer, and tortures him almost to death. He asks the doctor to give him something to keep him alive, but the doctor can’t do it. After being begged for death, the doctor gives the man a shot that will end his pain forever. The General is livid that the doctor disobeyed him and asks him why he did it. The doctor says, “But captain, to obey - just like that - for obedience's sake... without questioning... That's something only people like you do.” The doctor can’t obey when he knows he is doing something that is so obviously wrong and immoral. The General then shoots him in the back and kills him.
This comes up with Ofelia as well. For her last task she is supposed to bring her baby brother, who her mother died giving birth to, to the center of the labyrinth. The faun meets her there and says that to open the portal to the Underworld the blood of an innocent has to be spilled. Ofelia begins to get suspicious of the faun and refuses to hand over her brother to him. Meanwhile, the General is hunting her down because he wants his son back. He manages to find her and after he takes his son he shoots her. Ofelia falls to the ground and we see her blood fall on the portal. The movie ends with her back in the underworld and the faun telling her that the last task was a test of strength, and she passed because she refused to allow anything to happen to her brother. Instead, she gave her life to save his, the ultimate sacrifice.
The movie was very beautiful and I recommend it for anyone who is interested. It’s a fairytale for grownups. It is very violent and bloody though, just a warning.
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