Pan’s Labyrinth could have been subtitled “The Spanish Civil War”. In fact, despite the heavy attention paid to the surrealistic and frightening images of the fantasy underworld in the movie, it is primarily about the horrors of a very real war. Set in 1944, the last remnants of the communist resistance continue a futile fight against the fascist government somewhere in the remote mountains of Spain. 11-year-old Ofelia, and her mother, Carmen, a seamstress pregnant with the child of the sadistic Captain charged with eliminating the communist rebels, join the Captain in the remote camp of soldiers where Carmen is expected to bear the Captain a son.

To the Captain, Ofelia is a nuisance and Carmen is merely a vessel. His brutality pervades the camp and Ofelia longs to leave, but her mother is ill and has latched onto the Captain as a means of support and survival in post-war Spain. Ofelia becomes increasingly drawn into the bizarre fantasy underworld she is led to by fairies masquerading as praying mantises. Through an old abandoned stone labyrinth near the camp she enters a dark and damp underground world where a rather gruesome “fawn” (Pan, of the title) informs her that she is the long lost princess of the underground kingdom. To prove that she can shed the bonds of mortal surface living she must complete three dangerous tasks. As gruesome as these are, they pale in comparison to the murder and torture in the realm of men. Down below, Ofelia confronts a slimy three-foot toad with pluck and courage, while above captured soldiers are tortured and Carmen flirts with death and miscarriage. In spite of his frightening visage and generally suspicious nature, the fawn presents a clearly attractive alternative to life among people simply because it is not life among people.

Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is visually fascinating and gripping storytelling. Ivana Baquero is convincing and endearing as Ofelia. Ultimately, though, I think the movie works better on a simple narrative level than it does as a metaphorical fable. Ofelia’s tasks have no particular significance in and of themselves, and the nature of the underworld kingdom is not developed enough to have a real character in comparison to mortal life on Earth. Still, this is a movie with powerful images that remains with you long after you leave the theater.