Pan's Labrynth

        A Spanish Film that involves a very popular form of Spanish storytelling, one of realism blended with fantasy. This film chronicles the journey of a Spanish conqueror’s journey into the hill country to quash the rebel forces. He brings along his pregnant wife, and her first daughter by a man who died in the war. The General is a cruel and brutal man, and the daughter cannot stand him, but longs only to be with her mother, who’s pregnancy becomes more and more complicated as time goes by.

            The little girl happens to descend into a world of fantasy which she uses to escape the torments of her step father. It is not particularly clear whether or not she is truly imagining it, or if it is actually happening. The ending is particularly unclear.

But that heightens the interest in the delusions which involve her interacting with the monstrous fawn, Pan, as he commissions her to perform a series of tasks in order to help save the princess of the fairy people.

The third complication arrives when it turns out the General’s doctor and head servant are working with the rebels, who are steadily winning the battles in the woods. All the overlaps of the fantasy world and real world are brilliantly done, and the performances are very well done. It’s a very mystical idea, and appeals a lot to the kid, while maintaining a serious plot which draws the audience in. 2.