Monstrosity In Pan's Labyrinth

In December of 2006, the film Pan’s Labyrinth was released. Considered as a dark fantasy film, it depicts a young girl, Ofelia, along with her mother traveling to live with her new father, an officer in the Spanish army who is attempting to quell a guerrilla uprising. During this time, she meets an Faun, who tells of her past life as a princess of the Underworld. In order to reclaim her status, she must complete three dangerous tasks, all in which she must battle monsters of varying degrees. However, we quickly come to learn that they are not the only kind of monsters she must face, and that not all monsters have monstrous appearances, but can be of the human nature. The movie, Pan’s Labyrinth, comments on the nature of monstrosity among and

The Faun is a mythical creature in common lore, but in Pan’s Labyrinth the Faun takes a more humanoid and natural appearance. Instead of the expected top half of a man, bottom half of a goat combination, the Faun is instead a blending of man and nature. The Faun stands like a goat, along with the horns of a goat, but his exterior is that of a tree, with branch like appendages and roots covering the whole of his body. While the overall picture is not terrifying, it is quite uncanny due to his more human-like appearance. Throughout the movie, the Faun cannot be defined as neither good nor bad, as in most cases it is difficult to understand his true motive behind reuniting Ofelia with the realm of the Underworld. On one hand, it is obvious that the Faun wants to help Ofelia return to the Underworld to reunite with her family. While on the other hand, at certain points in the film, there is a more aggressive nature to the Faun. This is most clearly seen after Ofelia escapes from the clutches of the Pale man. In this scene, Ofelia admits to eating from the table, and in response the Faun shows the audience a more aggressive and violent side. While one could argue that the Faun was only mad was because he cared about Ofelia’s safety, I would disagree. I would argue that the Faun’s tone was neither of a disappointed or concerned nature. Instead the Faun’s tone portrayed a strong sense of anger towards Ofelia for disobeying

As shown earlier, disobedience is a huge concept with the faun. This concept of disobedience, along with disloyalty, is largely associated with Captain Vidal as shown with the fates of the doctor, and Pedro, Mercedes’ brother. Both men were associated with the rebels, the group hiding in the woods, and people Captain Vidal had hoped to eradicate. Doctor Ferreiro while initially presented as supporting Captain Vidal, is undercover for the rebels. While he is not outright associated with the rebels, he does supply Mercedes and the other rebels with medical care and supplies. In the eyes of Captain Vidal, this is a sign of disloyalty and ultimately disobedience. As such, Captain Vidal takes the most extreme of measures and ends up shooting the doctors, as doctor Ferreiro both literally and figuratively turns his back on Captain Vidal. Mercedes brother, Pedro, is part of the rebel group hiding in the woods. After a skirmish with Captain Vidal and his soldiers, Pedro is captured and ultimately killed. This is yet another example of the consequences of defying Captain Vidal and the actions that make him