Un film d’un faune
Sunday, December 31st, 2006
My previous exposure to fauns was in Debussy’s and Mallarme’s works. Light, airy things that could be enjoyed from a distance. You wouldn’t want to hold the pieces close, even if you could. The beauty of both pieces lies not in the clarity of the points but the softness of the ellisions and the ambiguity of its heft.
Del Toro’s Faun would have none of that.
Certainly no bad thing, as Pan’s Labyrinth is truly captivating in its clarity. The unabashed symbolism in visuals and narrative leaves no doubt that…well…
Fascist Spain kinda sucks.
So not exactly an original idea. Still, this is a simply beautiful and beautifully simple film, filled with wonderful colors and matter-of-fact fantasy. At least until the very end of the film, where the film’s antagonist chases down the young Ofelia who finds herself speaking to the titular faun. Previously in the film, the supernatural world of Ofelia and the experiences of other people never met. At this moment in the film, Del Toro could have had the script end her argument with the Faun before having Capt. Vidal see her. Instead, Vidal sees her speaking and listening to an empty space in front of her.
This provided all the entertainment for the car ride home.
Me, I was saddened that Del Toro decided to so succinctly denigrate her reality to a hallucination. I felt it was a sudden and swift answer to a question that didn’t need to be asked.
One person during the car ride back shared my sentiment, while another did not. I found frustration in the ideas of “Well, you can believe if you want to…” or “Adults can’t see fairies,” levied against my stance. My supporter thought it would have been better if Ofelia’s reality was real. Period.
The question of how real Ofelia’s reality was wasn’t even in my mind. I was perfectly happy with it being simple and beautiful.