Pan’s Labyrinth is about a young girl, who is put to the test of doing evil for the sake of good. (Note: This article contains spoilers for Pan’s Labyrinth.)
I am a big fan of movies. Some of my earliest memories involve watching movies with my grandfather and my cousin, and all these years later, their influence still looms large in my life. I love watching new movies, old movies, and everything in between. In particular, as a Catholic, I especially enjoy when a movie’s themes and messages line up with my faith, and that happens more often than one might think.
Take Pan’s Labyrinth for example. It is a dark fantasy movie written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, a fallen away Catholic, so I wouldn’t blame anyone for being suspicious of its message before seeing it. However, if we watch it and pay close attention to what it is trying to tell us, we will find that it actually contains several themes that line up very well with our beliefs.
What It’s About
Pan’s Labyrinth is set during the Spanish Civil War, and it is about a young girl named Ofelia whose mother has just married a falangist military officer named Captain Vidal. She and her mother travel to go live with the captain, and once there, Ofelia meets a fairy who leads her to a labyrinth and an ancient faun.
The faun tells her that she is the reincarnation of a princess from a magical underworld kingdom hidden from human beings, and her destiny is to go back to that world and be with her real parents, the king and queen. To be sure, though, he gives her a few tests, and if she passes them, she will return to her homeland and be with her people once more.
Ofelia passes the first test, but she hits a bit of a snag with the second one. Nevertheless, after her mother gives birth to a son, the faun gives her the final test and says that if she completes it, she will be able to go back to the underworld. He tells her to bring her newborn brother to the labyrinth, and there he will give her more instructions.
Captain Vidal sees her take the baby, so he follows her into the labyrinth. Luckily for her, its walls magically open up and allow her to lose the captain, so she is able to reach the faun safely. When they meet up, the faun tells her that the final test is to shed a tiny amount of her brother’s blood, and that will open up a portal to her magical homeland.
She refuses, so the faun tells her that she has lost her chance of ever returning to the underworld. As a result, she is left on the surface, and her stepfather catches up to her and kills her. After giving up her life, Ofelia ends up in the underworld with her real parents, the faun, and a great crowd of onlookers. Her father tells her that by choosing to sacrifice herself rather than spill the blood of an innocent, she has actually passed the final test, so she can now take her rightful place at their side.
The Captain and the Faun
On the surface, this story may not seem like it has much to do with our Catholic faith, but if we dig a bit deeper, we can see that it actually has many points of close contact with what we believe. To begin, let’s look at a theme that Pan’s Labyrinth shares with almost all of Guillermo del Toro’s movies.
The faun is an ugly creature, with the torso of a man and the legs of a goat. He has devilish-looking horns on his head, strange markings above his eyes, and an oddly shaped face. From his appearance alone, most of us would peg him as some sort of monster or demon, but we would be wrong. By the end of the movie, we find out that he is actually a benevolent creature.
On the flipside, Captain Vidal looks like he has it all. He is handsome and powerful, he enjoys the finer things in life, and he keeps all the rules of etiquette perfectly. However, on the inside, he is just as ugly as the faun is on the outside. For example, at one point in the story he almost nonchalantly kills two men suspected of helping the rebel forces (without any real proof), he brutally tortures a captured rebel soldier, and throughout the entire movie he shows a continual lack of respect for both Ofelia and her mother.
The contrast between these two characters is striking. The faun looks like a monster but isn’t, and Captain Vidal is a real monster but does not look the part. If we judged them based on their appearances alone, we would be greatly mistaken.
“The Lord Looks at the Heart”
And if that sounds familiar to you, it should. Guillermo del Toro did not come up with this idea all on his own. It actually comes straight out of Scripture. Back in the days of the ancient Israelite monarchy, when God chose David to be the next king of Israel, he sent the prophet Nathan to the house of Jesse, David’s father, to anoint the future king. When Nathan arrived and saw Jesse’s oldest son Eliab, he thought for sure that this was the man God had chosen to lead his people, but God had other ideas. He told Nathan:
Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
Nathan then went through all of Jesse’s sons, and when he got to the last one, David, God finally told him that this was the man he had chosen. While Eliab may have looked the part, God knew that he lacked the inner qualities required to rule. On the other hand, David did not look like a king, but God saw beyond the surface to his virtue and his love, and he knew that David had what it took to lead his people.
And we should always do the same. While we probably won’t ever meet anyone as ugly as the faun in Pan’s Labyrinth, we need to be able to look past people’s appearances and see their hearts. We need to recognize that what people look like on the outside is the least important thing about them. Instead, what really matters is their love and their virtue. People who have those two things are truly beautiful, and people who lack them are the real monsters.
Disobeying Unjust Commands
Next, let’s look at another theme in this movie that also has solid roots in Scripture. After Captain Vidal tortures a captured rebel soldier, he tells his doctor to tend to the man. The soldier is in such agony that he asks to be euthanized, and since the doctor is actually a secret rebel collaborator, he complies. When the captain finds out, he asks the doctor why he didn’t obey his orders, and the doctor says that he will not obey simply for the sake of obedience. He does not spell out exactly why he disobeyed, but the implication is that he will not help the captain continue to torture another human being.
Similarly, at the end of the movie, when the faun tells Ofelia that her final test is to shed a drop of her brother’s blood and open up the portal to the underworld, she doesn’t do it. She refuses to shed innocent blood even though she thinks that she will lose out on her chance to rejoin her true family.
In both instances, characters disobey unjust commands, and again, this lines up very well with what we believe. We have an obligation to disobey directives that we know are unjust, such as shedding innocent blood or helping a man torture an enemy soldier again and again.
Granted, the doctor’s act of euthanizing the rebel soldier was gravely wrong, so the movie is not perfect in this regard. Nevertheless, even though the way he disobeyed was wrong, his refusal to aid in torturing another human being was right, and that refusal, together with Ofelia’s later on, can still teach us a valuable lesson despite the doctor’s error in carrying it out.
Angels and False Gospels
In fact, Ofelia’s refusal to obey the faun’s directive to shed her brother’s blood looks like an adaptation of something St. Paul says in one of his letters. In Galatians, he tells us:
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8)
As a messenger of the magical underworld kingdom, the faun is like an angel, and his directive to Ofelia to harm her brother is similar to preaching another gospel. It was unjust, so just like the Galatians were warned not to heed any false gospels, no matter who they heard them from, so too did Ofelia have an obligation to refuse to shed her brother’s blood, no matter who she heard it from.
And the same is true for us as well. While we do have to obey legitimate authority, that obedience has its limits. If those in authority over us issue unjust commands or laws, we actually have an obligation to disobey them.
Sons and Daughters of the King
Finally, let’s look at a theme in Pan’s Labyrinth that encompasses the whole movie, including all the characters and the entire plot. Since the story is set in a falangist military camp led by a cruel captain, life is pretty tough for Ofelia. She is surrounded by fighting and death, and the men she lives with don’t show much respect for her or her mother. Simply put, her life is a nightmare, and her only respite comes from the faun and her hope of life in the magical underworld kingdom with her real parents, the king and queen.
Again, if that sounds familiar, it should. The plot of this movie is pretty much an allegory for the Christian faith. As we pray in the “Hail, Holy Queen,” this life is a “valley of tears,” and our suffering will continue until the day we die. While we may have periods of peace, tranquility, and comfort, our only lasting happiness comes from our hope to one day enter the “magical” kingdom of heaven and live forever with God, our father and king, and Mary, our mother and queen.
Moreover, the way Ofelia entered the underworld kingdom is exactly the way we enter heaven: she gave up her life for love of her brother. Granted, most of us don’t have to literally give up our lives like she did, but our calling as Christians is to give ourselves entirely to others in love. Only by passing that test can we ever hope to enter the kingdom of heaven when we die, just like Ofelia had to pass the final test to enter her kingdom.
Christian Themes
I don’t know how much of this Guillermo del Toro actually intended, but whether it was on purpose or not, Pan’s Labyrinth actually has some really great Christian themes. For one, it teaches us that we shouldn’t judge people by their outward appearances. Rather, what matters is what is in their hearts, and that can differ drastically from the way they look.
Secondly, we should always disobey unjust orders and commands. No matter who they come from, even if they seem to come from God’s own messengers or even God himself, we can never go against what we already know is right from revelation and the natural moral law. Granted, the movie does not display this theme with perfect moral rectitude, but the principle is nevertheless correct.
And finally, in the midst of a world full of sin, suffering, and utter depravity, our true hope lies in another world, a “magical” kingdom where we are sons and daughters of the king and queen and which we can enter only by giving of ourselves in love.
Note: This movie contains some strong language and intense depictions of violence, so it is suitable for mature viewers only
8 thoughts on “A Catholic Interpretation of the Movie Pan’s Labyrinth”
Hi!
Just wanted to ask what you thought of this quote from director Guillermo del Toro: “The words that the priest speaks at the table in Pan’s Labyrinth are taken verbatim from a speech a priest used to give to the Republican prisoners in a fascist concentration camp. He would come to give them communion and he would say before he left, “Remember, my sons, you should confess what you know because God doesn’t care what happens to your bodies; he already saved your souls.” This is taken verbatim from that speech. The Pale Man represents the Church for me, y’know? [He] represents fascism and the Church eating the children when they have a perversely abundant banquet in front of them. There is almost a hunger to eat innocence. A hunger to eat purity.” (taken from this interview: https://screenanarchy.com/2006/12/pans-labyrinthinterview-with-guillermo-del-toro.html )
I see your point about the morals of this film (although I don’t personally agree with your opinion on the euthanasia scene) but I think the point of view of the director is interesting here — and I’d love to know what you thought of this scene!
Smh head retard catholics
I’m not in favor of euthanasia, but I see it otherwise here than as the moral mistake you called it. The rebel asked to be euthanized not only so he would not continue to be tortured and likely killed or die in the end after unspeakable pain but also so that he would not give up any more information that would harm his compatriots. I think there is an exception to every moral rule–that is why Vatican II told us to use our consciences. There’s no doubt the doctor did the right thing–and he risked his own life to do it.
Hi Katherine. Thanks for the comment!
I see your point, but the Church teaches that there are in fact moral laws that have no exceptions. Certain acts are intrinsically evil, and nothing (including good intentions or motives) can make them permissible:
“It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances (environment, social pressure, duress or emergency, etc.) which supply their context. There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy and perjury, murder and adultery. One may not do evil so that good may result from it.” 1756
Since euthanasia is simply a form of murder, it is an intrinsically evil act, and nothing can make it right or evil permissible.
JP,
I believe your points are much more articulate than mine. I can agree with all of them with the exception of Franco.
You did mention that the history of the Spanish Civil War is not your area of interest or expertise.
Suffice to say that Franco was not a brutal dictator, but it was also not benign. Both sides did horrible things to each other, but it can be said the Republican forces were indiscriminate. By way of executing priests in the streets, raping nuns in their convents, & destroying churches everywhere they were able to.
Franco only rebelled against the minority Republican government for these reasons (there are others), to protect the innocent clergy as one reason. The Republicans wanted to recreate society by destroying everything.
🙂
If both sides did horrible things to each other, wouldn’t the character of Captain Vidal be believable? He did horrible things to people who either were or were suspected of supporting the rebels, which fits with what you’re saying. And even though his general disrespect shown towards Ofelia and her mother may at first seem like it goes beyond those bounds, I think that someone who commits such horrible deeds would be more than capable of showing a general lack of respect towards his new wife and step-daughter (even to the point of entirely devaluing their lives).
So even though the movie incorrectly paints the opposition forces as good guys, the figure of Captain Vidal nevertheless seems believable to me as a falangist officer.
Thanks for your comment, Tito. I appreciate your thoughts on the movie. While I obviously interpret it very differently than you do, I think that’s what makes movies so interesting. There’s not always an immediately obvious right way to interpret a movie’s message, which can make for some really great conversation.
I totally see how the fact that the magical kingdom is underground would bring up comparisons with hell and Satan, but I don’t think that point is decisive by itself. If the rest of the movie contradicts that association, then I think it’s fair to take it as just a coincidence. And, as I’m sure you could guess, I would suggest that the rest of the movie does contradict that association. Sure, the euthanasia bit is far off the mark, but I think the rest of the movie is quite good from a moral perspective. In particular, I think the most important moral decision, Ofelia’s at the end, is right on the mark. I interpret it as her knowingly and willingly giving up her life rather than do evil by harming her brother even just a little bit. She knows that by refusing to do what the faun says, she will fail to return to her true homeland and Captain Vidal will catch up to her and kill her. So personally, I think it’s a bit of a stretch to view that as representing child sacrifice. The way I see it, it’s no more a story of child sacrifice than the stories of martyrs are of human sacrifice.
You bring up a good point about the different sides of the Spanish Civil War. Admittedly, I don’t know much about this area of history, but my understanding is that Franco was a brutal dictator. So even though the movie may paint the rebels in a more sympathetic light than it should, I think its portrayal of Captain Vidal as a representative of the Franco regime is fair.
And let me end by making a quick point about the name “Pan.” The original Spanish title of the movie is El Laberinto del Fauno, which simply means The Faun’s Labyrinth. The faun is never actually called “Pan” in the movie, so I don’t know why the English translators put that name in the title (my best guess is that they thought it sounded better). But whatever the reason, the Greek god Pan (and any other associations the name may have) doesn’t actually have anything to do with this character; he’s just a faun.
Once again, thanks for your thoughts and for giving me a chance to write a bit more about this movie!
Good analysis.
My view on the movie is that it is demonic in nature. The Faun represents evil or Satan. The morals are perverted & distorted. The Faun lives underground, just as Satan. Pan is also another name for a demonic creature.
The story turns Captain Vidal as a sinister character. Amazingly it almost works (for me). The director has nefarious reasons for this because he paints a Nationalist as evil & the Communists (Republicans) as the good guys.
That’s the lense I look through.
Plus the Faun represents paganism & the need for child sacrifice, in this case Ofelia, to rule Hell (or the underworld).
Again, this is my opinion & view.
🙂