pan's labryith

Last Saturday, we went to see the movie, Pan's Labryith (I hope I spell it right). The story was set in Spain when it was ruled by Facsism and people lived in terror. Ofilia was a girl who went to a mill in a mountain with her mom to meet her step father. Her step father was a milirary official, a cruel man, who worshiped power and enjoyed killing. The man had no feelings to either his wife or his step daughter. The only thing he expected was the to-be-born baby, which was better to be a son or there would be big troubles. Ignored by her mother who were sick with the pregnancy, Ofilia found care and campanionship from the housekeeper, Mercedes, and kept the secret of her connetion to the men in the mountain who fought against the goverment.

The reality was full of coldness and bloodshed. But Ofilia had her own secret and advanture in the fair tale known to herself only. She was the daughter of the lord of the underworld who died thousands of years ago. She was meant to return to her kingtom, if she could finish 3 tasks before the full moon rose.

So the story went along with the reality and the fairy tale interwined. People died painfully in the reality. It was so painfully and maybe genuinly presented that I have to shut my eyes now and then. But in fairy tale, the beautiful princess bravely entered the dangerous underworld to defeat monsters and fulfill her mission. Nobody knew about her secret. And nobody cared.

But the real monster is in the reality. The good doctor was killed. Her mother died in a hard labor. Mercedes was caught. And she faced a choice between her return to her kingdom and her baby brother's life. What would she choose and what would happen to her?

It was said that the tragedy is to destroy the beautiful in front of your eyes. The movie is a true tragedy in that sense, or is it? Is the fair tale just her imagination? Or is it true as long as you believes it. I guess it is up to you to choose. Just like the heaven. Its presence or not does not change the cruelness of the reality, or make life easier than it is. But it gives us hope to look up to. It gives us strength to stick to our principles and not give them up to the reality.

Does the princess return to her kingdom and live happily after? I would rather believe so. Or I believe it is true at least in the movie. Just like that the little prince returned to his planet. The body was simply to heavy to carry.