Pretty, Pretty, PrincessThe main thing for us mere mortals to remember about Ofelia is who she really is: a reincarnation of Moanna, the princess of the Underground Realm.Yeah, that's Your Highness...

Captain Of Life?The name "Vidal" comes from the root for "life." But the Vidal in Pan's Labyrinth is anything but life-affirming…or even particularly life-loving. After all, this is a dude who ki...

"Just a Woman"If Vidal is the Evil Stepmother in the real-life sequences of this film, then Mercedes is the moral realm's closest version of the Fairy Godmother. She doesn't exactly get all bibbity...

This Ain't No Fairy TaleIf any character in this film makes us want to follow Peter Pan's lead and never grow up, it's Carmen. Because Carmen's life makes the world of adults look totally drab…an...

A Faun by Any Other Name…Dude's a faun.But what in the name of a curly-horned, cloven-hoofed minor deity is a faun? Well, the first thing we should explain is that a faun (and our character The F...

Euthanasia and Last WordsOl' doc Ferreiro; he may not be an idealist rebel hiding out in the woods, but he carries their same spirit of freedom around with him in the house…proving that even old...

Fairies of WarA lot of conversation about this film centers on the fact that it contains two worlds. There's the "real world," which is harsh and cold. It's the world of Vidal and brutal authoritar...