Spanish Civil War through the film The Labyrinth of the Fauno

THE Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, was one of the most important events of the “between wars” period, that is, between the end of the First World War, in 1918, and the beginning of Second war, in 1939. The importance is linked to several factors, including the fact that it was in Spain that the first open confrontation took place between nationalist forces with a fascist bias, communists and anarchists. Each of these groups received international support, mainly from the powers that would participate in World War II in the following years.

This event was discussed in the cinema several times, but one of the most impressive ways of approaching it was the one exposed in the film Pan's Labyrinth, 2006, directed by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The film takes a look at the unfolding of the civil war, that is, when General Francisco Franco had already, during World War II, established himself as dictator of Spain. Precisely, the plot takes place in 1944, when civil resistance to the Franco regime sought to remove him from power.

What's interesting about the approach to Pan's Labyrinth it is the choice for the language and symbols of fairy tales to apprehend the tension of the war between nationalists and resistance groups. The whole story takes place through the character's fantastic imagination. ophelia, a girl about ten years old, fatherless, whose mother, pregnant, seeks to restore her life in the midst of war with a fascist officer in the troops of Francisco Franco.

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Mother and daughter move to a military camp where the officer is. Near the camp, anarchist rebels are looking for a way to dismantle the structure of the place to get supplies, medicine, among other things.

As the story unfolds, Ophelia's mother begins to experience pregnancy problems. From that moment on, Ophelia becomes “instructed”, imaginatively, by a mythological being, the Faun, in the sense of saving her mother's life. However, the instructions gradually put the little girl at a crossroads: her mother's life would cost her the sacrifice of her brother, who, if born, would be offered to Faun in her labyrinth.

The entire story, for anyone who wants to watch, is permeated with a grandiose “symbolic architecture”. There is a complex work of reinterpreting the story from the prism of fairy tales and mythology that goes beyond the traditional approach of war movies.

*Image credit: commons

By Me. Cláudio Fernandes

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

FERNANDES, Claudio. "Spanish Civil War through the film O Labyrinth of the Fauno"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/guerra-civil-espanhola-atraves-filme-labirinto-fauno.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.