However, the director wrote such a tragic ending as "the little girl selling matches", leaving everyone to ponder.
In the first challenge in the story, the little girl said to the big toad: "How can you be so shameless, occupy the roots of the big tree, and feed yourself to the fat..." For the toad, that is his ability, His freedom, but the director killed Toad. Because it kills the life of the tree because of its own desires, which is a desecration of life.
In the second challenge, the little girl stole 2 grapes, which seemed the most inappropriate, but the grapes had been presented on the plate, and the desire did not seem to have stepped on the bottom line of strangling life, so the director let her escape from the clutches. But she made the two fairies sacrifice for it. Even if it was her negligence, she didn't know the consequences, but in the director's opinion it was unforgivable, so her dream of returning home was almost dashed.
In the third challenge, Pan Shen held the knife and said, "Just one drop." But the knife reminded us of the scene of a monster killing a baby. The girl's intuition told her that the knife would hurt her brother, so she finally chose to give up.
Officers, guerrillas and little girls, they are all the same in their desires and perseverance in their beliefs. For them, it is honorable to dedicate to their beliefs. But there are differences in how they are obtained. What is "savage"? It's trampling on other lives; especially "innocent" lives. Fathers and sons who hunted rabbits, civilians who died in wars... How beautiful and lofty beliefs cannot be gained at the expense of others, even under the pretext of ignorance or one's own negligence. In the final challenge, the little girl could completely infer that she was deceived by Pan Shen and sacrificed her younger brother, but the director did not let her do so. Desires are not wrong, and beliefs are still noble and beautiful; but what about the power of others when insisting on one's own desires and beliefs? The director wants to express his helplessness, wants to express the accusation of cruel life, war is terrible, but how can we escape the trap of fate?
Who is the maze made for? Is there a way to stop thinking about options. Can the inner entanglements be relieved by the spread of fairy tales?
My initial impression of this film was beauty and romance, but when I watched it, I touched my heart and felt the author's confusion and helplessness. Just like everyone who borrows fairy tales to express themselves, they experience inner contradictions that cannot be expressed in straightforward words. The protagonist of the fairy tale is also the real self. True or false is no longer important, lost people need to find the true meaning of life.
"Pan's Labyrinth is a sequel to "Ghost Boys' Home," which I made in 2001. In the five years from 2001 to 2005, after 9/11, the world has changed a lot. All my thoughts on brutality and innocence, childhood and The idea of war has completely changed. . . . This film about choice and defiance is as relevant today as it was in 1944." From the film's opening credits. But it is said that the director cannot express himself well in words, so the answer must be in the movie.
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