Excellent review of Pan's Labyrinth (with spoiler)

What's satisfying about this film is its insistence that true resistance to despotism must always be political. Ofelia's fantasies are more than merely escapist because they allow her to find political allies. In fact, after defeating the eyeball monster, Ofelia begs Mercedes to take her to the rebels in the forest because she'd rather live among them than stay in the Captain's house. I suppose we can regard the film's conclusion in this light. Though Ofelia may not have survived, she was liberated. She fought the only way she knew how.

For a darker take on the film's ending, one might look at Ofelia's fantasies and unnecessary death as commentary on the Marxist rebels. After all, their politics were ultimately as useless as Ofelia's fantasies were: Franco was not deposed, and the leftist resistance was crushed. Did the Marxists die in vain? Were their hopes for justice in Spain just as fantastical as Ofelia's hopes for peace among the fairies? I don't think so. This film, with its vivid realization of the fairy world, wants us to believe in the power of fantasy to transform the world. Sometimes those fantasies ease the pain of an abused little girl, and sometimes they suggest a way to end the suffering of an entire people.

In the end, Pan's Labyrinth reminds us that buried in every fantasy is a political wish. And buried in every political wish is a fantasy. No matter how many times you crush them, the fantasies return.

I still think Cheney is the Pale Man. A remarkable resemblance, wouldn't you say?