26 May 2007

Rachel and I finally watched Pan's Labyrinth on DVD this evening. I found it gripping and disturbing, though occasionally juvenile. I haven't read a thing about the movie, so I'm utterly unfamiliar with how others have interpreted it. I'm struck by its unapologetic embrace of violence as a legitimate response to oppression and aggression.

At the risk of spoiling certain elements of the plot for those who haven't yet seen the film (tune out now, or skip to the next paragraph if you haven't yet seen the movie), I'll give an example. Writer/director Guillermo del Toro establishes his story within the context of Spanish insurgents battling Franco's fascist forces in 1944. Del Toro contrasts the relatively ineffective pacifist approach of Dr. Feirraro (who treats those on both sides, and whose bravest act of resistance is turn his back when he's about to be shot by the fascist Capitán Vidal) with the quite sane and ultimately effective (at least within the scope of the film) acts of violence perpretrated by the insurgents. This is emphasized in the transformation of Mercedes, the head of el Capitán's housekeeping and kitchen staff. Early on in the story, she restricts her resistance to the insignificant act of delivering mail and tobacco to the insurgents under the cover of night. At one point, standing in the woods alongside the partisans, she realizes she's a coward for continuing to work for her boss. Only when she is finally caught in an act of subversion does Mercedes pull a knife from the folds of her dress and assault Vidal. She lets him live, at first, but kills him in the end--in what may be one of the darkest happy endings I've ever seen.

At the risk of oversimplification, and with only a few minutes of reflection since the end credits rolled, I can't shake the feeling that this film is on some level a call for violent resistance to oppression and aggression. The historical setting and fantasy-genre trappings serve to make such a message palatable and subtle enough to be swallowed virtually unnoticed by a mainstream audience. But there it is: a ringing endorsement not just of skepticism but of radical, violent action.

I wonder what Ward Churchill makes of this movie.

I don't mean to conflate the fascism of Franco with the fascism of Hitler--or anyone else's particular brand of fascism--but when I think about fascism this famous quotation comes to mind:

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

That's Herman Goering, Nazi Reichsmarshall and Luftwaffe-Chief, speaking privately with Gustave Gilbert, an American intelligence officer and psychologist, while awaiting trial at Nuremberg. What he says is well worth remembering.