Art of the Cinema - Pan's Labyrinth

While Pan's Labyrinth could easily have been written into a completely sci-fi genre, comparing the worlds between primary character's life at home and her fantasy world allows the viewer to get a much more intimate view into the reality of the little girl. Distraught by the chaos and destruction of the war she's surrounded by and tormented by the loss of her father, she has no choice but to escape to a self created reality. The viewer can connect with her because WE still do this on a day-to-day basis. There is a constant difference between how we perceive our surroundings, and the reality we create in our heads with our thoughts and internal conscious. While she is escaping to a world of fairies and mythical creatures, we often doze off during the day to dream about what we're doing later in the day, or of a special person who is dear to us. Without these constant looks into the personal self-generated realm of the little girl, our understanding and connection with her would be severely limited. And yet, if the movie didn't return to the external reality of the war and everyone else's lives, our natural sense of reality would begin to fade and the characters and creatures would seem less believable. By also connecting the character's lives to a horrible event in history [the war], our minds believe the story more. Because the war happened in real life and we're watching a recount of the events, we accept the events as a confirmed truth. It's impossible to prove that fairies exist, but through connecting the fantasy with the reality, a connection is created and secured that allows the viewer to naturally accept these two worlds without much question.