That's basically just a classical interpretation: an actual maze in which one can get physically lost. But I'd argue that modern interpretations have moved past this simplicity. Jorge Luis Borges wrote a famous short story titled "The Garden of Forking Paths," in which he argued that the ultimate labyrinth is time, where each decision represents a turn in the maze and no backtracking is possible.
"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski is a novel that explores labyrinths more as a concept of horror. At its most basic, the story is about a house that's bigger on the outside than on the inside, eventually branching into a labyrinth. But the main story is layered with editorial notes that are narrated to form an additional story, and those footnotes have yet other authors leaving notes. The complexity increases to the point where the pages of the book are literally re-arranged to take on the subject matter--you have to twist the book sideways and upside-down and skip pages to follow the text. The book is the labyrinth. It pretty much became a cult favorite (think Monty Python and the Holy Grail). If you're not familiar with it, I'll bring my copy on Wednesday for anyone interested to see.
So my musing aside, "Pan's Labyrinth" obviously showcased an ancient labyrinth. But that's looking at things from a pretty basic level. The chalk let Ofelia walk seamlessly between worlds and pass physical boundaries in our own. The story itself seemed more like an inversion of the traditional purpose of the labyrinth, where it eventually allows her to escape rather than trapping her like the Minotaur of Crete. I'd wager that the movie walked the path of these more modern interpretations of the labyrinth, offering a deeper subtext that we could explore.
When you say, "a house that's bigger on the outside than on the inside," I think you mean the other way around: bigger on the inside than on the outside.
ReplyDeleteI blame the alcohol.
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