Lessons from El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)

I fell in love with El Laberinto Del Fauno from the very first lines:

"Cuentan que hace mucho, mucho tiempo, en el reino subterráneo, donde no existe la mentira ni el dolor, vivía una princesa que soñaba con el mundo de los humanos. Soñaba con el cielo azul, la brisa suave y el brillante sol. Un día, burlando toda vigilancia, la princesa escapó. Una vez en el exterior, la luz del sol la cegó y borró de su memoria cualquier indicio del pasado. La princesa olvidó quién era - de dónde venía... Su cuerpo sufrió frío, enfermedad y dolor. Y al correr de los años... murió.Sin embargo, su padre, el Rey, sabía que el alma de la princesa regresaría, quizá en otro cuerpo, en otro tiempo y en otro lugar. Y él la esperaría hasta su último aliento, hasta que el mundo dejara de girar."

(A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the bright sun blinded her and erased her memory. She forgot who she was and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness, and pain. And eventually, she died. However, her father, the King, always knew that the Princess' soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place, at another time. And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning... )

It is the most beautiful opening of any movie ever. I love love love LOVE it. Never have I fallen so fast and hard for a movie before.
It immediately reminded me of myself, of us as children of God. We awake in this world totally unaware of our status as royal children of the King. Our bodies suffer greatly and we die. But all the while our Father does not give up hoping that we will return to Him eventually. I just love that last line of the opening most of all: And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning.

My next favorite line is when Ofelia/Moanna has to confront the ginormous disgusting toad. It has a key that she needs, that in essence belongs to her. It tries to intimidate her with its size and gortesqueness but she squares her shoulders and says "Hello. I am Princess Moanna, and I am not afraid of you." What a gutsy princess. She knows who she is. She owns her identity. And she is awesome for it.
Despite everyone repeatedly telling her magic does not exist, she persists in her beliefs. Ultimately she saves her half-brother from her evil stepfather by dying for him instead of selfishly sacrificing him for her own gai, which returns her to her world.

I love it :)