“You have no idea what I can do with a bottle…”
Pan’s Labyrinth has the dubious honor of being universally praised (and a Best Picture nominee) but making very little cultural footprint. The reason? It can be awfully difficult to watch due its extremely terrifying villain Captain Videl.
No all that much is revealed about this crony. He’s a high-ranking officer in the Spanish military, and he’s taken up with beautiful young peasant woman because he’s obsessed with producing a male heir now that he’s aging. Oh, and he really, really hates resistance fighters…to the point where he’ll smash an elderly man’s face in simply on suspicion of aiding the small rebel force.
He’s a brutal man whose actions are on full display of the camera, and when we can stand to watch, we realize the true depths of his depravity. Yet we understand a lot of what motivates him: fear, and it’s strangely rational. He’s so afraid of leaving behind no legacy, he lashes out in extremes: he’s desperate for his own son, he neglects his step-daughter. He’s so desperate to make his mark as a soldier, he will stop at nothing to crush his enemies.
He cares nothing for collateral damage because he’s so committed to his cause of longevity. That’s what makes his final moments — and what the heroes tell him — so poignant. He sees his legacy die before him.
If we have the stomach to closely follow a character this evil, we can find so much more about him than his actions initially suggest.
bad guys who need more love 