The opening sequence to Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, a film set after the Spanish Civil War, establishes the rest of the film using the film form elements. From just the opening sequence, the audience is taught about context, characters, representation and is even shown the ending causing dramatic irony throughout.

Colour is key to how the film works, the contrast of yellows and reds to blues and greens is used throughout the movie, largely through the lighting (cinematography). The blue lighting of when we first see Ofelia dead, is uninviting and cold, the colour then goes on to identify with Vidal throughout the film. The yellow lighting of the car contrasted with the blue lighting, makes the audience feel calmer especially as it’s paired with the change from low key lighting to high key lighting, which appears to happen in one shot after “going through Ofelia’s eye” and above ground.

One way that sound is used is the sound bridge of Vidal’s watch. The audience hears it ticking before we see it. As the watch is a symbol for death, the ticking generates the response from the audience about the fragility of life, especially Ofelia’s as through dramatic irony it is known that she dies. Another way sound is used is with the close sonic perspective of Ofelia’s heavy breathing which makes us feel emotionally closer to her. Close sonic perspective is also used for the wooden sounds of the insect, showing the audience that it’s important as it’s exaggerated.

Vidal’s character is established through the performance. His first line “Fifteen minutes late” shows that he is punctual and a leader. The audience would be shocked at his actions towards his wife, as they are not loving but instead controlling and begins to reveal his sexism. The way he grabs Ofelia’s hand rather than shake it is also shocking and reveals his cruel nature.  Plus, Vidal is instantly impersonal with Ofelia by putting his glove back on before greeting her. We also know that Ofelia favours her books/”fake” reality over Vidal/”real” world   because she holds her books with her right hand and shakes with her left. Ofelia’s use of her left hand compared to Vidal’s preference of his right could link to the Spanish civil war in terms of left and right wing.

Mise en scene is used through props like the watch. It’s a metonym and represents Vidal, as the watch is cracked the audience knows that Vidal is damaged. The cars also represent Vidal and his men, they’re expensive and have the fascist symbol on them, showing the audience what type of people they are, and it links to the Spanish civil war. As the voiceover says “dead”, a skull appears on screen, this is vanitas as it’s a symbol of morality and shows the civil war aftermath. Colour is again used, Ofelia’s dress is green, linking her to the “real” world; clothing is something played with throughout the film to show her true connection to the magical world. Ofelia is also shown as connected to the magical world because of the statue that she completes, the face on the statue matches the face of Pan above the labyrinth, the fact she completes it, shows her connection.

The editing made the scene look like one continuous shot, it looks as if the camera goes through Ofelia’s eye and from underground to above ground in one shot, linking Ofelia to the fairy-tale. The audience then knows that Ofelia is the lost princess and that it will be a plot for the film. Plus, the narration of the fairy-tale feels more personal than the written context at the beginning, making the audience feel closer to the “imaginary” world than “reality” which helps enable us to connect with it with Ofelia without feeling that the “real” world is more important.

When it comes to representation in the opening sequence, women are presented as more submissive than men. The first adult woman we see is Carmen, who is struggling with her pregnancy. The audience see’s her in need of help, which comes from a man, which presents women as people who cannot cope without men. This changes later in the film with characters such as Mercedes, who is underestimated due to being female but plays a key role in taking down Vidal. The men are also shown to be controlling, Vidal forces Carmen to sit in a wheelchair despite her declining. Vidal is also a captain, which shows leadership as a good role for men, contrasting to the women later in the film who work as chefs and helpers. Ofelia is the only child in the film, and during the opening sequence we see the curiosity in children as she instantly wanders off when the car stops, this contrasts to Carmen who asks her to come back and asks her to stop reading her fantasy books; this contrasts childhood and curiosity with adulthood. Despite Ofelia only being a child, the roles are somewhat reversed as she has to take responsibility for her mother due to her being unwell. Plus, her mother treats her as if she were older by frowning upon her fairy-tale books.  The film represents children as people who shouldn’t be looked down upon like the characters in the movie do as they are curious and can take responsibility. The representation of ethnicity in the scene is not very broad, the characters are all Spanish due to the movie being set in Spain. As the film is partly about the Spanish civil war, the characters being Spanish fits the context of the movie, especially since Vidal is a captain.

Within the opening sequence, many of Del Toro’s aesthetics are used. One of the Del Toroizms used is religious symbolism. In the underground world, there is a building that’s similar to the tower of Babel (mise en scene) which is a building known for being built high to get to heaven and God then inventing different languages so they were unable to communicate and finish, this may have been included because religion in Spain was a big topic at the time the film was set.  Another Del Toroizm that’s used is a dying child; the first shot the audience see’s is Ofelia’s death in reverse. Having a child die instantly shows the brutality of the war, it’s also a way of exploring the effects that war has on children which is a theme Del Toro wanted to explore. Showing the death in reverse with the shot of seeing the blood go back up her nose may show the audience that death isn’t the end, which is true in the film as Ofelia is reborn at the end of the movie. This scene also creates a sense of dramatic irony as the audience now knows that Ofelia dies, meaning they are aware of this during the events of the film.

The film is set shortly after the Spanish Civil war which lasted from 1936 to 1939. One of the ways this influences the film is that Vidal, a main character, is involved in the aftermath of the war, he is a captain that is taking action against a group of rebels in the nearby forest. The film also uses the Spanish civil war to show the influence of war on children, Ofelia lost her father to the war which led to her unhappiness with Vidal, her stepfather. She also died at the hands of a fascist, Vidal. Plus. As a child she was unable to stand up for herself during such times, she needed help from Mercedes who said she would help her escape. Some of the ways fascism is shown in the film is through props, the cars have fascist symbols on them. A subtler way is that Vidal favours his right hand linking him to right wing politics. There is also religious context from mise en scene as the tower of babel is represented in the scene underground, both religious symbolism and underground scenes being a Del Toroizm.

To conclude, the opening of Pan’s Labyrinth manages to establish the majority of the film within a short amount of time. As well as context being involved surrounding the Spanish civil war and religion, Del Toroizms are too included in ways such as the camera rarely stopping, a scene taking place at night, a child dying and scenes taking place underground. The representation of the film sets up the stereotypes of women compared to men, that Vidal believes in, ready for the plot to prove him and the stereotypes wrong later in the film. It also explores the capability of children compared to what adults generally estimate they can and should do. It also foreshadows the ending with Ofelia’s death which changes the viewers reactions to the movie compared to if they were never told. Plus, the wordless lullaby is introduced which is a motif throughout the film and can make the reader feel certain ways depending on when and how it is used. Overall, the opening sets up the rest of the film so that ideas and techniques that have already been used can be played with to convey different/the same ideas and control how the audience feels.