In Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, the paleman sequence portrays many different contextual links and has use of themes that run throughout the movie.

The paleman’s room itself is similar to that of a church, it represents the critical view of the church that was held during the Spanish Civil War which the film was set shortly after. When Ofelia firsts open the door, the reverse tracking shot allows the audience to see how big the space is and how similarly designed it is to a church, such as, it has big pillars. In the paleman’s actual room, the horrific pictures on the ceiling are in the same position and designed the same (apart from the actual image) as religious images in church. Plus, the big table that the paleman is sitting on, could also be a reference to the famous last supper table painting, the food being red suggests the negative opinion on the church as red connotates to danger. Plus, the stigmata holes in the paleman’s hands have a link to Jesus being crucified. Therefore, placing such a violent and visually disturbing character (sagging skin, skinny, sharp fingers) in a religious room with connection to Jesus, is implying the critical views of the church at that time.

The gruesome images around the room not only make the audience feel disturbed but have a contextual link to the Spanish artist Francisco Goya who painted Saturn eating his son. The interpretation of this painting is that the Titan feared that his children would overthrow him and therefore ate them.  This was used in Pan’s Labyrinth as it links to world war 2 and the Nazis. They targeted children because of their alleged membership in political, biological or racial groups. The effect that war has on children is atrocious, and it’s something that Del Toro often wants to explore in his films. In Pan’s Labyrinth, he showed the effect that war had on Ofelia with characters such as Vidal and the many references to fascism and the dangers of it including within this scene. Another film where he explored this was ‘The Devils Backbone’ which is often described as a sister film to Pan’s Labyrinth.  Another link to the holocaust in the paleman scene is the pile of shoes, as it has links to the gas chambers. However, another interpretation of this is that they are the shoes of the incorrect princesses, and instead link to the theme of horror and fairy tale rather than a political and historical link.

In the paleman scene, the mise en scene identifies which door Ofelia should use to get they key in the book that she opens. However, she disobeys this and opens the left door, it was this disobedience that allowed her to succeed in the task; suggesting that obeying for the sake of obeying is morally wrong. Obedience and choice are a theme throughout the movie, and obedience is typically linked to Vidal and fascism, it portrays the idea that having no choice and obeying without considering morals and fascism as wrong. The doctor explicitly tells Vidal, ‘Captain, to obey – just like that – for obedience’s sake… without questioning… That’s something only people like you do.’ supports the message that fascism and obeying is wrong. However, Ofelia doesn’t obey, she picks the left door, which links her to left wing politics and therefore not fascism unlike Vidal and suggests hope in the future for Spain as the children will make positive changes. The book that she found the task in, also had the paleman’s arms in the shape of fallopian tubes which supports the genre of bildungsroman throughout the film.

In this sequence, the barrier between the two worlds is clearly defined. One way this is done is when the parallel action shot takes the audience out of the paleman’s room and into Ofelia’s room where we see that the time has run out. The change from high key lighting with yellow and red to low key blue lighting emphasises the separation between the two worlds. However, the blue low-key lighting does still suggest coldness and dangers because it’s connotations which supports that the two worlds are just as dangerous as one another, which is something Del Toro tried to explore. We also get this separation when Ofelia is climbing out of the paleman room and there’s a mid-shot of Ofelia where her top half is in the real world and her legs are in the fantasy place, this give the sense to the audience that both worlds are real as we see them coexist at the same time. They way that Ofelia climbs up to get out of the paleman’s room gives the suggestion of hell, as well the fire which is emphasised by its loud foley sound. This connects back to the critical opinions on the church during the Spanish Civil War and shows the audience how much danger Ofelia is in, causing worry and tension. This religious symbolism is a Del Toro-ism which also appears in the sister film to Pan’s Labyrinth, ‘The Devils Backbone’.

I used this website:

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/children-during-the-holocaust

In the ending sequence of Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, the audience can tell a lot about one of the main characters, Vidal, by the way he acts in the presence of other characters compared to when alone.

During the ending scene, Vidal has been drugged with sleeping medication which has caused him to stumble throughout the scene while chasing Ofelia through the labyrinth. After shooting Ofelia, he continues to stumble out of the labyrinth until he sees the rebels (including Mercedes) and immediately straightens himself up and tries to walk straighter, taller and stronger without stumbling in-front of them.

It is to do with Vidal’s pride and ego. Even when clearly defeated, he is unwilling to show that he is beneath or even equal to them. He’s also unwilling to show that he is anything other than strong. He does this despite knowing defeat, which the audience knows that he knows due to his facial expression, which is stern yet shows defeat.  The proxemics also support this, as he positions himself directly in the centre of the rebels rather than cowering in a corner, showing that he doesn’t want to loose his title and ego/pride even when it’s already all gone. It could also have links to him being a captain after the Spanish civil war, and in charge of defeating rebels. He didn’t want to loose his reputation or job title even when all was lost, which watchers wouldn’t be surprised about. The film set after the Spanish Civil War which lasted from 1936 to 1939 but had after effects that lasted for years, these after effects were explored in the film through many characters including Vidal.

This has links to the gender representation during the film. Vidal’s character, although completely cruel and evil, is a victim of toxic masculinity that was passed down onto him by his father. The timeline of this was stopped when Mercedes decided that Vidal’s son wouldn’t even know his name, giving hope for a better future. Vidal had to live up to his father expectations and his fathers actions, his father smashed a watched before he died so that Vidal would know what time he had died; Vidal would have been cautious of how he should not only act like a man but die like one too, suggesting a reason why even in his last moments where all hope was lost he still wasn’t prepared to loose his dignity or reputation.

The aesthetics and the way it makes the audience feel can be complicated. Although all watchers will be glad that Vidal didn’t win against the rebels, he had already killed Ofelia and killing him wouldn’t reverse this act. The evilness of his character still lives on which has links to how the Spanish Civil War had lasting effects, it didn’t all suddenly go back to normal in 1939. However, the look of how Vidal is surrounded by everyone (proxemics) gives a sense of how the evilness is coming to an end, as no more evil acts can be committed by him suggesting hope in the far off future.

In Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, during the paleman sequence, parallel action (parallel editing) is used with the main character Ofelia and with the timer five times. Ofelia has a limited amount of time to complete her third task, otherwise she’ll be trapped with the dangerous paleman, meaning, the audience feels concern for her. The parallel editing of seeing Ofelia and then the timer that is quickly running out of time builds tension, it reminds the audience of the time limit and how she needs to be quick. The first two times this parallel edit happens is once at the beginning when the scene is setting up, to establish the time constraint for the rest of the scene. The second is when Ofelia is using the key to unlock the doors, as a reminder for time ticking down. Both of these times build tension. However, the two next times build tension and bring a strong sense of danger as they happen when Ofelia is running away from the paleman who we know from the mise en scene to be dangerous and evil and so we therefore don’t want Ofelia to be trapped with him. This makes the movie more immersive, as the audience will get lost in the scene to see if Ofelia is okay. The final time the parallel action happens is when the time has run out. We see the timer in the other world not only giving us a sense of worry but also a sense of the two worlds being real and divided.

The idea of time running out links to the theme of morality which was initially introduced with Ofelia’s death at the beginning causing dramatic irony and Vidal’s watch. It reminds the audience of different things, one being that the characters, specifically Ofelia, are mortal and can die causing us to worry and builds tension, especially since we already know that she is going to die. It also reminds the audience that they themselves will run out of time one day, as they are not mortal either. Lastly, it has a contextual link to the Spanish Civil War which lasted from 1936 to 1939 but had long lasting effects. The film was set after the Spanish Civil War, and covers topics such as fascism, morality is one of the themes that link back into this contextual link as over 500,000 people died. The film is portraying the idea of how fragile life can be, and how the effects of war can be catastrophic.

The representation of age is different in this scene compared to others as in the paleman sequence children are presented as naive. Ofelia is running out of time which is emphasised by the parallel action of her and the timer, however, she still goes slowly. Some audience members might find this frustrating, but it could be that Del Toro was trying to present children in a specific way by contrasting how Ofelia, a child, handled the task to how an adult would. However, it is possible that it’s another link to Ofelia not following the general flow and forging her own path away from fascism and Vidal, which is explored a lot throughout the film with the theme of obeying and disobedience.

Del Toro’s aesthetics in this scene are similar to horror, all the film form elements add to this. Specifically, the parallel action giving a sense of strong danger and building tension while a small child is running away from an evil being is very horror like, which is arguably one of the genres of the movies along with others such as fantasy. Del Toro often dabbles in the horror genre, so this is not an unusual decision for him. He also often explores the Gothic genre, which this film also does such as with the exaggerated (foley) wind sound effects which happen throughout the film including in the paleman scene such as when Ofelia notices him. Linking on from this, the scene feels scary and disturbing and the parallel action helps build the scariness.

In Del Toro’s pans labyrinth, the film form element sound, helps emphasise the fantasy element of the film and that one of the film genres is that it’s a fairy tale. This non-digetic sounds occurs multiple times during the paleman sequence.

In the paleman scene there are multiple moments where exaggerated and fantastical sounds are used. One example of this non-digetic sound is the high pitched note, fantasy related noise of the key when Ofelia takes it out and looks at it. This reminds the audience that this film has elements of fantasy and fairy tale to it, and that the world she is in with the paleman may just be her imagination. This is similar to the non-diegetic sound of Ofelia running her fingers over the blade that she collects. It’s an exaggerated and high pitched noise that shows the audience how sharp it is; it’s a noise you’d associate with fantasy films.

The same noise occurs when Ofelia initially takes out the dagger before we see it, suggesting the sharpness and danger before we know what it is. Because of Ofelia’s age (she is a young child), knowing that the object is sharp and therefore dangerous makes the audience worry for Ofelia as they would have grown to like her. It may also be a way that the film is suggesting that children are braver and stronger than most adults think such as Vidal and Carmen, and that they shouldn’t be talked down on.

Another non-diegtic sound during this scene that could have potential links to fairy tale and fantasy is the wind like sound often used when loot is found on quests in other movies supporting that the paleman scene is all part of Ofelia’s mission and quest, which can often be associated with fairy tales.

Del Toro’s aesthetic with these sounds is the sense of danger and worry that the audience would feel for Ofelia, Del Toro wanted to present that the fantasy world was just as dangerous as the real world and the sharp blade as well as the rest of the paleman scene supports this. The fantasy world being just as dangerous as the real world has contextual links to the Spanish Civil War, Ofelia living with a fascist captain puts her in danger and the fantasy world is no escape from this, especially as the paleman as links to Vidal. The fantastical sounds also have connection to other fantasy and/or quest films, supporting that Ofelia’s tasks are left ambiguous regarding whether they are real or not, as the fantasy element suggest that it’s fake, but the quest suggests she’s completing the tasks for a reason and that it is therefore real.

The Mise En Scene in Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is used to develop the characteristics of the characters. Specifically, the prop, the watch, in  the opening sequence identifies what type of person Vidal is to the audience straight away. We learn that he is punctual and leader like, but also that he is a broken man. It also introduces the theme of morality, which is because the film was set after the Spanish Civil War.

The watch is logocentric and a metonym for Vidal, the watch stands in for everything that Vidal is. The clock face is cracked and broken, from when his father smashed it when he died, suggesting that Vidal is a broken man.  The watch also symbolises that Vidal is broken because of toxic masculinity (gender representation), his father smashing it so his son knew when he died suggests the toxic idea of “dying like a man” and acting “like a man” in general, we also get the idea that Vidal was told to do this by the way he treats women. Suggesting that although Vidal is an evil and cruel villain, he is also a victim.

The watch is the first thing we see of Vidal, implying how punctual and systematic he is to the audience, it links to him being leader since he is a captain. This could have links to obeying and therefore fascism as Vidal is obeying the time and making sure he does everything on time and systematically, including whatever he is instructed to do by people above him regarding the rebels.

The watch adds to the theme of morality after witnessing Ofelia’s death. The idea of time continuing and ticking forward reminds the audience that humans are not immortal and that their life will end. Especially since the watch was smashed by Vidal’s father when he died. This has links to the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939), which the film was set shortly after, as around 500,000 people died. The film could therefore be suggesting the fragility of life especially in war and presents  war and the results of war in a negative light.

The aesthetics are that the reader is reminded of death and morality which could have a Gothic feature link which is a genre that Del Toro often uses. This makes the audience feel uneasy as they feel something bad is going to happen regarding death, especially since they already know that Ofelia dies through dramatic irony. In terms of influences from other films, “Alice in Wonderland” can be referenced throughout the film. Ofelia like Alice enters another fantasy world, and it’s left ambiguous whether this world is real or fake. The watch has a link to the Alice in Wonderland character the, white  rabbit, with both Vidal and the white rabbit the watch is one of the first things we associate and see with that character.  As the white rabbit is a symbol for Alice’s search for knowledge an audience member may think that Vidal sparks Ofelia’s desire to understand what’s going on around her more as she is entered into a dangerous and new territory where Vidal is her biggest threat.

What: Action reaction shot in the paleman scene

When Ofelia proceeds through her second challenge, she disobeys and eats the food causing the paleman to wake up and start chasing her. The paleman is powerful but slow, someone that Ofelia could easily overpower. However, part of the reason why there is still tension despite this is because of the action reaction shots when Ofelia is running away.

The action reaction shot links to the action reaction shot’s at the end of the movie when Ofelia is running away from Vidal, who is also powerful but slower than Ofelia. Vidal is linked to the paleman in several different ways throughout the movie and the action reaction shot with Ofelia is one of them.

The action reaction shots partly showed how Ofelia was in danger after disobeying (disobeying and obedience is a theme); and as the paleman and obeying are linked to fascism and Vidal, some audiences may think that the editing is linked into this political context. That going against fascism can be dangerous, however as the film also portrays, is the right moral thing to do. This links in to the fact that the film was set after the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939). The film often links fascism to obeying without questioning and how this can be morally incorrect, so disobeying like Ofelia is praised, and therefore why disobeying is what made her succeed in her tasks. Using a child could show how impressionable a young child can be to these things, but how they can change for the better and lead to a better future.

The action reaction shots also allows for different sounds to be used, and therefore for the audience to feel a certain way. When we see Ofelia running away we hear her breathing loudly meaning we can hear her panic as well as see it, this builds up the tension and the audiences concern for Ofelia. When it cuts back to the paleman, we hear animal noises suggesting that the paleman is animal like and possibly savage. We also hear the cracking noises that link him to the faun, a reason why some viewers might believe that they are actually the same person.

The action reaction shot also links into to the parallel action of Ofelia running from the paleman to the exit and the timer, which is very close to having run out of time, seemingly trapping her there with the paleman who we know from the mise en scene to be dangerous. This is another way of building tension, as we not only see Ofelia’s concern and panic, but as an audience, adding time pressure always increases the tension, especially when you come to care for the character involved which the majority of the audience would have done with Ofelia. This links into the theme of time and morality which is commonly represented with Vidal and his fathers watch, some audiences might take the meaning to be that it shows the fragility of life and how it will come to an end; which can be linked to the Spanish Civil War again where around 500,000 people died.

When: Ending

The performance of Vidal in the ending scene agrees strongly with his character. After shooting Ofelia, his character movement is him stumbling out of the labyrinth carrying his son because he has been drugged with sleeping medication. However, when he see’s the rebels (including Mercedes) his character movement changes, he lifts his chin up as a gesture, stands up straight and strongly walks towards them. This could be because Vidal values his dignity and pride, and although clearly defeated, is attempting to cling on to as much pride and dignity that he has left. His facial expression also shows this because it shows both knowing defeat and sternness. This sense of being strong even when clearly he has been defeated probably came from his father and the toxic masculinity that was passed down to him, he felt he needed to ‘die like man’ and act like a man his whole life, effecting him negatively.

Before this, along with the cinematography Vidal’s performance shows that he has been drugged with sleeping medication through his movement as he stumbles, walks much slower than Ofelia despite being taller and therefore probably faster, and has to stop to lean against things such as walls from time to time. This links him to the paleman who was also slower than Ofelia, and although powerful was slow and therefore not necessarily a threat. However, Vidal is a threat because he has a gun.

When Vidal is about to shot Ofelia, he again uses his right hand. He uses his right hand to hold the gun when he shoots. This links him to fascism because of right wing politics which contrasts him to Ofelia, who is often associated with the left throughout the film. Fascism links back into to the Spanish civil war, which the film was set shortly after. As Del Toro wanted to explore the effect that war had on children (which is a theme) the use of the right hand was probably intentional from that perspective as well, as fascism (symbols) hurt and killed her. However, because Vidal is holding the gun in his right hand it means he’s holding his baby son in his left. This could hint to show that the baby well be set on a better track and with less obeying with no question of morality, this would make sense as Mercedes is left with the baby. It could also show that Vidal doesn’t care for the baby, and instead just cared about passing down his family name.

What: Non-diegetic sound in the paleman scene

The paleman is presented with many loud non-diegetic noises. When he first wakes up after Ofelia eats the food, there are loud bangs to match how his hands are starting to stiffly move. When he holds his hand up to see Ofelia, we hear strained animal noises, suggesting that the paleman is animal like which matches his cracking and strained breathing. This make him more scary to the audience and therefore builds tension, it might make up for the fact he’s so slow. If we link the paleman back to Vidal, we could suggest that the strained noises therefore can be related to him also, maybe representing how Vidal himself is a broken man or go further and suggest that Vidal’s fascism is represented as they treated people like animals during the war. There are also wind noises associated with the paleman, when Ofelia first notices him and when he lifts his hand up to see her, the link back to a force in nature could suggest he’s powerful, which could also link back to Vidal.

When we see the horrific images of the dying children on the wall, there is the non-diegetic sound of babies screaming, meaning the audience’s response is to feel disgusted, sad, and worry for Ofelia as we know the paleman is evil, and that if she isn’t the lost princess he will catch her. The images on the wall are a direct link to Goya, Saturn eating his son.

There are exaggerated non-diegetic sounds such as the key that Ofelia uses. When she gets her key out, it makes a magical, shiny noise which adds to the theme of fantasy and the fact that this is part a fairy-tale film. The dagger also has an exaggerated non-diegetic sound, when Ofelia runs her hand along the blade, it makes a high pitched, short, shiny noise. This also adds to the element of a fairy-tale but also shows how sharp the blade is, which is important to know because the blade is used later in the film.

The paleman’s eyes have a sound when Ofelia lifts them up on a plate, they have a gross, quieter sound that adds to the disturbance of the scene. Del Toro said that the reality world as just as dangerous as the real world, and the paleman is one of the reasons why that is true. The eye’s making sound emphasises it because it’s disturbing and gross.

The non-diegetic drumming in the background could mimic her heartbeat as she would be afraid and it’s something commonly done in films to build tension. When Ofelia is running, the brass instruments in the music play notes that increase in pitch causing tension to be built in the audience. The music stops immediately when Ofelia shuts the hatch, creating the barrier between the two worlds and putting an end to the tension. Plus, as Ofelia, a child, was able to escape something so tense and dangerous, it adds to the film’s idea that children can be treated like adults and shouldn’t be spoken down to. Hence why at the end of the movie, Ofelia isn’t greeted like a child in the fantasy world by her parents but instead like an adult and is give her throne.

What: watch in the opening scene

Vidal’s watch is commonly seen through close ups throughout the film. The first time we see the watch is the first time we see Vidal, (“15 minutes late”), on the one hand it emphasises his punctuality and leadership, but also has a deeper meaning. The watch is logocentric and is a metonym for Vidal, it is a small prop (therefore part of mise en scene) but represents all of Vidal. The watch face is cracked, which could suggest that Vidal himself is a damaged man. This may be referencing to the toxic masculinity that is explored during the film, that men were forced/expected to ‘act like a man’ and ‘die like a man’, to be strong and overpower women, Vidal followed these toxic commands because of his father, and although it doesn’t excuse him for what he did, it makes him a victim and presents him as a broken man. We learn straight away with help from the watch, what type of character Vidal is like, that he is punctual and leader like, he needs everyone to act by his time.

A theme throughout the film is death and mortality, the watch is a big part of these themes. Vidal  got his watch from his father, who smashed the watch when he died so that Vidal would know when he died; which is a legacy that Vidal tries to pass down later in the film but cannot, stopping the passing of toxic masculinity. The ticking of the watch emphasises to the audience, the time of life ticking down and how it can end at any moment, humans are mortal. Vidal using his watch the first time we see him, could possibly foreshadow that he dies at the end of the film and/or gives a circular structure to the movie, as he takes out his watch at the end of the movie as well as the beginning. The theme of death was possibly explored because of the Spanish Civil War, the film was set just after this time (1944), emphasising mortality shows the fragility of life, especially with war.