Scene: The last ten minutes

Throughout the movie, the contrast of yellow to blue lighting is used for several different meanings. During the last ten minutes of the film, the colours are not only used individually, but also collide. Blue lighting is typical linked to Vidal (and therefore fascism) throughout the film. This is because blue has the connotation of coldness and possibly gives the audience a sense of danger when paired with the low key lighting. During this scene, Vidal physically comes around from the corner with his men, from where there is blue lighting. The scene also plays out largely in blue lighting, such a when Vidal is chasing Ofelia through the labyrinth. It gives the sense of danger and coldness to Vidal, it matches the actions taking place in the film as well. The blue is typically used to show the reality world, however sometimes this changes. When Ofelia is with the faun both at the beginning and at the end, the lighting is blue. Some viewers may believe that this is because the faun is untrustworthy until the end and therefore fits the blue lighting, rather than have a connection to the fantasy world which is red and yellow/gold. Due to the faun pushing commands on Ofelia, he is linked to the theme of obeying and fascism, which is another reason for him to have blue lighting and why the blue lighting may not indicate the fantasy world.  Ofelia being young and a woman, contrasts the adult male’s (Vidal’s) opinions and ideas about women and children, as they are more independent and powerful than he chooses to believe.

The yellow lighting contrasts the blue. The yellow is often used to show the fantasy world, at the end, a golden light fills up the screen to take Ofelia into the fantasy world with her parents, where the mise en scene is red and gold. It’s also used when Ofelia opens up her book (as it highlights her face), and during tasks such as the toad and the paleman scene. Plus, at the beginning with Carmen in the car, when Ofelia first discovers the fairy. During the ending of the movie, the yellow lighting is also used with Mercedes. This could be because Mercedes is worthy to know about the magical place as it’s said previously that she used to believe in fairies (I find this a bit ironic as in the Narnia Chronicles, one of which Del Toro was offered the  opportunity to direct, Susan, isn’t allowed back to Narnia when she stops believing which is the opposite to Mercedes). However, it could also have reference to Mercedes being a mother figure for Ofelia after her mother’s death. Del Toro said that red and yellow were used partly because they were internal colours that, paired with the fallopian tube imagery, shows Ofelia’s desire to be back inside her mother (hence why she gets ‘reborn’ at the end of the movie). I think this is because of her loneliness due to the effect that war had on her which is a theme explored throughout as it’s set during the Spanish civil war. Mercedes having the yellow lighting, like her mother at the beginning, shows to me that Mercedes has become a mother figure. Especially since the camera shot at the end when Ofelia was dead included Mercedes, unlike at the beginning, possibly suggesting that she’s not alone.

Throughout the film, the theme of obedience and disobedience is explored. Obedience to commands without thinking of morals is linked to fascism and Vidal. Disobeying is praised, Ofelia succeeds in her tasks because she disobeys, she picks a different lock (the left lock which is linked to left wing) and doesn’t follow the fauns commands to harm her brother, she follows her correct morals and doesn’t spill the blood of an innocent (“You promised to obey me! Give me the boy!”). The doctor, explicitly says that obeying without thinking is something that Vidal would do, and frowns upon him for. The doctor disobeys Vidal and kills the rebel to prevent him from anymore suffering, causing his own death (“But Captain, to obey – just like that – for obedience’s sake… without questioning… That’s something only people like you do.”).

Key Quotes

• “You promised to obey me! Give me the boy!”
• “But Captain, to obey – just like that – for obedience’s sake… without questioning… That’s something only people like you do.”

Obeying commands could also link to the repeated link to words and how much they actually mean. Throughout the film ,words (and therefore commands) are portrayed as unimportant. When Ofelia doesn’t want to call Vidal her father, she is told that it is just a word. Suggesting that there is no meaning behind it, it’s a hollow word. Plus, when Ofelia is asked to give up the baby by the faun, she initially shakes her head instead of saying no, suggesting that actions can speak louder than words. Also, the lullaby is wordless. It’s even explicitly said so, as Mercedes says the lullaby she knows she cannot remember the words of. But the lullaby is significant and is a motif throughout the film, suggesting that words aren’t as important as they seem, and therefore another reason why listening to commands shouldn’t come before morals. It could also suggest genuine emotion and empathy, that Mercedes genuinely cares for Ofelia, because she isn’t speaking hollow words  but is instead showing how she cares (actions speak louder than words) that is also played during her death, emphasising the emotion behind the wordless song, unlike the commands of Vidal that he both gives and would receive.

At the beginning, when Ofelia opens up her fairy tale book, it lights up her face. This is a feature commonly used in films. There is a great contrast between the blue lighting of reality with the yellow lighting of the pale man set (also low key to high key), we also get a reverse tracking shot to see how big the red and gold room is. The red and gold are used throughout the film, commonly to represent the fantasy world compared to the blues and greens of the reality. Del Toro said that red and gold are internal colours, and are used to portray Ofelia’s want to be close to her mother again, or even back inside her. This could be due to loneliness because of the war/Vidal. Throughout the scene, the main focus is on Ofelia, she is in almost every shot. After Ofelia has eaten the food, after being told not to (theme of disobedience), the audience can see the paleman in the background. There is dramatic irony when we know that he is coming before she does. The camera then keeps flicking back and forth between the two, building tension. When Ofelia is trying to escape, the camera goes out of the fantasy world and into reality, causing a clear separation.

The paleman is rigid, stiff and slow. Ofelia could easily overpower him (with the dagger) but doesn’t even consider doing so, which contrasts her to Vidal who murders her at the end of the film for no reason. The paleman links to Vidal because he staggers and is slow like Vidal at the end of the movie after being drugged, and because he also sits at the head of the table. Ofelia picks the left lock. This has a political link as Vidal is commonly linked to the right as he is a fascist. This also shows disobedience as the picture showed her picking the middle lock, throughout the film obedience is related back to fascism and how obeying commands isn’t always good. Ofelia disobeying, is something she has to do in order to complete this task and the last one, contrasting her to Vidal and fascism. (Pan’s Labyrinth and Disobedience)As well as this, Ofelia climbs up to get out of the room, linking that room to hell. You could argue that the pale man is the faun is disguise. The faun moves in a rigid and stiff way like the faun and poses no real threat to Ofelia as he is slow, possibly showing that it was a task on morality made by the faun and that Ofelia was never in danger. Plus, the fairies laugh at him, suggesting that he is the faun as otherwise we would believe they would be afraid. Plus, at the end, all of the fairies are in the golden afterlife with Ofelia and her parents, despite the paleman having killed multiple of them, suggesting that the task wasn’t actually real and instead just testing Ofelia’s morality.

There is lots of red in the paleman’s room suggesting danger, it is also a colour commonly linked to the fantasy world. The food on the table is even read, also suggesting danger. There are horrific images around the room, which possibly foreshadow the final task with the brother, and look like church paintings therefore giving a powerful image and links to the theme of religion. The horrific images show babies and children dying, which is a contextual reference to Goya’s Saturn eating his son. The fallopian tube symbol is shown again, which links to the theme of Ofelia’s loneliness and wanting to be closer to her mother and woman hood, in the book as the paleman’s arms curve round to form the shape. There are also more political and social contextual references, the shoe pile could have a link to the Nazi’s with the concentration camps. As well as the fact that Ofelia picks the left lock, contrasting her with right wing fascism. There’s also another hell reference, there is a fire in the room near the paleman. In terms of props, the dagger makes the audience feel more tense as it’s dangerous. I think there could be link between the fact that the paleman has holes in the centre of his hands, which is were he puts his eyes, which is the same place that one of Vidal’s men (or Vidal?) shots one of the rebels in an elongated moment, especially since the paleman can be linked to Vidal. The idea of seeing for himself and obedience is blurred, showing the cruelness and violence of fascism and Vidal.

There are exaggerated sounds, such as the sound that the dagger makes and the sound that the key makes which adds to the fantasy feel of the scene. We also hear the eye make sound which makes the audience feel gross and possibly a sense of danger. We also hear the close sonic perspective of Ofelia’s heavy breathing again, making us feel close to her and worry for her, especially when the paleman wakes up with his overly loud bang noises. The paleface man has strained and cracking like breathing linking him to animals. Plus, there is drumming which could mimic Ofelia’s heartbeat, adding to the them of mortality and death. We also hear sounds of what we see (as well as the eye) such as the fire, and the non-diegetic noise of the babies screaming when we see the pictures. Once Ofelia has returned to the reality world, there are mechanical noises which emphasises that she has returned and could be because of the mill.

The editing builds tension. There are action reaction shots of the paleman and Ofelia when she is running away from him and parallel action of Ofelia trying to escape and the the timer, making the audience feel tense as we don’t want her to be trapped with a murderous creature. When Ofelia does try and escape, her head and feet are separated, she is in separate worlds, emphasising that the fantasy world isn’t just in her head.

Sound

• We hear Vidal and his men coming before we see them – we worry for Ofelia
• Clock ticking adding to the theme of death and Vidal’s identity
• The bomb (?) makes Vidal notice Ofelia
• Sound shows Vidal has been drugged (piano)
• Vidal’s walking is exaggerated
• Piano in the background plays a melody that isn’t nice – fitting the mood
• Music when Vidal enters the labyrinth, big scale and a bit church like (could link to the fantasy place as it looks church like – links to immortality and being reborn)
• Music builds tension – strings (stabs) and the cello etc are like a heart beat
• Ofelia’s heavy breathing
• Vidal’s heavy breathing
• Wooden creaky sounds of the faun and monstrous sounds (like a lion)
• Exaggerated sound of the dagger – repeated from the pale man scene
• Sound indicates that the faun has left so we just see Vidal come up behind Ofelia
• Loud gunshot
• Sound of the watch starts after close up – themes
• Strings and piano
• Lullaby
• Goes back to the voiceover – bookeneded by fairytale structure
• Ruled with kindness unlike Vidal

Cinematography

• Vidal and his men come from around the corner where there is blue lighting
• Low key lighting
• The shot were Vidal notices Ofelia makes us worry for her. She is smaller, making her seem vulnerable. Vidal is inside and Ofelia is on the border of outside the room.
• Close up of Vidal grabbing his gun – builds tension and worry
• The shot were Vidal is physically above Ofelia due to the staircase, making him appear more powerful
• The yellow lighting when Mercedes goes to find Ofelia – shows her as a good character who would genuinely help and has links to the magical world and Mercedes as a mother figure
• Mercedes can see the chalk because she’s worthy (could be because she used to believe in fairies and links to voiceover at the end saying Ofelia left things which can be seen by those who know where to look – could have a spanish civil war link as things and people are still being found)
• Camera pan’s round so we can see Mercedes worried expression and then the chalk – proving that the fantasy world is real (as does the close up of the flower at the end)
• The fire from the bombs creates yellow – the clash of the blue and yellow lighting/colours shows the clash of the two worlds/ the characters
• Full moon – deadline of her tasks and gothic/supernatural/woman-hood (also reflected in the water later on)
• In one shot we see Ofelia run in the labyrinth and the Vidal come round  – building tension
• Camera shows the wall open up for Ofelia and shut beofre Vidal turns up – proves it’s real
• Blue lighting when Ofelia meets the faun
• We see Vidal behind Ofelia causing dramatic irony
• The shot showing that Vidal cannot see the faun could be because he is drugged, because the fantasy world isn’t real, or because he isn’t worthy of seeing him or because it shows his political close mindedness and wolrd close mindedness, he cannot think otherwise nor wants to
• Sound indicates that the faun has left so we just see Vidal come up behind Ofelia
• We see the worry on Ofelia’s face when Vidal takes the baby
• Close up of the watch then the sound starts
• We see Mercedes by her side unlike at the beginning showing Ofelia is not alone
• Golden lighting takes her to the fantasy place
• Camera goes up when she’s dying paired with choir singing
• We see the tree in high key lighting and the flower with the fairy (which proves the world is real)

Performance

• Vidal walks slower than Ofelia because of the sleeping medication, but it links him to the pale face man who also walked slowly
• Ofelia circles because she hit a dead end which builds tension
• The way that Ofelia holds the baby is very protective
• The faun is more agressive and manipulative than before
• She doesn’t obey – adding to the theme of disobedience
• She initially doesn’t speak no just shakes her head which adds to the emptiness/non-use of words throughout the film
• Ofelia speaks boldly and in short sentences, she is powerful and confident and will stand up for what she believes in
• Vidal forcefully turns Ofelia around
• Vidal towers over Ofelia
• Ofelia looks around to the faun for help
• Getting out the gun builds tension
• Shots her near her womb/guts and there’s no reason for it, picks a long death rather than a quick one or just not killing her- brutality
• Stands up straight when he see’s them – he wants to appear like he isn’t vulnerable/pride/resolute
• Vidal forms a fist around the watch and lifts his chin up
• Tell him what time his father died – theme of death and like his father – passing on legacy
• He won’t even know your name – won’t carry on his ideas and toxic masculinity (link to another spanish dircetor who ignored Franco in his films?)
• Vidal gets shot on thr right hand side of his face (political)
• Drpping of innocent blood
• All of the fairies were there despite some of them being dead (the pale man scene was just a task)
• Faun reveals true nature
• Applause – everything is right

Editing

• The room wobbles when Vidal tries to leave the room (cinematography has been edited)
• The labyrinth walls open for Ofelia then shut on Vidal which emphasises that the fantasy world is real and allows the tension to lower slightly, so we can pay more attention to what the faun has to say
• Still breathing after the fanatsy scene could suggest she was imagining or that she went there before she died and therefore died happy. Plus with the lullaby, has the whole film been in her head? Fantasy of a dying girl.

Mise En Scene

• The war going on around to emphasise how the film explores how war effects children
• Faun’s face above the labyrinth as seen before and on the statue from the beginning
• The prop of the dagger causes another sense of danger and worry
• Watch before he dies – theme of death
• Ofelia holding the baby with the faun on the statue underground
• Red shoes – wizard of Oz and they are more practical than her other shoes (homecomingness)
• Gold and yellow of afterlife world contrats the blue and green world (it’s like she’s reborn at the end of the movie)
• Like a church – stainedglass windows etc
• Tall chairs – royalty/ links to not everyone is worthy/ status and power and they’re taller than Ofelia – intimidating/heaven/not treating her like a child as she has to join them
• The thrones look wooden like the faun
• Still patricharcy and sexist – king taller than the queen
• Empty throne for Ofelia
• Flower links to the flower in the story that gave immortality at the top of the mountain and the path was dangerous to get there/rebirth or birth

Representation

Age – childlren (Ofelia) shown as moraly correct in contrast to the adult (Vidal). Ofelia is also shown as bold.

Gender – toxic masculinity (die like a man etc) Vidal is evil but still a victim

Context

• Spanish civil war

Mother Figures and Loneliness

Throghout the film gold and red along with fallopian symbols are used to show Ofelia’s desire to be in/close with her mother again. She could feel lonely due to Vidal and the idfea of a sibling. The yellow lighting with Mercedes shows her as a mother figure, and her being in the shot when she’s dead unlike at the start shows she isn’t alone (not lonely anymore). Plus, the gold and red at the end shows her being close to her mother/reborn.

Explore how one example of cinematography is used in one sequence from your chosen film.

(I struggled to make ten points on just one example of cinematography so used multiple)

During the funeral scene for Carmen, there is high key lighting which contrasts to the usual low-key lighting of the film. This is unusual for a funeral scene, as they usually have low key lighting to reflect the sadness. However, we know that in Pan’s Labyrinth death is not the end, so Carmen’s death although sad led to something better. A large part of the film is shot with blue lighting. The connotation of blue is coldness and uninviting. The contrast of lighting colour in the doctors death scene which happens close to the funeral scene, with the funeral scene is drastic as when the doctor dies the shot looks blue but the funeral looks as though it has natural lighting. This separates Carmen’s death with the coldness of war and Vidal, again signifying that the film has afterlife.

The camera shots are used both during Carmen’s death scene and the funeral which happens straight after to portray how the characters are feeling. After Carmen has died, we see a close up of Ofelia’s face which highlights her pain and sadness, this contrasts to Vidal as we don’t see a close up reaction from him because he immediately went to see the baby (because he only ever cared for the baby not for Carmen). There’s also a close up of Mercedes before Carmen dies, which shows us that she has blood on her, this shows the audience that Carmen will probably die. As well as this, before the funeral scene we get a long shot of Ofelia with her in the centre emphasising how lonely she is now that her mother has gone, the audience feels empathy for her and possibly worry as we know she is vulnerable against Vidal.

During the funeral scene for Carmen, we see a mid shot of everyone who attended. With this mid-shot, we can see that everyone is grieving apart from Vidal who is paying attention to the baby, the audience is again shows how Captain Vidal didn’t care for Carmen but instead viewed as a baby maker. This links to the representation in the film, at the beginning, women were portrayed as submissive and in need of men’s care, the men in the film, specifically Vidal, agreed with this. Throughout the film, we see how the representation switches as the women (Mercedes) take control and prove people like Vidal who underestimates them wrong.

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.

Some influencers:

• James Whale’s Frankenstein
• Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt
• Terence Fisher films
• Ingmar Bergman

Frequent elements of the protagonist character arc

• Face a choice, to deal with their own mistakes or let others suffer
• To fit in to what is expected or stand out.
• Put aside vengeance and mistrust for the greater good.
• To kill or not to kill

Choice is what separates is protagonists and his antagonists as his villains are never shown to have to choose to continue with their actions. This is a reason why people feel his characters are well written and are continuous.

“I never fail” – An example of a villain who doesn’t ever make a choice. (Plus there’s heavy rain when is a Del Toroizm)

Similarities between protagonists

• Many of them are orphans (in or be set before the film)
• We often see the person that the main character loves the most die or dying which is often a parent (or a parent is one of them)
• Often have a power or an ability that other people in the film don’t have/aren’t capable of. This commonly the ability to see spirits or to see into another world but we also see super human strength and agility

Del Toro treats the fantastical as the mundane

• In Devils Backbone the first ghost sighting is during the day and purposely edited to not be scary
• In Pan’s Labyrinth the first magical character Ofelia meets is a fairy and it almost plays out as though she were expecting it to happen
• And specific rim starts years after humans have had their fast encounter with something else

Other films have to give lots of rules to make it believable. But as the magical in Del Toro films isn’t treated as overly special and doesn’t have a huge impact on the daily life of the characters, you don’t have to give a lot of exposition.

Mise en Scene

• His films are constantly gorgeous to look at. It’s the difference in designing something to look cool and designing something to tell you about the character.
• He’s a believer in encouraging the set to be character itself, building at least one big statement piece on to every set. It’s his way of connecting story moments with locations.

Colour

• He often uses colour to help tell his story.
• Common tones are yellow, blue and green which will often change dramatically per sequence such as in Pan’s Labyrinth where you have the blue vs the gold and red. When the magical and ‘real’ world collide, they colour difference starts to become more noticeable (battle between two worlds) and sets that were once coloured one way are now coloured another as they have been affected by one of the two worlds. He wanted to show the difference in intention between both story lines and the effect Ofelia’s story had on the world. You can find more control of colour in most of his other films where lighting will dramatically change from environment to environment including in the same scene to coincide with a characters journey or spiritual direction.

Yellow/blue/green

Difference in lighting

Logic and showing vs telling

Del Toro hates the need for perfect logic in films his beliefs that the strongest story telling comes from a place of mystery and awe and that not everything has to make effect sense. However audiences often do think about the logic and he has been criticised for not being able to get great performances from his actors, a possible reason is that he is an extremely visual story teller. He shows things rather than using long dialogue (telling). This means any problem with the actors, might be down to the script. His lean on visual style has stopped many of his films from achieving as well as they could have but more often than not, when he leads on his world creation abilities his films get closer to achieving it.

Del Toroizms

• Religious symbolism
• Scene taking place at night
• Scene taking place underground
• Heavy rain
• Orphans
• Clockwork
• Children dying
• Creepy stuff in glass containers
• The camera always moving and rarely stopping
• Creatures and monsters

The monsters are human

A common theme is that the humans are monsters and the monsters are often human. As well as this, the human character that is the villain tends to take advantage of the monster. Del Toro said as he was bullied growing up because of his size, he relates more to his movie monsters than the people. This is a perspective that sees them as misunderstood creatures and not necessarily stereotypical monsters. Del Toro could be showing the desire for acceptance and how society should be more accepting.

An example of a monster who is ‘human’ (but not a protagonist)

One of the main things I noticed about the film was the use of colour. Del Toro often uses colour to tell a story and he defiantly did so in Pan’s Labyrinth. The ‘reality’ world is largely made from blues and greens making it cold an uninviting. For example, the lighting is often blue, such as when Ofelia gets into bed with her mother. The mise en scene is also what makes this blue and green common; the costume design is a key element when it comes to colour telling the story. Ofelia wears a green dress when in ‘reality’, she physically takes it off before entering the tree. To contrast, when she is reborn at the end of the movie into the magical world, she is wearing gold and red which matches the colour scheme for that world throughout the film. Things like Ofelia’s red shoes and the close up of them could be a link to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ as Dorothy’s red shoes. The gold and red colours are more inviting and are internal colours which matches the frequent reproductive system imagery.

The fallopian tubes are an image that frequent occurs during the movie. This links with Ofelia’s desire to be close to her mother again after the war had affected her life. Del Toro wanted to explore the effect that war had on children, it’s part of the theme and binary oppositions brutality vs innocence. The war took her dad and then her mum re-married to Vidal who was part of the war leaving Ofelia in a situation and place she didn’t want to be in. The internal colours of the magical world and the tree being in the shape of fallopian tubes (mise en scene) therefore makes it a metaphor when Ofelia climbs into the tree (wants to be close to her mother again) and means that at the end of the movie she is reborn. This added to the sympathy that I already felt for Ofelia. There were other fallopian tube symbols in the movie such as in Ofelia’s book, the fauns antlers and a picture of the pale faced man in Ofelia’s book forms the shape of fallopian tubes.

I tend to think Del Toro puts masses of detail into his films regarding recurring symbols. In this movie time and hands were repeated many times but one that stuck out to me was the use of words. Ofelia’s mother tells her to call Vidal her father and that it is just a word, suggesting there was no meaning behind it. Plus, the doctor gave the speech about obeying just because people were told to which had a connection to the use of words. As well as this, the lullaby that Mercedes sings Ofelia which becomes a frequent melody throughout the film is wordless. I think Del Toro is trying to suggest that people other than Vidal use actions to express emotions whereas Vidal will use words which can be hollow, and that even if he does use actions he’s often just obeying because he’s told to.  He’s cruel and insincere, which we can tell from his actions as well.

Time was also mentioned and hinted at many times, especially with Vidal. His father smashed his watch so that he knew what time he had died, he asked Mercedes for his son to know the same. As well as this, he frequently checks his watch (a prop which is part of mise en scene) and we get frequent close ups of the watch because of this as well as being able to hear it tick, I think the first words we hear him say are stating that Ofelia and her mother are late. This could link to Ofelia’s story that she tells her brother about the flower that grants immortality, and how there were poisons thorns that guarded it, but all people spoke about was how dangerous it was and never the reward. It cuts to Vidal during this scene. I think Vidal is a contrast to the story, that it suggests that he believes he is ‘immortal’ because he thinks he’s better than everyone else, such as he believed he could defeat the rebels. His constant checking of time supports this as it could be a hint to how short life is, even for Vidal who seems to feel indestructible. It’s possible that the thorns in the story for Vidal were his actions that were cruel and evil, causing his own downfall and un-deservingness of immortality.

The violence in the film was significant in terms of characters and who they are. Vidal, was cruel and murdered without a thought. Ofelia, was passive even when faced with the pale faced man and had the dagger (mise en scene – prop). Mercedes was brutal but did it for her safety. I think Del Toro often uses violence to explore characters, I noticed similar scenarios in films like ‘The Shape of Water’ and ‘The Devils Back Bone’ (which is actually a sister movie to Pans Labyrinth).

Some of my information was from this website: http://panslabyrinth.co.uk/

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Plot

In 1944 at the end of the Spanish civil war, Ofelia seeks refuge in a mysterious labyrinth and follows three dangerous tasks set for her by a magical creature who tells her she is the lost princess. Meanwhile, her mother (who has recently married a horrible man), is having pregnancy issues.

Spanish Civil War

Ofelia 

A brave, kind, young girl who is interested in fairy tales who seeks refuge in a labyrinth. She follows three dangerous tasks set to her by a faun and struggles with loneliness and the health issues her mother has regarding her pregnancy. Del Toro explores the way war effected children through this character and Ofelia also had to cope with her step-father who has no interest in her, and who is a horrible man. She is told by the faun that she is the long lost princess of the kingdom.

Mercedes 

Mercedes works as a house keeper for Captain Vidal (Ofelia’s step father) and forms a bond with Ofelia. Mercedes fights against Captain Vidal secretly along with the doctor but eventually has to face him.

Pan

A satyr/the faun who guards the labyrinth. He is complimentary and playful but also fierce, this represents both the bad and good in natures forces. Pan sets Ofelia the three dangerous tasks she must do, he needs her to discover the truth.

Captain Vidal 

He is a captain in Franco’s army and the new husband to Carmen (Ofelia’s mother). Along with soldiers he is attempting to find and kill resistance fighters near by. He is a cold, horrible and violent man who has no interest in fathering Ofelia. Without hesitation, he told the nurses that if Carmen must die to save the baby, they must do it which suggests he didn’t love Carmen either.

Carmen 

Ofelia’s mother and Captain Vidal’s wife. She is pregnant with Captain Vidal’s baby and is having serious pregnancy issues. She would like Ofelia and Vidal to get along, this might be why she told Ofelia to put away her books about fairies as Vidal would not have approved.

The Doctor 

He is the towns doctor and is secretly helping the resistance fighters with Mercedes. He must make a serious decision when it comes to helping the resistance. He also helps Carmen with her pregnancy problems.

About the Film 

• Directed by Guillermo del Toro
• Doug Jones played the creatures (he often appears in del Toro’s films)
• There are lots of metaphors and lots of symbolism around hands, faces, eyes, time and the use of words
• Innocence vs brutality is a theme throughout the film
• The fantasy world was as dangerous and real as the real world.
• The fantasy world is actually real, it’s not just inside Ofelia’s head. We know this because Ofelia was able to draw doors with the chalk Pan gave her and because of the flower at the end of the film.
• The violence was significant and had meaning behind it. This is the same with other films directed by Guillermo del Toro too such as ‘The Shape of Water’
• The iconic tree looks like fallopian tubes, the child entering the tree is like her being re-born. The film is full of baby and child imagery because Ofelia is re-born at the end of the movie and because most of the fantasy world she would dream of is going back in to her mothers womb. The colours of the magical world are golden and scarlet because they are internal colours and the rest of the world is blues and greens and pale greys which makes it more cold and un-inviting. Ofelia even takes off her green dress before entering the tree.
• ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ were both inspirations
• Pan the faun would “appear” to the director del Toro from behind a wardrobe in his grandmother’s house as a child
• The scene where Vidal beats an innocent man with a bottle was inspired by a fight in which Del Toro was in when he was younger with a friend who was being hit with a bottle (but less brutally)
• There is a lullaby that repeats throughout the film and can make the audience feel emotional

‘to obey – just like that – for obedience’s sake… without questioning… That’s something only people like you do.’ – the doctor

• The Spanish civil war was from 1936-1939
• The nationalists (forces on the right) were lead by Generals Franco and Sanjurjo. The republicans (forces on the left) were lead by Azana
• The nationalists received help from Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, the republicans received help from Russia along with volunteers from the United States and Europe.
• The nationalists won the civil war. They had better soldiers and Russia had withdrawn support from the republicans after failures.

A lot of my information came from this website:

The Spanish Civil War