With reference to ‘Pans’s Lanbyrinth, explore how cinematography makes meaning

In the ending of del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, the cinematography makes meaning through the lighting. Specifically, through the contrast of the low-key blue lighting and the yellow flood of lighting that takes Ofelia to the fantasy world which has high key lighting. The colour blue has connotations of coldness and is often associated with Vidal, and therefore fascism. For example, during the ending sequence there is a long shot of Vidal and his men coming around the corner in where there is blue lighting. The connotations of coldness and the link to fascism emphasises to the audience the negative effects that the Spanish Civil War had (which the film was set shortly after), especially on children who are represented by Ofelia. The theme of how war effects children is a common theme in del Toro’s films, it is also explored in ‘The Devils Backbone’ which del Toro calls the sister film to Pan’s Labyrinth.

The ending sequence shows the collisions of the real and the fantasy world through the coloured lighting. During the long shot of Vidal walking into the labyrinth to follow Ofelia, the sky is filled with both blue (real world) and golden yellow, which normally is associated with the fantasy world such as when in the middle sequence Ofelia opened the magical book given to her by the faun and a golden lighting lit up her face. The visual representation of the collision of the two worlds makes the audience feel tense and nervous for the characters that they love like Ofelia and Mercedes, as the cross over of the worlds must mean something big will happen. In this case, it was Ofelia refusing to cut her brother with the sharp dagger she received in the second task, meaning she unknowingly had done what the faun wanted her to do. But this meant that Vidal, while there was low key and blue lighting, shot her, causing her to die and spell her own innocent blood, completing the third task. Also, Vidal shot her in what appears like the gut/womb area, which links to the bildungsroman genre, as it’s showing how Ofelia’s growth into a woman has been stopped in death. In this moment the tension that has been built through the cinematography, such as the close up of Vidal grabbing his gun, fades away and the audience are left with sadness. The death of Ofelia links back to the Spanish civil war, because her death is permanent and will last forever, just like the effects that the Spanish civil war had didn’t all end in 1939 immediately.

The flood of high key golden yellow lighting takes Ofelia into the fantasy world. This world has high key lighting and is filled with golden yellow and red mise en scene, for example Ofelia’s outfit, just like the rest of the fantasy world. These colours give a connotation of warmth, making the audience feel as though Ofelia is now safe. However, some audience members might interpret that this was just a dream, a lost hope that the child had before dying as after we see Ofelia in this very happy scene there is a close up of her still alive but breathing, suggesting she has dreamt it all because she is not yet dead and so couldn’t have passed into the fantasy world.

The yellow lighting is also used on Mercedes when she is looking for Ofelia, and the camera pans around to show the chalk drawn on the wall. The yellow lighting is linked to the fantasy world, and so it being associated with Mercedes suggests that she is worthy of the magic and imagination that it holds, as does her ability to see the chalk that Ofelia previously drew. The shot of the chalk and the close up of the flower with high key lighting may to some audience members prove that the fantasy world wasn’t a fantasy and actually real, as the magical elements (chalk and flower) can actually be seen in the real world, this opinion is emphasised by the voice over that explains how people can see the fantasy world if they know what to look. This links back into the fairy-tale genre and story that was started at the beginning of the move, as the film starts and ends with this fairy-tale voice over, it makes the film bookended by it, making it one of the main themes and genres of the movie.

Cinematography

In the ending of Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth lighting is used to convey meaning to the audience in different ways. One way is to control how the audience feels. Aesthetically, when the lighting is low-key and blue, the audience feel fear and the coldness of the character Vidal due to blue having the connotation of coldness. This has links to fascism as Vidal is a fascist character who is portrayed very negatively throughout the movie which links to the Spanish Civil War which the film was set shortly after. The blue low-key lighting is used when Ofelia is running away. Due to her being a child the audience worry a lot for her as Vidal could easily overpower her. The blue lighting fits well with this scene as it’s a dangerous scene for the main character, meaning that lighting with connotations of fear is suitable.

This scene is also when the two-colour pallets in this film collide. The director Del Toro is known for his use of colour in movies, it’s one of the reasons why he can be described as an auteur. In Pan’s Labyrinth the colour pallets are red and gold against blue and green, but lighting is usually blue against the yellow. During the ending scene when Ofelia is running away from Vidal although the lighting is predominantly blue, the longshot of Vidal running into the labyrinth after Ofelia shows the collision of blue and yellow in the sky which represents the collision of the fantasy and real world.

After Ofelia has been shot by Vidal a flood of yellow takes her away from the real world and into the fantasy world. In the fantasy world the lighting is high-key and yellow which makes the audience feel happy as they no longer have to worry for Ofelia, they know that she is safe. This lighting contrasts to the blue of the real world but is similar to the lighting in her first and second task, the tree and the paleman, which are also part of the fantasy world. The lighting is mainly used to separate the two worlds, but audiences can question whether the fantasy world is even real. For example, the yellow light could appear like ‘the light at he end of the tunnel’ and that Ofelia has died and had then entered the fantasy world which is actually real due to innocent blood being spilt which was her third task to complete.

Editing

The editing in the Pale Man sequence in Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is used to create tension. The paleman is a character that Ofelia could easily overpower, he is slow moving, and Ofelia has a dagger. But Ofelia not using the dagger speaks to her character and could have links to her not being a villain and turning to violence when it’s not necessary like Vidal does which separates her from fascism; fascism was explored because the film was set after the Spanish Civil War. The fact that the paleman is easily overpowered means that things like sound and editing need to make up for it and build the tension in the audience, make the audience feel fear and concern. The action reaction shots of Ofelia and the paleman when Ofelia is running away help build the tension, they give the illusion that the paleman is closer to her than he actually is and the cuts back and forth build tension anyway. Especially when paired with the non-diegetic sounds of animal noises that the paleman has which add to the fear he causes within the audience.

The parallel action of the hourglass running out and Ofelia completing her third task also builds tension. When we first see the timer, it is to establish the scene and what is going to happen, the audience learns that it is a timed task and Ofelia must act quickly which builds tension. The shots of the hourglass then turn into parallel action as we see the hourglass during her task to remind us that she is being timed and must escape the danger and when Ofelia is running to build the tension. Seeing Ofelia running away from the Paleman with parallel action of the hourglass makes the audience scared and tense because they don’t want her to be trapped with him as she would be killed. When know she would be killed from the mise en scene such as the pile of children’s shoes which can be interpreted as the shoes of the wrong princess’s but also have a contextual link to the pile of clothes in the holocaust during world war 2.

Sound

In Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, one way the sound is used in the pale man scene is to make the scene feel fantasy like to the audience. When Ofelia gets the key and runs her finger along the dagger that she collects, there is an exaggerated and fantastical, non-diegetic sound that gives the impression of fantasy and fairy-tale. This could link to Pan’s Labyrinth having many genres, one of which being fantasy, but it could also suggest that this task is happening inside of Ofelia head.  The film leaves whether or not the fantasy place was ambiguous, relating the second task to fantasy through fantastical sounds could be a way of associating the other world with fantasy.

The sound is also used to build tension. There is non-diegetic drumming when Ofelia is running away from the paleman which could be interpreted as a heartbeat. This ties in with the theme of morality which is first introduced at the beginning of the film when the audience see’s Ofelia’s death reversed which causes dramatic irony for the rest of the film. Hearing a heartbeat like sound reminds us that Ofelia is mortal and that she can/is going to die, but it also reminds the audience themselves that they are mortal too. The close sonic perspective of Ofelia’s breathing which is a diegetic sound also helps build tension as it’s another way that the audience gets told that Ofelia is in danger causing them to feel fear and concern.

There is also an exaggerated foley sound for the fire which empathises the links to religion. The fire links to hell and the room through mise en scene links to a church.  Having a symbol of hell makes the audience anxious for Ofelia to leave the room but having it in a church like room is a link to the negative attitudes towards the church during the Spanish Civil War which ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ is set shortly after. This is done earlier on in the film when the person who works at the church is putting lots of food on his plate while talking about people starving due to the effects of the war.

Mise En Scene

In the pale man sequence of Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth there are many links to the church. The reverse tracking shot allows the audience to see how big the room is, but it also shows the pillars which remind the audience of churches. There’s also a fire with an exaggerated foley sound which links to hell causing fear. Plus, there are pictures around the room which look like murals/decoration you’d find in a church. These pictures are of dying babies and have a contextual link to Goya’s painting of Saturn eating his son; this then has reference to the second world war as Nazi’s targeted children due to them believe they were the source of Judaism and Saturn ate his son because he was afraid he would grow up and overpower him. This is presenting both the war and the church’s actions during the Spanish Civil War (which the film was set shortly after) negatively as the films links negative and fearful thigs with the church. The paleman himself even links to Jesus as he has the stigmata on his hands which are where his eyes go, but links to Jesus being crucified. Again, linking something so dangerous to the church is a way of presenting the negative attitude towards the church’s actions during the Spanish civil war. This was also done earlier in the film when the person who worked at a church piled lots of food on their plate while talking about other people starving.

The dagger that Ofelia uses helps to bring fear in the audience as the prop is sharp. Despite Ofelia having something dangerous and being a life-threatening situation, she lives which has links to the representation of age. Typically, audience members might assume that Ofelia will do worse at the task because she is so young, but the film proves that children can be strong with throughout the film.  Children are also represented as the source of a good future as she is shown to be more left wing than right and against fascism. One example of this is in the paleman scene when in the picture in the book her left hand is used to cover the middle keyhole but she opens the left keyhole anyway to show she is more left wing than fascist characters like Vidal who favours his right hand. This also has links to disobedience and how Ofelia refuses to follow Vidal’s rules, again showing how the children are to key to fighting against fascism after the Spanish Civil War.

Performance

During the final scene of Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth Vidal’s performance shows the audience the nature of his character. Even though he is heavily wounded due to Mercedes and is clearly defeated with the rebels surrounding him, he straightens his posture and walks more powerfully when he see’s the rebels because even when he knows that he is defeated he does not want to lose his dignity or sense of superiority over them; he is a captain during the time after the Spanish civil war. This is also supported by the proxemics as he chooses to stand tall in the middle of them instead od cowing in the corner to make him seem more powerful and try and keep his dignity. This links to the representation of gender and how his father would have passed on toxic masculinity to him which is why he feels he needs to “die like a man”; this links to him grasping his watch when he knows he is going to die. The watch is a metonym for Vidal, the cracked face represents Vidal as a broken person due to toxic masculinity. The watch was given to him by his father so he would know what time that he had died (which links to the theme of morality), Vidal wants to pass down this toxic masculinity and have his son told what time he died but Mercedes stops this from being done, showing that the children are the source of a positive future. It could also give a reason as to why he treats women so badly and why he see’s himself as above everyone else, it does not excuse him but the audience would feel a little sympathy for him.

Context

The mise en scene during the paleman sequence in Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth has many contextual links. For example, the pile of shoes in the paleman’s room can be interpreted as the shoes of the incorrect princesses but they are a contextual reference to the second world war and the holocaust. This has links to the horrific pictures around the room of children dying as these images are linked to Goya’s painting of Saturn eating his son which links to the holocaust because the Nazi’s targeted children because they thought that were the root of Judaism and Saturn was eating his son because he was afraid he would overpower him when he grew up.  These pieces of mise en scene make the audience feel afraid for Ofelia because she is a child and in danger, however she does survive which shows that the representation of age is that children are stringer than the adults in the film think.

The paleman room has many links to a church such as the horrific images, the pillars we see during the reverse tracking shot and the paleman having stigmata on his hands linking him to Jesus being crucified. The room is also portrayed as dangerous with mise en scene like the red food as red has the connotation of danger. Linking such a dangerous character and horrible room to the church represents the negative attitudes towards the church during the Spanish Civil War which the film was set shortly after. This idea was explored earlier in the film when a man who worked for the church was eating at a table with Vidal and was piling food on his plat while talking about how there were people out there starving.

Because the film is set after the Spanish Civil it explores the effect that war has on children which is something that Del Toro often does in his movies such as with ‘The Devils Backbone’. It’s also why the film explores fascism though characters like Vidal. Vidal is shown favouring his right hand which links him to right wing politics and as an evil and violent character fascist are portrayed as bad people. To contrast, Ophelia is shown to be more left wing and to be disobedient against fascism (disobedience being a theme throughout the film). During the paleman scene, the book (prop) which the faun gave Ophelia shows her what she must do. In the book, she is shown using her left hand (left wing) to cover the middle key hole. Despite this, and despite being told by the fairies to open the middle one, she opens the left key hole which shows her disobedience against fascism and her leaning towards left wing politics. This representation of age shows children as the future after the Spanish Civil War.

Aesthetics

During the ending of Pan’s Labyrinth when Ophelia is running away from Vidal there is blue low-key lighting that makes the audience feel cold and fear for Ophelia as blue has the connotation of coldness and because blue is associated with Vidal, who is a dangerous fascist character, throughout the movie. The lighting is also blue and low key when Vidal shots Ophelia. This lighting shows that Ophelia is surrounded by the danger of fascists like Vidal and the effects of the Spanish Civil War that the film was set shortly after, the effect that war has on children is something that Del Toro often explores in his films such as Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devils Backbone. The church non-diegetic choir singing sound when Vidal walks into the labyrinth is not the only church reference in the scene, when Ophelia is greeted by her mother and father in the magical world the mise en scene looks like a church with stained glass windows and pews, this contrast to the previous negative attitudes towards the church that were presented throughout the film.

The colour pallet in movies is a notable ‘Del Toroizm’, he uses colour in every movie to help get across meaning such as the fear from the blue and to show how the real world is represented with blue and green and the magical world is represented with yellow and red. In the last sequence, the collision between the two worlds is shown with the long shot of Vidal walking into the labyrinth and the sky is blue and yellow, this makes the reader feel tense as the collision of the two worlds means something has to happen which could be bad.  Del Toro can be called an auteur because he has input in every aspect of the movie, the park of Bomarzo was a real place that he took inspiration from as well as the initiation wells at Quinta de Regaleira in Portugal these helped him to design the mise en scene in the film.

To contrast, the yellow flood of light that takes Ophelia into the magical world after being shot in which the lighting and mise en scene such as set design is yellow and red makes the audience feel calmer as it feels like Ophelia is safe now, she’s away from the dangers of fascism and the aftermath of the Spanish civil war. In this scene the mise en scene has references to other movies that Del Toro took inspiration from. Such as, Ophelia’s red shows link to ‘The Wizard od Oz’ and therefore the idea of going home, suggesting that Ophelia is home now and will be much happier. Despite it being a much happier place, the mise en scene does provide some discomfort to the audience. The chairs that Ophelia and her parents have suggest a hierarchy as the king is taller than the queen and princess. This represents the gender inequality that also existed in the real world which could be suggesting the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War as the problems didn’t stop immediately – even when Ophelia had entered a magical world/afterlife some problems still carried on making the audience feel sad. However, these chairs also provided closure to the bildungsroman genre/coming of age theme in the movie. Fallopian tubes were shown throughout such as with the fauns horns which was one way of highlighting that Ophelia was growing up and there’s chairs provide evidence to the audience that Ophelia has grown up as she is not greeted like a child but like an adult and must and can get to the high seat herself.

Representation

The representation of gender in the opening of Pan’s Labyrinth sets up female stereotypes and then breaks them down later in the film. Carmen, Ophelia’s mum, is pregnant and very ill due to pregnancy issues. When she needs help, all the people who come to her aid are men suggesting that women need help from men to the audience. This changes as the film progresses with characters like Mercedes whose performance shows that she can stand up for herself. Vidal’s dialogue expresses that he doesn’t need help when he has Mercedes because she’s a woman, but she proves him wrong and her performance shows this as she is smarter than him and is able to physically stand up for herself. The representation of gender here is that the women are stringer than the men think.

However, toxic masculinity is also portrayed in the opening. The first time we see Vidal his performance shows his leader like attributes such as punctuality, the first thing we hear him say is “15 minutes late”. This has links to him being a captain during the time after the Spanish Civil War which the film was set shortly after. He is also shown with his watch which has a foley ticking sound that is louder than you’d expect to emphasise it’s purpose which is that it is a metonym for Vidal. The watch represents Vidal as a person, it has a cracked face meaning that Vidal is a broken man probably because of his father passing down toxic masculinity to him which doesn’t excuse him but is something that happened. His father smashed the watched when he had died so that Vidal would know when he died. Vidal keeps looking at the watch throughout the film which reminds him of the toxic masculinity that his father passed to him with ideas such as ‘dying like a man’. This toxic masculinity is stopped from being passed down at the end of the film when Mercedes tells Vidal that his son won’t even know his name. This representation of age shows that children are key to the future, that during the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War the children will help to make things right again.

The representation of age in the opening scene is that Ophelia is treated like a child. She is told what to do such as she isn’t allowing to walk away, and she’s supposed to not read her fairy-tale books. But she explores and isn’t willing to give up her fairy tales just because her new step dad Vidal wouldn’t like it, which is a reason why the audience can interpret the mum not wanting her reading them. But it’s this disobedience to these rules that make Ophelia succeed in the movie. Disobedience and obedience is a theme throughout the film where obedience is typically linked to obeying fascism and Ophelia goes against this which allows her to succeed in her three tasks and sets her apart from fascism. Ophelia breaks the stereotype of children throughout the film by surviving her dangerous trials such as the paleman and by being clever with her tasks and showing that she considers how everyone is affected, she doesn’t hurt her baby brother. The age representation that was brought up at the beginning, like the gender representation, was brought down. This idea of children growing up/behaving like adults is explored through the genre of bildungsroman/coming of age throughout the movie. There are many references to fallopian tubes throughout the movie such as in the paleman book and the fauns horns’ which all remind the audience that Ophelia is being forced to grow up quickly due to everything going on around her such as the effects of war which is something Vidal does often in his films, he explores the effect that war has children, such as in The Devils Backbone which he describes as the sister film to Pan’s Labyrinth.

In Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, different elements of mise en scene such as props, sets and clothing design can be interpreted in different ways to give different meanings. In the paleman scene, the audience sees a close-up of a pile of shoes on the ground. One way this can be interpreted is that they are the shoes of the incorrect princesses, therefore heightening the sense of danger in the audience. Another interpretation is that they have a contextual link to World War 2 and the Nazi’s with concentration camps; which could link to the theme of how war effects children, provoking the response in the audience to consider the deeper meaning of what’s happening to Ofelia, and the tragedy of war. This links into the horrific images around the paleman’s room of children and babies being killed, although some interpretations of this is that it foreshadows the third task with Ofelia’s brother, the main interpretation is that they are inspired by Goya’s painting of Saturn eating his son. The interpretation of that painting is that Goya was scared that his child would grow up and overpower him, and therefore killed him; this links back to world war 2, when the Nazi’s targeted children because of their “dangerous” beliefs.

The paleman himself can be interpreted in many ways. His physical appearance makes him scary, because of his long sharp fingers, incredibly skinny body, sagging skin and his eye hands. Meaning that one interpretation of the paleman is to just evoke fear in the audience to help build tension in the scene. Another interpretation is that the paleman represents Vidal and fascism, and that this is the true meaning for this scene to exist; he sits in the same place that Vidal does – at the head of the table (proxemics) showing the dangers of fascism, and he attacks when Ofelia disobeys, linking to the theme of disobedience and choice and how fascism is commonly linked with obedience and lack of choice. However, the other interpretations of the paleman can be religious. The table with red food that he sits at, although initially cause a tense atmosphere because of the danger connotations to red, have a link to the famous last supper painting as the room itself is similar to that of a church due to the pillars. Plus, the stigmata with his hands, the holes where he puts his eyes, not only cause disgust but link to Jesus being crucified. Linking the paleman to a religious figure represents the critical views towards the church during the Spanish Civil War, this was also shown earlier in the film when the priest was greedily eating food when knowing others were starving. This religious symbolism is an aspect in many Del Toro films, it’s an aesthetic and Del Toro-ism, it’s also used in “The Devils Backbone” which is none as a sister film to Pan’s Labyrinth.  To contrast, the holes in his hands may also be a link to another scene in the film, when Vidal and his men find the rebels and start to kill them. One of the rebels puts his hand in-front of the gun in an elongated moment, before being shot directly in the centre of his hand where the paleman’s eye’s go. Suggesting again the importance of choice (hand) and morals (sight) being something that should be united, as killing mercilessly due to obeying is obviously wrong and fake choice (obedience) without thinking of morals.

The watch prop which is a part of mise en scene can be interpreted as a metonym for Vidal, that it stands in for everything that Vidal is and represents who he is as a person. The watch face being cracked, shows the audience that he is a broken man, most likely due to the toxic masculinity (representation of gender) that his father placed upon him; he smashed his watch at the time he died, and would have encouraged Vidal to act and die like a man, making Vidal a cold character that has a big and mean reputation that he cares about greatly, but also damages him as a person because he’s forced to conform. A different interpretation is that the watch is a symbol of morality, the ticking of it going and his father smashing it when he died reminds the audience that the characters and that they themselves are mortal, creating the aesthetic feel of a gothic and/or horror movie, which are genres Del Toro often explores.

The use of colour and therefore aesthetic look and feel of the costume design can mean different things. Ofelia typically wears green dresses such as at the beginning when she see’s the fairy and when she enters the toad tree. However, when she is in the fantasy world after dying at the end of the movie, she wears red and gold. As the real world is typically blue (low-key blue lighting) as its connotation is coldness (and it has a link to fascism), the green outfits suggest a link to the real world as the shades used are both dull and they are often associated with one another. Meaning, the red and gold outfit is those colours because the fantasy world normally has yellow high-key lighting, with yellow/gold and red surroundings such as props. This could be done to help identify the two worlds and the feelings attached as gold and red are warmer colours, or to show how Ofelia always belonged in the fantasy world as she removes her green dress before entering the tree (fantasy world). Another interpretation, which Del Toro has spoken about, is that red and gold were used because they were internal colours, it showed Ofelia’s desire to be back inside her mother which has links to loneliness because of the war taking her dad away and Vidal taking her mum (genre of how the war effects children). Hence why Ofelia physically crawls into the tree which symbolises fallopian tubes wear the insides are internal colours and why she is reborn at the end of the movie. It’s also part of the coming of age/bildungsroman genre of the film to do with Ofelia being on the cusp of womanhood. This links to the fallopian tube symbolism and imagery through the film due to mise en scene which is used for the toad tree, the shape that the faun’s horns make, the shape that the paleman’s arms make in the book and the shape of the blood that appears in the book, it becomes a motif as it’s symbol is portrayed many times.

Lastly, the chairs at the end of the movie where Ofelia’s parents sit have different interpretations too. One is the symbol and suggestion of royalty and the idea that the patriarchy still exists in the afterlife, as well as sexism as the dad is the highest, possibly suggesting the aftermath of the Spanish civil war as issues still carried on after, it didn’t all stop in 1939. Another interpretation is that it links to the genre of bildungsroman/coming of age, that Ofelia has grown up and no longer is treated like a child and is greeted like an adult, or that the representation of young children is that the film has proven children shouldn’t be and do not need to be spoken down upon as if they were lesser like Vidal and Carmen does to Ofelia. The other interpretation is plot and narrative related, that the seats are impossibly high because Ofelia has proved herself as the lost princess and can therefore still sit upon the chair, despite it’s impossible height.

The aesthetics are the ‘look and feel’ of the film, during the ending scene, the film form elements all work together to make the audience feel certain ways as well there being links to other movies that Del Toro has taken inspiration from. Del Toro is an auteur, the input he put into the scene shapes everything that you see, hear and feel and it was like this throughout the film.

The mise en scene and visual style of the final scene, when Ofelia is in the afterlife place is golden and red. Ofelia’s dress is red and gold (contrasting to her usual green dresses) links her to the fantasy world in the audiences minds and gives a warm and comforting feeling in the audience as they are the opposite of cold colours such as blue, which is associated with the real world; the yellow high-key lighting of the afterlife contrasting with the blue low-key lighting of when Ofelia is dying also does this; it also combines the magical and real world as parallels and the contrast between the fantasy and horror elements of the film. The colours from the mise en scene and lighting (and the high-key lighting) makes the audience happier, and we feel a sense of relief as we know that Ofelia is safe; it also gives a sense that Ofelia has been reborn. As well as this, Ofelia’s red shoes which are a part of mise en scene link to The Wizard of Oz and the idea of going home, suggesting that Ofelia is now home with her family and that everything is okay.

The room with her parents is church like. Their are stained glass windows and the people sit on what looks like pews. This contrasts to the church symbolism in the paleman scene, where the negative views to the church during the Spanish civil war was portrayed. The positive church design, suggests to the audience that Ofelia is going to be happier, therefore making the audience feel happy. This religious symbolism is a del Toro aesthetic/ a Del Toro-ism, he often includes religious symbolism in his movies; one other movie where he uses religious symbolism is in The Devils Backbone, which is described as a sister film to Pan’s Labyrinth as it covers similar topics such as the Spanish Civil War and uses similar techniques such as the low key lighting.

The only off-putting feeling that the audience would get is from the height of the chairs being different which we see through a long shot. The king, Ofelia’s dad, has the highest chair. Possibly suggesting that the patriarchy system still exists in the afterlife and possibly some sexism as well. This could link to the after effects of the Spanish Civil war, and how even though it ended in 1939, issues were still existent. Another audience interpretation of the high chairs is that the representation of age has come to a positive conclusion, Ofelia was greeted like an adult and not a child (linking to the bildungsroman genre) suggesting that Ofelia was finally not spoken down upon because of being a child again making the audience feel happier. The chairs could also be tall because of the narrative and plot, a suggestion of how Ofelia has proved herself, the chairs to the audience appear impossible to sit on, but Ofelia has proven herself as the lost princess and therefore is not troubled by this.

The motif of the lullaby that Mercedes sings and is used throughout the film gives a sense of how peoples choices have been taken away from them because of the war, as the song has no words suggesting they had no say (and specifically the effect that war had on children which Del Toro wanted to explore). The film highlights how people should disobey and have their own choice, and it’s shown to the audience that Ofelia has this now as the lullaby stops after the she enters the fantasy world until the sound bridge of her coming back into the reality world. This again makes the audience happy and feel comforted knowing that Ofelia will have a better life now.

While running away from Vidal, the blue low-key lighting makes the scene cold, harsh, and emotionless, it makes the audience feel afraid and sad. This has links to fascism and the Spanish Civil War as throughout the film, the blue low-key lighting has been linked to Vidal and therefore fascism, the connotations of the colour blue present fascism negatively and as something that has lack of morals (cold). Normally, the reality world is presented as being just as dangerous as this fascism filled and dark world such as in the paleman scene, but the final fantasy scene suggests that Ofelia is now safe and going to be happy. However, the cinematography is also used to show how Ofelia is not alone, the mid-shot of her and Mercedes when Ofelia is dying contrasts to the mid-shot at the beginning of the film where Ofelia is dying alone, giving a bitter sweet feeling as we are glad to know that Ofelia isn’t alone, but she’s dead so it’s too late and almost meaningless. However, this does provide a circular structure to the film as it ends leaving the audience feeling as though the film is definitely concluded.

Some audience members may argue that the ending shows how it’s all in Ofelia’s head. The editing means that Ofelia is dying (which is a Gothic/horror element), then she and the audience see the afterlife, then she dies, suggesting that she imagined it to herself. Plus, the world is too perfect, all of the fairies are there despite some of them being dead, suggesting that the flood of yellow light that took her into this fantasy was her beginning to imagine rather than being “the light at the end of the tunnel”, and that she was imagining a happy place that she’d rather be in. Some audiences may also feel that the entire film has been in her head as she dies, because the film begins and ends with her in the same place. These are ways that the film is left ambiguous, causing the watcher to rethink the movie and be curious.

In the opening sequence of Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth the audience learns about representation of gender, age, ethnicity and about fascists.

In terms of gender, the film sets up gender stereotypes and then tears them down later in the film to show issues with sexism against women and toxic masculinity. One of the first things we see is Carmen, an adult pregnant woman, needing help from a man with her pregnancy issues. This presents the stereotype that women are in need of men’s help and cannot cope alone. The character Vidal, only cares about his son. He removes his glove to touch Carmen’s belly which is more personal than with Ofelia as he puts his gloves back on before greeting her and crushing her hand. He also doesn’t great Carmen lovingly, he forces her to do things she doesn’t want to such as sit in the wheelchair, ‘Do it for me’, for the sake of the baby being okay. This controllement  is also a stereotype of men with women, that women are more passive. He gives the baby bump, a better greeting than the other characters and throughout the film he makes it very clear that when it comes to trouble in the pregnancy, the doctor should save the baby. Suggesting, that Vidal views women as baby making machines and only cared about passing down his family name. Plus, he never considers that the baby might be a girl, he always assumes that it’s a boy, showing the stereotype that boys are more desirable and the one that should pass down the family name like Vidal wants. Therefore overall, women have been shown to be the weaker, more passive and the undesirable gender and that men have control and are more aggressive. This stereotype is broken in the rest of the as women such as Mercedes, surpass expectation and have a key role in taking down Vidal and breaks all gender stereotypes and Ofelia, is able to do the three dangerous tasks as a female also breaking down these stereotypes.

The audience immediately knows about Vidal and his men as fascists because of mise en scene,  the cars have the fascist symbol on them. Plus, the cars themselves are expensive suggesting the title of Vidal as a captain and how he, a man, has power. We learn immediately through Vidal’s performance that he is a leader and punctual as his first line is ’15 minutes late’ and he’s watching his watch rather than the car with his wife and child in it, which  presents him as a cold character. It also suggests that the people in this film feel that men are fit to be leaders and women aren’t as Vidal as a man is captain but the lower down workers such as cleaners and cooks are women (such as Mercedes). Showing this unfair treatment and the real side to women throughout the film .breaks these gender stereotypes.

The representation of age in the opening scene shows the impossible standards that children are supposed to meet. Ofelia has to help take care of her sick mother, which is an adult responsibility. Plus, her mum Carmen doesn’t want her to be reading the fairy tale books suggesting Carmen wants her to act more grown up in-front of Vidal. However, Carmen also talks down on Ofelia and Ofelia is presented as having the curiosity of a child as she wonders off immediately to explore. Therefore, Ofelia acts both childlike and mature, and is treated both like a child and an adult, suggesting the impossible standard that has been placed upon children. This has links to one of the film genres being bildungsroman, Ofelia is becoming a woman and more mature and therefore has to overcome this complicated boundary between child and woman.

Ofelia, a child, suggests the hope that children are to the future of Spain by rejecting fascism. We know that Vidal is a fascist and that his men are fascists, and we learn that Ofelia instead is more left wing. When she greats Vidal, she goes to shake his hand using her left hand suggesting that she is more left wing, contrasting to the fascist Vidal who says she’s supposed to use her right hand, linking him to fascism. This could be the film suggesting the end to the Spanish Civil War aftermath and the toxic views such as fascism coming to an end with the next generation.

Although Vidal is evil, he is a victim of toxic masculinity. This is one reason why he treats women as though he is above them in status just by being a man. His father, would have given him the idea that he needs to act like a man and die like a man, he gave Vidal a watch that he smashed when he died so that Vidal would know when he died. Vidal goes on to try and do this during the ending, showing that the toxic masculinity had been passed down to him. He also tries to pass it down to his son, by asking Mercedes to tell him when he died, Mercedes refuses marking the end to the passing of toxic masculinity. Vidal trying to give commands throughout the film and be punctual all the time is a suggestion of how he believes he has to act like a man.

The characters are all Spanish and white, this could have a contextual link  to Spain at the time the film was set, after the Spanish Civil War which ended in 1939.

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.