Section A - Pan's Labyrinth (Del Toro, 2006) Flashcards
Magical realism
Pan’s Labyrinth
Genre: mix of realism and surreal fantasy
Vidal’s fascist regiment contrasts Ofelia’s magical world
Animatronics
Pan’s Labyrinth
Lifelike robots
Toad/fairies = animatronics - only CGI when necessary
Voice-over
Pan’s Labyrinth
Narration without image of speaker
Opening - Faun narrates, like storybook
Pan
Pan’s Labyrinth
Ancient Greek God of Wild, companion of Nymphs
Half-human, half-goat
Faun may be representation of Pan
Nymphs = fairies - work for him
Patriarchy
Pan’s Labyrinth
System: men have power, women excluded
Franco’s Spain = patriarchy - Mercedes + Carmen have no power
Fascism
Pan’s Labyrinth
Political dictatorship: nation/race > individual. Severe regimentation, forcible suppression of opposition
Vidal’s soldiers = brutal, strict, heartless, like fascism
Vidal supports Franco (like Hitler/Mussolini in Civil War) “stupid… idea that everyone is equal”
Guerillas
Pan’s Labyrinth
Small independent group irregularly fighting against larger, regular forces
Pedro (Mercedes brother) = member, hiding in forest
Stigmata
Pan’s Labyrinth
Marks matching Christ’s body after crucifixion
Impressed by God on Christian saints
Pale Man’s palms - eyes
Pan’s Labyrinth - OSCARS
Best Achievement in: Cinematography, Art Direction, Makeup
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Significance of camera movement
Opening sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Camera reversed, blood going back -> nose
Zooms -> eyes, like going into Ofelia’s mind - her storybooks coming to life
Could monsters = part of imagination
MISE-EN-SCENE
Significance of colour filter
Opening sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Blue filter - presence of magical world
SOUND
What does Carmen ask Ofelia to call Vidal?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Father
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Shot type used show link between Carmen and Ofelia - why?
Opening sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Two-shot
Lookalike - related
Carmen = young mother
Carmen = pregnant
MISE-EN-SCENE
What comes out of stone tablet?
How does Ofelia unlock it?
Pan’s Labyrinth
The Fairy
Puts eye back in stone tablet
MISE-EN-SCENE
How costume/props set historical contexts
Opening sequence, Pan’s Labyrinth
Costume - 1940s style, soldiers = correct military uniform
Props - vintage cars
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Extreme close up of what before Vidal’s debut? Why?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Stopwatch
Strict, likes keeping time
Attention to detail - works on military basis
CINEMATOGRAPHY
How lighting reflects atmosphere when Vidal murders farmers?
Why did he kill them?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Extremely low key lighting -> intense atmosphere
BONUS: Believes had communist propaganda, kills them, then proves them innocent
EDITING
How Vidal murders farmers scene contrasts with one before it?
How represents Ofelia and Vidal?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Contrast: magical fantasy, grim reality
Both deal with unexpected, Ofelia = kind/gentle, Vidal kills man
MISE-EN-SCENE
How is Faun created through makeup?
Effects of this
Pan’s Labyrinth
Prosthetics, makeup, contacts
Faun blends into labyrinth walls - part of it
CINEMATOGRAPHY
How tension created through focus?
Pale Man sequence
Ofelia eating grapes = shallow focus
Shot composition - sneaking up on her (dramatic irony, horror convention)
Focus pull - gradually shifts onto Pale Man as Ofelia notices
CINEMATOGRAPHY
How extreme close ups create meaning?
Pale Man sequence
Putting eyes in: demon-like hands; focus on stigmata (Catholic iconography)
Biting fairies heads off, brutal, monster
REPRESENTATION
How link between Pale Man and Vidal created?
Pale Man sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Banquet - Vidal has feast whilst many starving. Pale Man has table of food, yet Ofelia can’t eat any
Kills fairies;
1) Fairies = innocent. Eating them = death of innocence. Guarded Ofelia, destroys her safety
2) Fairies may be Carmen’s counterpart. Vidal mistreats pregnant Carmen -> death
MISE-EN-SCENE
How lighting + colour creates meaning?
Pale Man sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Low-key lighting - dark, foreboding
Dark background - focuses on table, where Ofelia’s focus is
Red - blood, death, frightening
EDITING
How editing techniques create meaning?
Ending sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Film’s ending shown at beginning
Dissolve cut - fade to yellow as Ofelia dies + wakes up in afterlife
Action match as Ofelia tries to get up in afterlife
MISE-EN-SCENE
How props create meaning?
Pale Man sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Murals of him eating kids - worry for Ofelia
Door closes at end - needs to draw escape with chalk (using fantasy world as escape)
Eyes on plate - Pale Man eats people
SOUND
How sound effects create meaning?
Pale Man sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Pale Man’s screech - like screaming baby (kids he’s killed)
Loud noise when lifts hands off table - like snapped off table, fused for long time
SOUND
How score creates tension?
Pale Man sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Calm -> fast/panicky once Pale Man awakens
Reflects scene’s atmosphere
EDITING
How cross-cutting creates tension?
Pale Man sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Cuts between action and hourglass:
Builds up drama, time running out
CINEMATOGRAPHY/MISE-EN-SCENE
How cinematography/mise-en-scene create meaning?
Ending sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Zoom in on bloody hand - emphasizes gritty reality at end
Ofelia’s shoes like Dorothy’s, Wizard of Oz - both went to a mystical world
SOUND
How score creates meaning?
Ending sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Heavenly music as Ofelia dies = going to better place
SOUND
How voiceover creates meaning?
Ending sequence - Pan’s Labyrinth
Non-diegetic voiceover at beginning + end
Like Ofelia’s story was storybook being read to audience
CONTEXTS
The Great Depression
Pan’s Labyrinth
The Great Depression = global economic crisis in 1930s - very high unemployment, prices/profits drastically call, very small wages
King abdicated -> republic -> fascists overthrowing the republicans
People starving, queuing for bread
Carmen may have married Vidal -> better future for Ofelia
CONTEXTS
The Nationalist Party
Pan’s Labyrinth
Nationalist party = right-wing fascists (monarchists, landowners, employers, Roman Catholic Church, army)led by General Franco
Vidal + co. = powerful, living well - have dinner party in starving country
CONTEXTS
The Republicans
Pan’s Labyrinth
Republican party = left-wing underdogs (workers, trade unions, socialists and peasants), supported by communist Soviet Union
Guerrillas hiding in woods - less power, still fight
Mercedes + Doctor help resistance from inside
CONTEXTS
What was Franco’s mission to ‘purify’ Spain?
Franco saw regime as ‘crusade’ (like Christians trying to reclaim Holy Land) to ‘purify’ Spain
Took over Republican areas -> mass executions + pogroms (massacres of ethnic groups)
CONTEXTS
Extent of Civilian War Casualties during Spanish Civil War
500,000 died, 40% = civilians
Fascists sought to eradicate all resistance -> mass graves
Guerrilla groups (Maquis) refusing to surrender in North Spain (Mercedes’ brother)
CONTEXTS
The Law for the Recovery of the Historical Memory
Pan’s Labyrinth
After Franco’s death, 1975, both sides agreed ‘pact of silence’ as not to detract from democratisation of society
2006 - Spanish Prime Minister drafts Law; to explore past, compensate victims, find bodies of missing/murdered
CONTEXTS
What made it difficult for Pan’s Labyrinth to be made?
Del Toro advised not to make film
Del Toro refused to compromise, gave up salary for film to be made
Rejected by every major and independent studio i. USA, funded by Spanish and Mexican sources
REPRESENTATION
Role of women - Spanish Civil War
Resistance women fought on front line
Nationalist women = housewives/carers - second-class citizens in ‘New Nation’
REPRESENTATION
How Ofelia represented, in terms of gender
Pan’s Labyrinth
Protagonist = young, innocent little girl
Mother dresses her like doll -> please Vidal
Worthless in Vidal’s eyes - female. Scared -> her mother
Counter type: not afraid to do what need to be done -> achieve goals
REPRESENTATION
How Carmen represented, in terms of gender
Pan’s Labyrinth
Married woman in Franco’s Spain
In financial difficulty - marries for money -> support child
Vidal saw her as baby-making machine; only valued baby, not wife
Stereotypical - submissive (goes in wheelchair), dutiful wive - behaves/dresses appropriately
REPRESENTATION
How Mercedes represented, in terms of gender
Pan’s Labyrinth
Unmarried woman, resistance fighter (mostly passive rebel)
Pretends to be ‘regular’ - like powerful women, invisible in patriarchy
Strong Republicans supporter; steals from Vidal to aid them
Stabs Vidal several times - can fight for herself
Mother figure to Ofelia - lets her imagine, looks out for her
REPRESENTATION
What meaning may Faun have, in terms of representation of the unreal?
Who may he represent?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Faun = guardian for Ofelia until end; betrays her - wants her to murder baby brother
Could represent Mercedes - Ofelia meets her at Labyrinth
REPRESENTATION
How may the Faun’s appearance create meaning?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Seems scary, yet becomes comforting to her
Realistically blends into walls - like part of Labyrinth
Mirrors how Mercedes blends in as maid (wears browns/greens -> blend in with trees)
REPRESENTATION
What meaning may Toad have, in terms of representation of the unreal?
Who may he represent?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Fascism - taking nutrients from earth -> everything around dying
Representation of baby - baby killing mother during pregnancy, like Toad killing tree by taking nutrients
REPRESENTATION
What meaning may Pale Man have, in terms of representation of the unreal?
Who may he represent?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Has lots of food, yet still eats kids
No eyes - blind to truth, killing blindly
Counterpart to Vidal; greedy, violent
REPRESENTATION
How may Pale Man’s appearance create meaning?
Pan’s Labyrinth
Very frightening!
Monster - seems almost human
Sits silent like statue - suddenly moves
REPRESENTATION
What is role of magical realism in terms of the message the film communicates?
Del Toro tries to show how monsters aren’t the villains - the people are
Each creature = counterpart to a character
