Pan's Lab

Pan’s Labyrinth

I found the film Pans Labyrinth to be very interesting. I took four years of Spanish, so I am familiar with Spanish history. I enjoyed how del Toro combined fantasy world and reality. He took two extremes and made them work together. While watching the film, I picked up on some foreshadowing. The two biggest points of foreshadowing for me were how Mercedes told Ofelia that her mother always told her to be weary of fauns and how Mercedes always rolled her knife in her apron.

When I picked up on those two things, I knew to keep them in mind of the film continued. As the movie progresses, it is evident how Ofelia’s relationship with the faun changes. At first she is not afraid of him and he is nice to her. As it progresses, Ofelia is afraid of him and appears uncomfortable around him. As I was watching the film, I became weary of Ofelia being around him. He also becomes short and abrupt with Ofelia. However, at the end of the film, we learn the Faun was acting this way in order for Ofelia to complete all three tasks, especially the third.

Mercedes used the knife in her apron to cut the rope off of her hands, and the injure Captain Vidal. She stabbed him a few times and sliced his check. In the article “Pan’s Labyrinth

(El laberinto del fauno)” by Smith he states “In its stress on a world of women (of mothers,

daughters, and housekeepers) wholly separate from that of men, Pan’s Labyrinth is clearly commenting on gender relations” (3). Throughout the film, Mercedes is aiding the Guerillas, and Captain Vidal never suspected it. Captain Vidal stated the Mercedes is “just a woman”. Not only is she aiding the other side while working for the Captain, but she also injured and escaped from him.

I believe the film used Mise en scene well. The setting, props, design, and colors really went well with the different scenes. The fantasy world was colorful compared to the dark colors of reality. The setting of a mill (where the Captain lived) matched the darkness of his personality and character. In the article “Alice’s Little Sister: Exploring Pan’s Labyrinth” by Edwards, he states

The visual impact of the fantasy world is Freudian in its gendering - from the downward wipe through the mother Carmen's (Ariadna Gil) swollen belly into the fairytale landscape, the imagery is continually organic and uterine, with warm rich colours, earthy cavernous spaces and the recurring curved feminine shapes reminiscent of the Faun's horns. (2)

I did find it ironic that Carmen scolds Ofelia for reading and believing in fairy tales, but yet she asks Ofelia to tell her brother one of her stories. It is in this story that we are taken to the rich land of color. At the end of the movie when Ofelia is reunited with her parents in her kingdom, the color and setting is outstanding. It allows the viewer to feel comfortable with her death knowing that she is now in such a glorious place.

Ofelia is brought back to her kingdom. Her costume changed dramatically as well. She went from dark rugged clothes, to elegant and bright.