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pan's labyrinth - Coggle Diagram
pan's labyrinth
pan's labyrinth is set in the middle of the spanish civil war (1944) it is set in a military outpost in rural spain.
the lead character (ofelia) is a child who follows fairytale inspired missions to have the chance to save her family from the fascist leaders they are forced to live with.
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the captain that ofelias mum is in a relationship with is the main antagonist in this film. he is a fascist who puts himself before everyone else. he is also trying to kill the main protagonist group in the rebels who live in the forest and try to infiltrate the fascists.
the spanish war consisted of two sides, the republicans and the nationalists. the nationalists where the right wing fascists and the republicans where the left wing alternatives. this film praises the republicans for their sacrifice while attacking the nationalists as monsters.
the nationalists, led by general franco, won the spanish civil war. this led to franco being the dictator of spain until his death in 1975.
editing
editing is used to good effect to build tension in. the shaving sequence of captain vidal. he is enjoying a leisurely shave but the viewer knows that his time is limited. the use of editing two and frow here builds the viewers tension as they are unaware of what is going to happen to ofelia.
this film uses editing to enhance its horror. in the pale man sequence the camera lingers on the pale man eerily. this allows the audience to see all the horror of the pale man and concentrate on his horrifying appearance.
The same shot of the hourglass is cut back too throughout this sequence to remind the audience that Ofelia has a time limit. This use of parallel editing gives the scene a sense f foreboding before the Pale Man even stands up and makes sure that we know Ofelia is very definitely in danger as long as she is in this area.
mise en scene
lots of the settings in this have deeper meanings, an example of this is the use of dreamworld aesthetics that represent motherhood and femininity.
the tree that ofelia crawls under represents the shape of the a uterus and fallopian tubes. this is reflective to ofelia's mother who is in labour at the start of the film and dies in childbirth.
another one of the fantasy scenes has another deeper meaning that is more political. in the lair of the pale man there is curved pillars and painting on the ceilings. this is supposed to resemble a typical catholic church
this is important as the catholic church supported the fascists during the war and called the rebels 'godless communists'. it is controversial for del toro to call out the catholic church like this as it is still a widely followed religion in spain.
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this film has a real focus on motherhood. ofelia's mother is pregnant at the start of the film and then dies in childbirth. the child is then taken by the captain. it has progressive feal in questioning how woman are treated.
ofelia tries to save her mother by running away on her own to do a mythical mission that sees her crawl deep under a tree and put her life in danger in entering the ave of the pale man.
Guierro Del Toro has said that the meaning of pan in this film actually refers to ofelia giving birth to the person she wants to be and freeing herself from her reality.
sound
many of the objects in this film have their own sound. for example the dagger and the key have high pitched magical sound when they are introduced. the fruit that ofelia eats in the pale man scene also has its own magical sound. this suggests that there are unnatural forces at play and that ofelias in reality.
performance
captain vidal
captain vidal is presented in a hyper-masculine way. this suggests that facism is a hyper-masculine idea which further separates men and woman in this film.
this hypermasculinity is accentuated by the scar he picks up later in the film which he manly stitches together using only alcohol to stop the infection.
cinematography
the cinematography in this film is well utilized to help tell further the narrative and enhance the films ideology.
the shot of the rebels in the forest use deep natural colours which represent a healthy fair way of living while the fascists live inside in a much darker environment. this is unwelcoming and seems somewhat cruel.
there is also a clear difference between the mystical world and the real world. the mystical world has a very earthy and dirty aesthetic while the real world seems much cleaner. This makes it easy for the viewer to distinguish between the two and suggests the ofellia is making the magic world up.
in the closing scene of the film we see ofelia go to her afterlife/dreamworld this seems much more futuristic as it is bright white and open. this is a direct parallel from the dream world when she is in our world which is dark enclosed and dirty.