Have you ever wanted to escape the hard reality of real life? In the film Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) directed and written by Guillermo del Toro, intertwined the real world with the mythical world. There were three main characters in the film, and they included Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), and Mercedes (Maribel Verdu). The film took place during the fascist Spain. Ofelia was one of the main characters, and she believed in the fantasy world. Ofelia’s mother, Carmen, was married to the Falangist Captain Vidal. Carmen was pregnant and grew increasingly ill throughout the movie. Mercedes was the caretaker for Captain Vidal, as she looked after his men and family. I found that the film was hard to follow, however, I did enjoy the suspense that it portrayed as I was always on the edge of my seat intensely waiting for what was to come next. In post-Civil War Spain, Ofelia and her pregnant mother Carmen, travel to meet her stepfather, Captain Vidal who was the captain of the Spanish army. Ofelia created an imaginary world of her own, to escape the cruel and harsh realities of the world. On Ofelia’s journey she finds a insect, which then turns into a …show more content…
fairy. The fairy leads her into an ancient stone labyrinth. In the labyrinth Ofelia meets the faun, and he believes that she is Princess Moanna, and gives her three gruesome tasks to complete in the order in which he givers in for her to earn immortality. Ofelia must complete these tasks without anyone finding out. Throughout the film Ofelia becomes close with the Mercedes who was secretly supporting the rebels. Throughout the many unexpected turns, the film shows the tale of Princess Moanna, showing that she ruled wisely and left quiet traces of her time in the human realm. In the film, I felt as if the actors did a good job at portraying their character roles. Not being familiar with the actors, I still felt as if the actors did a good job at fulfilling their position. The actor who played Ofelia, did a good job at expressing her fear of what was going on. Also, how she was just like any other little girl, she used fairytales to escape her from the real world. I liked how the actor who played Mercedes was very smart, even though she supported the rebels, she still knew how to work the captain, and I felt like the actor did a good job at portraying that. The actor who played Captain Vidal, did a good job at showing how “big and tough” the Captains are supposed to be. The actors all did a good job at playing its character at its best to be able to portray the full meaning of the film. Lighting was a major technique used in the film, as it was used to set the mood. Most of the film is dark, as whenever it is in Captain Vidal’s world, things start to become dark and grey to show viewers that it was not a nice place to be. However, when it is in Ofelia’s fantasy world, things change to more warm and golden colors. There was an obvious distinction between the two worlds which was made clear through the lighting. The dark colors gives viewers the feeling of unwelcoming and isolating, where as the golden colors shows the homely fantasy world. The reason the the obvious distinctions between colors is shown throughout the whole film is to show how much better the fantasy world is compared to the cruel real world. The dark feeling gives viewers the feeling as if they were apart of the war, and the golden colors give viewres the feeling of happiness in the fantasy world, letting them forget about real life. Another film technique that was used in the film was the close-up shot. The close-up shot was used many different times throughout the film. One specific scene where the close-up shot was used was when Mercedes and Ofelia were attempting to run away. The camera showed a close-up of Mercedes face, giving viewers the intense feeling of fear that she felt. The camera shows Mercedes face and the fear she felt, all the way up until she bumped into Captain Vidal and his men. The reason the close-up shot was used in Pan’s Labyrinth was to give viewers the opportunity to connect with the characters and to focus on their emotions and expressions. Lastly, another film technique that was used in Pan’s Labyrinth, was the long shot.
This film technique was used after Ofelia got the chalk from the faun and created an imaginary door. After the imaginary door opened, the director used the long shot to show viewers what the fantasy world was link, with Ofelia and the dark real world behind her. The camera was at the back of the long hallway in the fantasy world, and Ofelia was just getting ready to climb through the door. The reason that the long shot was used in the this scene was to show viewers the dramatic difference from the real world to the fantasy world. It showed the warm golden colors, compared to the dark grey colors. The long shot was used as a way to enter viewers into the fantasy world, and they slowly left and forgot about the real
world. The film Pan’s Labyrinth is a fantasy film that is anchored with the reality of war. The film shows reality versus fiction, good versus evil, and overworld and underworld. The film does a good job at showing how Ofelia was unable to cope with the harshness of the real world, and the fantasy world crush her innocent and playful spirit. I felt as if the film did a good job at representing the story of the real world and the fantasy world. There were many different symbols that were used in the film, in order to enhance the message. One of the symbols that was used was the chalk that the faun have to Ofelia. The chalk was representation of a key to the fantasy world as it was Ofelia’s way to escape the harsh real world. The chalk was used as a way to make a door, which helped Ofelia escape many different tough situations. Another symbol that was used throughout the film was the rose. The main purpose of the rose was to focus on its beauty. The rose was used to symbolize eternal life, as even after Ofelia died the rose was still there and colorful. Lastly, another symbol that was used in the film was the pocket watch that Captain Vidal always had with him. The pocket watch was used leading up to the Captain's death as it symbolized the time of his death. Have you ever wanted to escape the hard reality of real life? The film Pan’s Labyrinth shows viewers what the real world is like in times of war, while also intertwining it with the fantasy world. Even though the film was sometimes hard to follow, I found it very interesting to watch as I was also trying to predict what would come next. I believe that everyone should watch this film, as it was a way to show viewers just how harsh the real world can be, especially as it was being compared to the “perfect” fantasy world.
The left door which they entered was a dead end. After sprinting a hundred yards, they ran into an enormous boulder that completely blocked their way.They could hear something breathing heavily which didn't sound human. Tyson pushed the boulder blocking the place where they could hear the heavy breathing and soon Annabeth realized they were in Alcatraz so she told the group about it.
In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical fiction novel by Julia Alvarez based on events that occurred during the rule of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. This book shows the hardships the Mirabal Sisters had to go through while being part of an underground effort to overthrow the dictatorship of Trujillo. It also shows that ultimately, it was their courage that brought upon their own death. Alvarez wants us to understand anyone and everyone has the potential to be courageous.
In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, takes place in the Dominican Republic during Trujillo’s control of the country. Dedé and Minerva are two extremely different Mirabal sisters, shown by how they respond to Trujillo taking over their country. Dedé and Minerva are only two of the sisters. There are four in total: Minerva, Dedé, Patria and María Teresa. The four sisters take turns throughout In the Time of the Butterflies telling their stories from the 1940s while living in the Dominican Republic. Manipulating her point of view and attitude, Julia Alvarez uses an impassioned style of writing to portray Minerva’s strong leadership and an explicit style of writing to portray Dedé’s willingness to compromise.
The movie the Labyrinth tells a story about a group of unlikely heroes trying to make their way though a maze in order to defeat the Goblin King. The story starts out with the main character Sarah whom, without even realizing it, wishes her baby brother to be taken way by Jareth the Goblin King. He tells her that if she wants her brother back she will have to make her way through the labyrinth and to the castle beyond the Goblin City. She only has 13 hours to complete the seemingly impossible task or her little brother Toby will be turned into a goblin. While making her way through the twisted and endless maze Sarah runs into many weird characters. The first person she encounters is Hoggle a very untrustworthy dwarf whom is under the influence of Jareth. He is selfish and does things only if there is something for him to gain. He betrays Sarah many times throughout the movie, but in the end he proves himself to be more than a traitorous coward. Ludo is a yeti and despite looking vicious is a gentle and caring monster. Ludo also has the power to control rocks. Sir Didymis is a loudmouthed, but noble knight who displays his valor throughout the movie. The four heroes manage to fight their way through the perilous labyrinth. The Goblin King Jareth is defeated and Sarah’s brother Toby is saved. Though the characters in this movie seemed to be nothing more than ordinary, and if not odd, they fought their way through labyrinth and conquered an entire army of evil goblins and their king. (Labyrinth 1986)
Alvarez, Julia. In The Time of the Butterflies. New York, NY: Penguin, 1994. Print Hardback. 31 Oct 2013 - 8 Dec 2013.
Many other characters alter his viewpoint of the world. Some of these characters die, one is a murderer, and another introduces him to local myths. The heroine in Pan’s Labyrinth is Ofelia, a girl trapped in the middle of a revolution and escapes into a world of fairytales through books and imagination. Ofelia’s mother, Carmen, is pregnant and very sick. Under the influence of her husband, she encourages her daughter to stop reading childhood fantasies and to obey her new husband....
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) written and directed by Guillermo del Toro is a dark fantasy film that uses fantasy and inspired true events of the after effects of the Spanish Civil War to create a symbolic parable that was influenced by fairy tales and myths. Even though this film is explicitly about the times during Franco it is also a film that can speak for any time period, past, present, and future. Through the use of phantasmagorical elements in the fantasy sequences del Toro uses doubling to reinforce the horrific events that have and can happen again in reality. The film takes place five years after the Spanish Civil War during Francisco Franco’s reign of terror. The story focuses on Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) as well as Ofelia’s evil stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Both characters represent something bigger than they actually are; Ofelia is seen to represent Spain and the antifascists whereas Captain Vidal represents Franco and fascism. Ofelia has to complete three daunting tasks given to her by the Faun (Doug Jones) that is said to reunite her with her family, the King and Queen of the Underworld. Del Toro uses doubling of the mythical realm with the ‘real world’ throughout the film that emphasizes the underlying meaning of the film. The film also follows the story of the anti-fascists rebels that are hidden amongst the trees and mountains. The character Mercedes (Maribel Verdu) is able to fool Captain Vidal for most of the film and help the rebels. It is not until the near end of the film where Captain Vidal realizes that Mercedes has been helping the rebels the entire time and it is due partly because of his misogyny that he is unable to see her as a threat to his cause.
It is not often that a strong and significant female character is introduced in a movie and/or book as the main character. Pan’s Labyrinth, though not the typical fairy tale, introduces the viewer to three females that prove controversial and necessary to the plot, which passes the Bechdel Test, designed to identify gender bias in the media. There is Carmen, the loving mother, Ofelia, the supposed princess/innocent girl, and then there is Mercedes, Captain Vidal’s maid and rebel spy. These three women show different portrayals, different characterizations, of how women should defy the gender bias in films.
In the movie Pan's Labyrinth, Ofelia escaped the frightening and commanding presence of her stepfather though her fantasy books and her immense imagination. This theme of escape from oppression is also evidenced in the novel The Book Thief, where Max escapes his oppressive reality through writing and his friendship with Liesel. Liesel herself was able to escape the reality of the war that was around her, and the death of her brother through her love of books and reading. This may lead one to wonder whether there is some truth in these fictional tales, is it possible that books and the act of writing can help one to survive an oppressive situation psychologically, and what factors contribute to an individual overcoming oppression?
The insects are seen transformed into three fairies of the fantasy world.They are a symbol that act as a connection between fantasy and reality, indicating that the insects are fantastical creatures in disguise, waiting for the right moment to emerge into their true identity. This happens to be Ofelia as she exclaims that she “just saw a fairy”, as she talks to her caregiver, Mercedes. Being only known as “just a woman” to Captain Vidal, Smith notes that she “is in league with the guerrillas and will conspire against her tyrannical master under his very nose.” As Mercedes answers Ofelia’s question with “No. But when I was a little girl, I did. I believed in a lot of things I don't believe anymore,” It is a deep realization that once you grow older, you have to deal with the harsh realities of life, which is in her case, fighting the fascist leaders. It is common to know that many young children believe in fairytales, but once a child reaches the age of adolescence, those type of fantastical elements start to
Vizcaya, Marta. "Julia Álvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies and In the Name of Salomé: Re-membering Dominican heroines in new novelistic contexts." Journal of the CLSA at the San Francisco State University (2002).Powerlines. 2002. 24 Mar. 2014 .
“Fear me,love me,do as I say,I’ll be your slave” says Jareth The Goblin King from the Labyrinth. By using irony, the author of a story can create a surprising events. Authors use multiple kinds of irony to make stories more surprising.
her grandmother) and grief, Viramontes successfully paints an endearing tale of change. “The Moths” emphasizes the narrator’s oppression by her
Like all the fairy tale will have a happy ending. "Pan 's Labyrinth" is no exception, but this layer of happiness is immersed in the bitter and depressed in the deep. Too much blood and tears, too many memories, too much darkness. Ofelia finally found her parents, returned to the eternal sweet home, but not one can really happy together. A fairy tale is hope, is the dream, is the comfort, is the ideal country. "Pan 's Labyrinth" is such a fairy tale, Ofelia through the murky darkness of the labyrinth find her happiness, just as experienced the cruel history 's Spanish people. Guillermo applied a metaphor in the end. The end of the tragedy is the film 's surface cover, in essence, is the protagonist Ophelia 's comedy
Setting: Pelayo and Elisenda's house, in a South American town, especially in the wire chicken coop, where the angel was locked with the hens. Narrator: An objective narrator. Events in summary: (1) Pelayo goes to throw the crabs that had entered his house during the storm to the sea in a rainy night, and on his way back he finds a very old man with enormous wings in his courtyard. 2.