Pan's Labyrinth Essay

Discuss how the use of the fantasy genre in Pans’ Labyrinth influences the way it portrays themes.

In Guillermo Del Toro’s movie Pans” Labyrinth, we follow Ofelia, the well-informed young stepdaughter of a heartless army officer called Vidal who escapes into a peculiar but fascinating fantasy world. Del Torro uses the fantasy genre to explore and enhance the different themes that the movie portrays. The movie is a classic fairytale with a twist, as Del Torro attempts to explode the limitations of the traditional fairytale by recontextualizing the stories of the typical Disney scenarios. The fantasy aspect of the movie enriches the story of a main character rebelling. However, the fantasy is used in a way that we can relate to.

One of the

major themes that Del Torro uses in Pans Labyrinth is the theme of disobedience.

In many fairytales, disobedience is the act that sets the story in motion, however in Pans labyrinth, disobedience is outlined as a crucial and imperative value. There are many disobediences throughout the movie, such as that of the rebels, who aim to free Spain from the command of fascism. Also, there is the disobedience of Mercedes who works with the rebels and aids them in their fight against Vidal. Furthermore, another significant disobedience in the movie is that of Ofelia, who ultimately questions and neglects the commands of her mother, captain Vidal and even the Fauno when she explicitly tells Ofelia not to eat any of the enormous feast that she will discover upon entering the pale man’s den. However, I believe the most effective and striking disobedience here is that displayed within the very text of the movie, where Del Toro’s use of powerful referencing comes into play. Here, Del Toro sets up many intertexts that make meaning, a matter of choice. For example, all the linking references in the pale man scene. Firstly, we have the table, that links back to the banquet scene earlier on in the movie, that sees the pale man sitting in the

same position as Vidal, who goes on to kill Ofelia. Also in this scene, we see a pile of shoes that recontextualize Ofelia’s red shoes that she wears in the movie, with the red shoes themselves being a reference to the red shoes that Dorothy wears in the famous fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Also, the scene itself functions as a metaphor for how the beauty of old fairy tales can enchant us into certain lines and ways of thinking that may not be in our interest. Here, Del Toro has assembled a large network of illustrations that reaches elsewhere in the film and outside of it. Del Torro places these references together with his famous camera work and editing to accomplish a narrative force that is like no other when you watch his movies. Colin Walsh sums this up well in his article on Pan’s Labyrinth when he states “Pan’s Labyrinth is constructed within two parallel worlds, the temporal and the fantasy, but through a critical viewing of both, the viewer can deduce plenty of implicit meaning. These two worlds are polar opposites that repel each other to the core, and through the various techniques employed in Pan’s Labyrinth – the symbolism, the images, and the metaphors – the viewer can extrapolate a clear-cut message” This is how Del Toro uses the fantasy genre to influence the themes, as with the theme of obedience, he is breaking the mold of other fantasy movies. This is apparent as usually, fairytales are finished with two words: The End. However, Del Torro’s genius is to use the most standard genre of all and disobey our expectation.

Another theme in Pan’s Labyrinth that is influenced by the fantasy genre is the theme of gender roles. Del Toro uses male dominance in the movie to further enhance Ofilia’s relationship with the supernatural world. Captain Vidal, represents a manhood so extreme that it plays down the role of women in the movie to a point where it scarcely recognizes women. This is apparent when Vidal is talking about his wife being pregnant, saying that the baby being carried by Ofelia’s mother must be a boy, and that she must give birth at all cost, even If it means paying the ultimate price of death. Paul Julian Smith further backs up this point by saying “Del Toro suggests that this fantasy of pure filiation, without the intercession of women, is fundamental to Fascism. Vidal’s fetishistic attention to uniform and his amorous investment in the tools of torture suggest a fatal narcissism which is as much libidinal as it is political” in his review of the movie. Del Toro uses the fantasy to good effect here also as it is historically a girl who is the main character in fairytales, for example Alice in Wonderland, Snow white etc. However, Del Toro escapes the norm of this classic fairytale once again as most classic fantasy lands have a romantic aspect to the movie, and there is almost always a male role in the film that has a romantic connection to the girl. Pan’s Labyrinth however does not have this and this influences the gender roles theme as it shows the viewer just how alone Ofelia is, as she does not have that romantic connection that most other fairytales have. Ofelia’s only male connections throughout the movie are with Vidal and her baby brother. One of which she loves and tries to save, and the other in which she tries to escape the torment that he has caused her.

As David Freeman states in his article “The Use of a Theme in “Pan’s Labyrinth”, the theme of Good Vs Evil Vs Innocence is also explored in Pan’s Labyrinth.

Throughout the movie, Ofelia travels into a magical world which the viewer is uncertain exists. In this fairytale world, there is gloomy and powerful threats that continually make Ofilia challenge her girlhood as she has to repeatedly to tasks that even the strongest women would fear. Ofelia is obsessed with becoming a princess and being transported to this blissful world that the Fauno has told her about, where there are no terrors from her step-father. However, Ofelia is met with the classic contest of good vs evil, as she has to save her baby brother from a life of torment with Capitan Vidal. She successfully does this however; she pays the ultimate price as she ends up paying with her life. She is then transported into a magical hall with bright lights and grand designs, where her parents welcome her home. This is where we realize that she is now in a place of virtue and purity and that she has overcome all the evil in her life. David Freeman backs this up in his Article where he concludes that “in a war torn between good and evil, there is not place for innocence. For no one is innocent; you must, like even the seemingly apolitical Mercedes and the Doctor, choose a side. This message lightened a little by the revelation that innocence is alive somewhere, even if it isn’t here”. This confirms the point that for

Ofelia to finally be free of all the dangers in the world and find her innocent young-self, she must die and transport to a dream-world. This is another example of how Del Toro uses the fantasy genre to influence the themes as he uses this fairytale world as a place where Ofelia can be free of her demons in the real world, for example Captain Vidal and find peace with her parents. This would not be possible without the use of a magical world where she can find her true happiness.

To conclude, Del Toro uses the fantasy genre in his film “Pan’s Labyrinth” in order to enhance the themes that are portrayed throughout. Such as the theme of disobedience, gender dominance in the form of Captain Vidal and finally Good Vs Evil Vs Innocence, where he uses a fantasy world as a place where Ofilia escapes to and is finally re-united with her parents. There is a lot of controversy about the ending as many people are unsure of whether or not she is dead or if she has actually been transported to her underground world. However, I don’t think that is important as the viewer can see that Ofilia, after all the evil and torment in her life, is finally happy and reunited with her parents, and so it does not matter if she is dreaming or not as she has finally found happiness.