Pan's Labyrinth Essay

Pan’s Labyrinth, (El laberinto del fauno) (2006) by Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro is a Spanish-Mexican film which tells the tale of a young, imaginative 11 year-old girl – called Ofelia - who has a love for books and fairy tales. The story depicts events which involve her, and occur during the year 1944, in the setting of Spain living under a fascist regime as a result of the War. The film uses the aspect of fantasy and imagination to portray many themes within the narrative, themes which stem from the war and its impact which it has made in the county of Spain. The themes which can be taken from Pan’s Labyrinth include; the forces of resistance, rebellion and oppression - and the aspiration for liberation. Childhood and disobedience

are themes which are brought into play by the use of a child protagonist. Fantasy as a genre - accompanied by mise-en-scene and the narrative - help to further understand all of these overlapping themes.
In the introduction, we see Ofelia - and her pregnant mother, Carmen - travel to a fascist retreat, which is ran by the Captain, Vidal - who is Ofelia’s stepfather and also the father to her mother’s unborn baby.

This retreat is also the home of the labyrinth, where Ofelia’s fairy tale fantasies come to life before her eyes.
It is during this drive, early in the film, where we are made aware of her high levels of curiosity as she clutches her book and is intrigued by the insect-like fairy whom catches her attention when they stop during the journey due to Carmen feeling nauseated. It is in this introductory scene where Ofelia’s mother makes a comment to her daughter suggesting that she is too old for story books, calling them nonsense. She says: “Fairy tales? You’re too old to be filling your head with such nonsense”. Despite her mother’s views, she continues to engross herself in her fantasy world.
Ofelia conflicts with everything that affects her in the real world and disobeys. It can be argued that these acts of disobedience represent acts of oppression and the resistance fighting against the fascist regime. When Ofelia meets the Captain for the first time, she offers him her left hand when invited to a handshake. The Captain, whom is a radical right wing official, strives to conduct even the smallest of everyday tasks in the appropriate way in all circumstances and he is greatly offended to receive the wrong hand from Ofelia. He tells her “that’s the wrong hand” which

is a direct quote from Charles Dickens’ book David Copperfield (Dickens 1992 p.21).
Her mother requests early in the film that she refer to the Captain as her father and call him by that name but she refuses. Ofelia rejects the idea of the Captain as a father figure to her. She reiterates that her real father had passed away. In a conversation with Mercedes, Ofelia tells her “The Captain – he’s not my father. My father was a tailor. He died in the war. The Captain’s not my father!” - This is, of course, before she learns the story of her monarchy.
mission to collect the key – shoes The
Importance of using a child

There is a distinct separation between the real world, and the fairy tale world which Ofelia finds herself in, therefore, it can be said that there is contrasts between the fantasy aspects and the historical aspects of the film.
Real/fantasy - lighting
Comparison to Narnia

It is in the last scene – the end sequence – of the film which shows a coming together of the real world and the fantasy world. Both worlds reach a similar, yet contrasting conclusion which run parallel to each other.
“Postmodern art culls from already existing images and objects and either repeats or reinvents them as the same.” (Hayward 2013 p. 287) The film is saturated with references to other fairy tale books and films and it is these intertextual references which establish the film as fantasy. “The childlike and explicitly adult elements of the film create a complex interplay of image associations and emotional responses” (Hanley 2008 p.35). In the final scene where Ofelia is reincarnated into her fairy tale world, she is dressed in spectacular, richly coloured clothing made from wonderful fabrics. The camera lingers on her red shoes. This particular costume choice pays tribute to the musical fantasy classic The Wizard of Oz. Ofelia’s shoes resemble Dorothy’s ruby red slippers which magically take her back home when she chants “there’s no place like home” (The Wizard of Oz 1939). The audience now understand that for Ofelia, this fantasy world is her home – as she has died in the real world, she has been reborn in the fairy tale world.
The postmodern qualities and the ability to see both the real and fantasy world through a child’s eyes, the use of fantasy has allowed many narrative techniques to be included which interpret the themes in Pan’s Labyrinth. It is the intertextual references featured in Pan’s Labyrinth which ultimately help the audience the further their understanding of the way in which the themes are portrayed throughout the film.