1st impressions: 10/10
This movie is fantastic. The story writing is done so well and the “real life” and “fantasy” storylines gel together really well. A lot of other films would have struggled balancing these two stories, leaving the audience too invested in one story to find the switch annoying, but Del Toro uses pacing so well that both stories are engaging and neither feels like they are intruding. The practical work is also astounding, as Del Toro’s practical effects usually are. The Faun and Pale Man costumes are so stylish, and the set design is always incredible.
MEMORABLE SEQUENCE: VIDAL EXECUTES THE HUNTERS
Of all the monsters in Pan’s Labyrinth, Del Toro takes great care in making the audience fear Captain Vidal, and this scene is was cements him as a villain. Vidal is brought two men, a father and a son, who claim to be hunters but the soldiers suspect they are rebels. The men are introduced in a mid shot that shows they are surrounded and outnumbered by soldiers. They are also visibly dirty and cowering, showing they are much lower status than the soldiers around them. The camera tracks closer as Vidal begins to inspect their bag and they are manhandled by the soldiers around them. They fidget nervously as Vidal inspects the bag and give explanations for what he finds, obviously terrified of him. Their fearful explanations clearly annoy Vidal, and because of this he draws a glass bottle from the bag, moves in closer to the son as the camera also tracks towards him, before bashing his face in with the base of the bottle, the camera cutting to a low angle shot periodically, showing the son’s point of view. This murder is brutal, and was achieved with a combination of practical effects with digital effects to get the blood spurts right. After the son is dead, Vidal turns and calmly shoots the father twice. he then goes back to the bag and finds two rabbits, proving they were just hunters after all. He chastises the soldiers for not searching them properly and wasting his time, even though he himself was looking through the bag and was obviously aware he hadn’t finished when he killed the two. This scene sets Vidal up as irredeemable and a horrible person, showing the audience that he will be the antagonist for this movie.
10 things that the viewer knows in the 1st 10 mins. 1 – The movie is violent and dark; the first image is a girl bleeding from her nose in reverse and breathing heavily. 2 – the movie contains themes of fairy tales + the underworld. 3 – The movie will have astoundingly beautiful architecture. 4 – The movie will have elements balancing real life and fantasy 5 – The main character is probably going to be the “Princess”, as she is shown first bleeding from her nose before reading the story in a book. 6 – The movie is set in Spain. 7 – They are moving from the town to the country 8 – The mother is pregnant (or some kind of sick).9 – the mother is married to a Captain. 10 – Vidal is set up as a villain
Cinematic breakdown of the 1st 3 mins. – The camera pans sideways along a cobblestone wall, until Ofelia comes into frame, breathing and bloodied. The camera turns to make Ofelia horizontal as it gets closer to her face, before zooming into her eye as we are given the fairy tale. The camera crabs along the underworld skyline, then tracks into the big building with the stairs as the Princess runs into it. It then pans up the spiral staircase to show the sunlight. We then fade into a ruined building. We crab to the right and are shown skulls and more debris, then the camera moves upwards to show more ruined houses before dissolving into the car.
Micro-elements:
Sound – The sound design in Pan’s Labyrinth mostly works to emphasize the brutality of the actions characters take. For example, sound design is used to make Vidal’s murder of the wrongly accused hunters much more brutal, adding crunching and splattering noises to the action, as well as the clinking noise from the bottle to add realism. Sound design is also used to make the Pale Man much scarier, adding deep, haggard breathing to the Pale Man and making the sound of the fairy being eaten crunch and squelch to make the action more visceral.
Cinematography – The cinematography during the Giant Toad sequence works to put the audience in Ofelia’s shoes. The audience is given a lot of close ups as Ofelia crawls through the tunnel, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. This sequence contains a very inventive mid-shot showing the toad and Ofelia facing each other, with the ceiling and floor of the tunnel closing in on the shot, giving the shot a border, which creates a claustrophobic atmosphere.
Mise-en-scene – The mise-en-scene in Pan’s Labyrinth often serves to tell the audience whether they are in the fantasy world or the real world, as well as telling the audience information about the characters. For example, during the sequence where Vidal has dinner with some of the Spanish elite, the dining room is spotless and well furnished, a fire is burning in the fireplace and the table is lavishly covered in food. This tells the audience that Vidal is on par with these dinner guests in terms of status and spares no expense trying to impress his wealthy guests while he talks with them about cutting rations. Mise-en-scene can also be used to create parallels in the real and fantasy worlds, for example the lavishly set table headed by a terrifying figure is mimicked during the Pale Man sequence.
Editing – the movie uses a lot of stylish transitions between scenes, particularly incorporating wipes into the camera movements themselves, such as the transition during Ofelia’s story from the real world to the story itself, where the camera pans down from Ofelia and her mother on the bed and transition to visuals representing the story.
Representation (Gender)
How are men and women represented differently and how does this position the viewer?
Ofelia – The primary characters in Pan’s Labyrinth are female, the main character being Ofelia, a 10-year-old girl obsessed with fairy tales. Ofelia shows strength and defiance, speaking negatively about Vidal to Mercedes and bravely puts herself at risk in order to fulfil the Faun’s wishes and to protect her mother. Despite her strength, she also does not want to upset her mother, as shown when she tries to avoid her green dress getting dirty when she goes under the toad tree. Ofelia is shown to be selfless and brave, but also vulnerable, as she depends on Mercedes and her mother a lot and is shown to be frightened of Vidal.
Carmen – Ofelia’s mother does not do much in the film as she is heavily pregnant. From the scenes we get with her, it is suggested that she does really care for Ofelia – she embraces her and tells her to talk to her brother in the womb. However, Carmen is shown to disregard Ofelia’s wants in terms of Vidal, whom she prioritizes, as she scolds Ofelia for getting her dress dirty despite her best attempts to keep it clean and takes Vidal’s side when he is verbally and physically attacking her.
Captain Vidal – Vidal is the main antagonist of the film. He serves as a complete binary opposite to Ofelia, as while Ofelia performs her actions with the best intentions, and uses her cunning to thwart her adversaries, Vidal deals with issues with extreme violence.
Mercedes – Mercedes serves as sort of a secondary protagonist in the “Real World” story, working as a double agent for the rebel forces, collecting intel and fighting against Vidal. When she is captured by Vidal, she berates and taunts him by telling him the reason that she was able to get away with it for so long was because of Vidal’s own prejudice, as because she was a woman Vidal didn’t expect she could do anything of her own agency or do damage to him or his image. It is also Mercedes who takes Vidal down in the end too, by shooting him in the face. Mercedes is shown to be stronger and far more capable than Vidal despite being seen as lower than him in society.
Aesthetics
Del Toro insists on original creature designs that have not been seen in o0ther movies. His creature effects are done through a combination of practical and CG effects, for example the faun being mostly a costume with animatronic ears and tail, but the legs were achieved by creating stilts for the actor and using greenscreen to key his legs out. Del Toro has been fascinated with fairy tales and monsters for a long time and uses them in his movies frequently. His team also uses ingenuity in the CG aspects, such as using pictures of crushed leaves to texture the fairies. The film uses a Magic Realism aesthetic, combining a realistic story with a fairy tale inspired world.
Set Design
Del Toro puts a lot of work into his sets so they capture the feeling of fantasy and fairy tales as well as differentiating the magic world from the real world. For example, the Pale Man’s lair creates an area of fantasy, using a lot of pillars, warm colours, and lavish decorations to create an environment separate from the real world. On the other hand, the Real World sets also have a lot of care put into them, such as Vidal’s office. Vidal has converted an old mill into this military base, and in the background of his office a giant wooden cog left over from the mill is clearly visible. This plays into Vidal’s character trait of being obsessed with time, as he is always seen with a pocket watch and often criticizes people for being even a few seconds late.
History and Social Contexts
1939 – Franco takes power over Spain
The film takes place after the military coup of Spain, within an army encampment run by Vidal where they are trying to crush rebel forces. The film takes care to be historically accurate, through costume and mise-en-scene and such. The film also goes out of its way to portray social life accurately for the time, with a standout scene where the fascists have a feast while talking casually of cutting rations. It does differ slightly from real life as at the end the rebel forces defeat Vidal, murdering him outside the labyrinth.
Other context
Despite Del Toro being Mexican, the film is regarded as a Spanish film, because it was made in Spain and used a Spanish crew. According to some sources, Del Toro and his friends put their own money into making this film. It was a passion project for Del Toro.
Budget: $19 Million
Box Office: $83 Million
The film was nominated for many awards, and won best art direction, best makeup and best cinematography at the 79th Academy Awards.