Hi Class,
In lieu of a quiz this week, you have the option of writing a response on our blog site concerning Pan’s Labyrinth. To be clear: if you write a satisfactory response & post it on the blog, I will give you the equivalent of a 10/10 quiz grade, and I will apply it to your lowest quiz grade from the second half of the semester.
If you compose a response, it needs to be around 350 words. It should not simply be a plot summary, but should engage in analysis of the film. By now, you are certainly familiar with how to analyze a film. Think about Pan’s Labyrinth’s narrative and style, describe it, and analyze these elements using all of the knowledge (about dreams and movies) you’ve gained in the course. Does it remind you of other films we have watched this semester? What do you make of the way dreams are used in the story? Why is this girl’s story told in this way, do you think? What do you make of the mixing of fantasy and war genres?
Since you can see your peers’ posts, I expect that you will read what previous writers have written, and respond to them. You may agree/ disagree with their opinions, but be sure that you include original thought so that I can give you credit for a response.
Compose the response by “commenting” on this post.
*If you want to write a post for a quiz grade, you must send it by class time–6 p.m.–on Thursday, April 23.
Enjoy the film!
Introduction to Film: Dreams and the Movies 
I actually really enjoyed Pan’s Labyrinth because there were two different story lines going on at one time. There was the serious story line about Ofelia’s new family and the war going on and then another story line in Ofelia makes up about a fantasy land where she is the undiscovered princess of the underworld. The movie is very dark even when she is in her fantasy world which I thought was strange. Usually when showing the differences between reality and fantasy, the make believe or dream world looks different than reality but in Pan’s Labyrinth they used the same kind of lighting. I also thought it was interesting that no matter which world Ofelia was in she never really felt safe. In her real life, her mother was getting increasingly ill, she had a monstrous new stepfather, and there was a terrible war going on around her that threatened to take her only friend, Mercedes. In the fantasy world, she is not safe either because she is constantly being tested by having to face large toads or eyeless child eaters, while trying to prove herself to a mythical creature.
I think that Ofelia believed this place was real because it was an easy place for her to escape to when things got too hard at the mill. Since the labyrinth did actually exist on the property and she was a strong believer in fairy tales, I think this was Ofelia’s way of coping with knowing her mother was going to die and that her new father did not seem to care at all about her or her mother, just the fact that he wanted a son to be born.
I think it was really interesting to join the two genres of fantasy and war because those two things are not usually put together throughout a whole movie. To Ofelia it was much easier to cope with her fantasy world than to deal with the war because during the movie, she never talks about the war. She is much more interested in becoming a princess of the underworld. She uses this fantasy world to distract her from the war. Not so unlike the soldier in Apocalypse Now when they see the Playmates coming down from the helicopters. While that even actually does happen it is just like a fantasy because they can not touch or talk to them but it does briefly distract them from the war just as the labyrinth and its strange characters distract Ofelia.
As I am writing my final paper for this class on “El Laberinto del Fauno”, I have come to believe that Ofelia is not day dreaming. She actually does see the Faun and so do other characters in the movie. Ofelia is undoubtedly the only person who comes in closest contact with the Faun and interacts with him during her stay at Vidal’s mill. However, the Faun and the magical world he brings with him, composed of fairies and mythological creatures, leave traces of them in our world. If someone on one hand can argue that the Faun doesn’t exist because at the end of the movie in the Labyrinth, Vidal looks at Ofelia talking to nobody; I can tell you that the faun is only seeable by who can recognize the right signs. The quote at the end of the movie, “She left behind small traces of her time on Earth, visible only to those who know where to look”, contains some good points. Only who knows where to look is able to find the traces that the Faun leaves behind him. Mercedes is one of the characters in the movie that actually does see the chalk marks on the wall of Ofelia’s room. However, the Captain and Carmen are highly affected by the magical world of the Faun. The mandrake root actually does help make Ofelia’s mother better and the wall closing on Vidal’s face at the ending sequence facilitate Ofelia’s run to the Faun.
I have also come to believe that the main reason why grownups in the movie do not directly see the Faun and his magical world is because they are worn out by the outcome of the war and the Fascist movement. Recalling some of the main ideologies behind this political movement, no one was above the dictator and all rights of freedom were taken away from people. Fascism’s milestone was to contain everyone’s freedom of deliberately thinking. Thus, the imagination of a child was able to see beyond these limits. Ofelia, who learns that disobeying is always the best choice to make in life, runs away from these political constraints and open her imagination fully to the world of the Faun.
In conclusion, she is not dreaming, but she is actually seeing the Faun and allowing him to take her in a place where her imagination is compensated.
Pan’s Labyrinth was definitely my favorite movie of the semester. Although it was in Spanish, the subtitles were very easy to follow and it didn’t even seem like I was reading them after a while. Before watching the movie, I had heard from others that it was confusing, but after seeing it I am actually confused about why they thought that. To me, the plot was very easy to follow and kept my interest the entire time. Many of the things Katherine mentioned in her response, I too, thought about while watching the film. For instance, Ofelia was very quick to believe what the faun was telling her about being the princess of the underworld. She didn’t really question him and was quick to begin her tasks. As Katerine was saying, Ofelia, being a believer and avid reader of fantasy stories, it probably gave her a feeling of comfort away from her reality. This could also be compared with Freud’s notion of wish fulfillment. Ofelia’s fantasy world was like a dream in a sense, because she was so unhappy with her current life situation, and her fantasy was able to bring her to a better place. It was also interesting how visual the film was. During reality and the war scenes it was very violent and gory. There were many close ups of disturbing images, such as blood and wounds. While it made everything very realistic seeming, it also made me very uneasy because most of the people being abused were the good people. As well, in Ofelia’s fantasy world, everything was very vivid. The frog was extremely large and unrealistic looking. Its colors were very bright and the mess it threw up was very bright as well. Although as Katherine said, both worlds are somewhat dull in color, there were parts of her fantasy world which were full of color. The labyrinth was really the only part which was dull. Every creature which was a part of the fantasy world was very unpleasant looking and unrealistic. All of these things gave it a sense of being dreamlike. There was so much emotion in this movie. At times I wanted to cry and there were several times I had to look away. Ofelia seemed to be stuck in a situation where no one but Mercedes understood her, not even her own mother. It’s like that feeling someone gets when they’re standing in a crowded room screaming and no one even looks up. I think that feeling happens a lot in people’s dreams as well. I know I have had dreams like this. I have also experienced this feeling in real life and it is one of the most frustrating things to deal with. This film did a great job of making its viewers feel Ofelia’s frustration and pain. A good example of a time this feeling may have been exemplified for Ofelia was when the captain came into Ofelia’s mothers room and found the plant she had put under the bed to help her mother get well. Although Ofelia knew the plant was what was helping her mother , not even her mother would believe her. Instead, she threw it in the fire, completely disregarding Ofelia’s feelings.
Pan’s Labryinth was a fantastic mixture of fantasy and war. Throughout the film, I found myself almost forgetting about the war aspect of the film because the imagery of Ofelia’s fantasy world was so overwhelming. I enjoyed the plot and the story but not the gruesome violence. Half the movie was viewed with my hands covering my eyes due to my weak stomach. With that aside, I think that Pan’s Labyrinth is a thought provoking film with amazing parts of the mise en scene. The makeup artist did a fantasitc job with the faun. I read that the makeup took 3 hours everytime the faun was shot. Through the makeup, the faun made the viewer not trust him. I always thought that the faun would in some way hurt or mislead Ofelia. I enjoyed Ofelia’s fantasy world because it took her and us away from the harsh reality of war. Her dream world was vivid and colorful and made you want to look, while the harshness of war and the brutality of the soldiers made me look away. While many argue that this fantasy world is actual events that happened, I believe that Ofelia made up this fantasy world to get away from her life. Freud’s “wish fulfillment” argument comes into play here. She made a world where she was the center of attention. In reality, her mother’s illness and the war made her invisible to everyone. I still find myself at a stand-still though. Why did the mandrake make her mother feel better if this dream world did not exist? If this dream world did not exist, how did Vidal find Ofelia’s chalk? These are the questions that arise and can be argued. While I was shocked at the end of the film when he shoots Ofelia, I remembered that the film opened with Ofelia lying on the ground and dying. This film is vibrant and beautiful but at the same time extremely dark and haunting. The viewer becomes so wrapped up in the story, they forget that they are reading subtitles. I know I did.
I really enjoyed Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. This movie reminded me of the original scary fairy tales; the movie was very dark and sad. I felt very sorry for Ofelia and her home life. She had a sick mother that eventually dies and an evil stepdad. She developed a fairy tale land in her head to escape from the war and her horrible home life.
This film reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. Both films include two girls that aren’t for some reason or another happy with their home life. They both develop a fantasy land to escape to. However, Ofelia’s fantasy land consists of dark scary creatures and Dorothy’s fantasy land consists of happy characters. Both girls have to confront evil beings in their fantasy land. In the end Ofelia dies and becomes princess of her fantasy land. In the end of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy gets to return home. I would say that both girls had a happy ending. I believe that Ofelia was much happier in her fantasy land and was happy with the outcome in the end. Dorothy was happy to return to Kansas.
The costumes in this film were unbelievable. The creatures costumes were very scary, especially the monster that had eyes on his hands. I was so scared for Ofelia when she was trying to get away from that monster. The lighting in the film was very dark until the end when she becomes the princess. I think this is because the director wanted to show the audience that her life was hell and after she dies everything is so much better.
Even though the movie was in Spanish, it was very easy to follow. You really didn’t have to read the subtitles to know what was going on. I had seen this movie previously and enjoyed it then. I was very excited to watch it again.
I’m going to have to disagree with Veronica. I do not believe that the Faun is real, or that any of what Ofilia sees is real either. I believe that her mother wants this new life that is much richer and of a new status that she doesn’t really see what’s happening to her daughter. She wants her daughter to call her new husband father and ignore and forget about her actual father. It is evident that Ofilia does not want to do this. I believe that she retreats into her own world where she doesn’t have to deal with him. Though I do find it curious as to why in her world she is attacked and why the faun yells at her and tells her that she failed. I also find it curious the root she put down there seemed to have help he mom. When her mom throws the root into the fire her mom begins to have extreme pain, so maybe everything that Ofilia sees is real, but at the same time it is possible that Ofilia sees these things as coping mechanism. Her mother dies while giving birth to her baby brother. It’s obvious throughout the entire movie that the Captain doesn’t care for Ofilia or her mother. When they first arrive he insults her when she begins to step out of the car. He calls her a little bitch and screams at her several times. He even goes so far as to tell the Doctor, whom he kills, that if he has a choice, save the baby because he will have HIS blood. Those things there make me believe that everything that we see is not real because she is coping.
I will agree with Kathrine that I did like the fact that both reality and the alternate world both looked the same. I gives rise to the fact that maybe everything is real, or everything is fake. The music In the movie is rather good. When Ofilia begins to retreat into her own world the music makes me think of Lord of the Rings or perhaps Harry Potter.
The times are not correct by the way. It’s 5:58pm and it says it’s 9:58pm
yeah, I sent mine in at 4 something.
Where did my blog go?