Pan's Labyrinth

I was very interested by the beginning of the film because it uses a lot of imagery rather than words. The whole idea of the fairy tail rule of three is very interesting because it always keeps the viewing audience looking for something. The color in the film is contrasting between when Ofelia is in the real world and when she isn't. When she is in the labyrinth, the colors become more vibrant and the imagery is intriguing. I was very captivated by the scene with the bug flying into Ofelia's room. While she is talking to it, she shows it a picture of a fairy which it then transforms into. There is also a good contrast between the two stories of Ofelia and the captain. When she is pulling the key out of the frog, it cuts to the captain opening the door with his key. I feel happy for Ofelia when she discovers how to read the book because this is her fantasy world. In her own reality, she has to deal with her own mother being controlled by the captain and doesn't have a real father of her own.

This movie is probably my favorite movie of the year so far! It has so much happening on the screen at once that it is hard to keep up and analyze it well. I find it really interesting how this twisted fairy tale poses the question Can a fantasy story be a means of political protest? I find it interesting the childish and immature manner that Ophelia has. I feel that when she is with her mother, we, as an audience feel a sigh of relief, that she is safe, but when she walks out of the door of the bedroom, anything can happen. This feeling invokes the presence of two worlds, the real world and the fantasy, or underworld. I think Ophelia finds comfort in having two different worlds to reason within. People who she trusts in both, the faun and Mercedes in the underworld and real world respectfully. The movie pushes us back and forth between reality and fantasy, sometimes making it hard to discern which is which. I also feel that since there is a lot of editing that occurs in recently made movies such as this one, the distinction between what is real and unreal for the sake of "realism" will become harder and harder to distinguish.

This film essentially cast a spell on its viewers. While watching this film I was so taken away with the imagery used in this film. Not just in the dream world though, but with the violence scenes as well. When the man has his face smashed with a bottle then his dad is killed at point blank, as sad as the scene is, it still captures the attention of the viewer because of the imagery used by the director and the way it is executed throughout the film. I am anxious to see the rest of the film to see how much more powerful the imagery in the film can be with the bar being set so high in this first part of the film.

I can't help but wonder: is her quest real? Or is the underworld simply a dream? It offers her a chance to be the heroine - a "princess", when in actuality, she is invisible. Her opinions are considered unimportant and she can't "save the day". Despite the overbearing political lifestyle she is trapped in, she is able to escape from reality. In dreams, we enter a world of our own. We can be the hero, triumph over evil, and gain justice. More than anything, this film reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. She follows a creature down a hole where she is then exposed to a mystical world, filled with unusual creatures and endless mysteries. Additionally, children are able to see the world differently than adults. Ofelia asks Mercedes if she believes in fairies. Mercedes replied, "I used to when I was a child." How come we stop believing in alternate worlds as we mature? Ofelia's imagination allows her to see the world through a clearer lens.

Fantastic comments! You all are amazing.

Ophilia in "Pan's Labyrinth" has a very interesting set of tasks given to her by the fawn as well as a family life where she has high expectations. Her mother wants her to be ladylike and childish for Captain but Ophilia is the complete opposite. So far the fawn has forced her into gruesome tasks including, taking a key from the inside of a toad and finding the red blood in the book as her mother is bleeding with the dead baby. It seems like Toro is saying that Carmen's illness is that she is pregnant.

So far "Pan's Labyrinth" looks as though it will be a fantastic film. I really enjoy and appreciate that despite the film obviously being fictional, it is still based in a real time and area in our history. It appears that there was considerable effort put into replicating the time period authentically, which I feel adds to the overall "spell" this film provides for the viewer. The way in which the Captain is portrayed is brilliantly done, as the first time he appears I immediately felt uneasy about him, yet at the same time did not completely assume he was malicious. The scene in which he is interrogating the farmer and his son, only to kill both of them was surprising and I felt legitimately horrified and disturbed after witnessing it. I really look forward to seeing what else this film has to offer.

At first I felt that this film was going to be similar to a fairy tale and I would have little interest in the film, however from what I have seen so far I know i was wrong and this will be a great film. While watching the film you are overcome with a variety of emotions and the switch happens so quickly its like and emotional roller-coaster. The scene with the frog killing the tree was very interesting and at that moment I started cheering for Olphilia since she is such a little girl faced with a giant task. The next scene I found interesting was with the doctor giving Mercedes medicine so she could deliver it to the men in the woods, it brings a sense of humanity into the film. Then there was the scene with the two men who were hunting rabbits and were executed by the captain in a very cruel manner. I cant not wait to see more of this film.

I was very interested and captivated by the film after we watched the first part in class. I was very fascinated by the scene when Ofelia goes to complete her third task from the book. The theme rule of three was continued when she had to choose between the three doors underground. I don't know how she knew to pick the third one, but she got the dagger. The use of visuals in this scene was incredible because there was almost no dialogue. You could see the faries struggling to keep ofelia from eating the food off the table because the mythical creature would rise. It was interesting that she didn't use the dagger to defend herself, she clearly put it away while in danger. I think that this helps protect her innocence as a little girl. The whole scene kept me in suspense which is a great achievement in a movie.

This section of "Pan's Labyrinth" keeps the viewers complete attention in the plot. There is much conflict between all of the characters. Captain tries to have control in the community and due to his obsession with control he ruins his relationship with his wife and looses the respect of many lower-class members of the community. These lower-class members all try to escape the reality of the community by escaping to their own little worlds. Captains only concern seems to be for his son and is numb to the fact that his wife dies in childbirth or the way he leads the community.

The visuals alone are mind blowing.. They use an enhanced color palette that makes every shot look like a work of art. However, the story itself is violent and painful. When Ophelia is in the fantasy world the colors or more
Bright and vivid. Then while in reality the shot is given a darker tint to create a gloomy feeling toward reality

The violence of Pan's Labyrinth never fails to catch me off guard. I feel it is fascinating how the movie combines the mystical imagery of a fairy tale like world with the gritty reality of war. The faun continues to make me feel uneasy, as he is still portrayed as having a hidden agenda with Ofelia. Ofelia immaturity is shown when she fails to obey the faun's simple rule of not eating any of the feast available to her on her quest, which results in the death of the fairies, showing how the failure of an individual can affect many.

The ending of Pan's labyrinth is really interesting to me. The reason being is because I liked how he requested that his son knows what time his father was killed, like his did for him but he denied it. Also the way in which he was silenced and was told his son was never going to know his name was rather powerful. Maybe that is what happened to him with his father. He might have not known what his fathers name was. Also, when he is killed, the rule of three is gone. Throughout the whole movie he is always in at least a group of three. But at the end, when he is weak and not powerful, he stands alone. Not in a group of three.

I find it really interesting how many relations there are to other movies within Pan's Labyrinth. For example, the piles of shoes that are seen at the camp remind me of Schindler's List and any other movie that discusses the Holocaust and the removal of the shoes. It denotes the genocide that occurred during the Holocaust and the killing of the guerilla warriors that is happening in the movie. In Pan's Labyrinth, there is also a mandrake root which was featured in Harry Potter as a healing plant, just as it was used by Ophelia to heal her mother during childbirth, until it was thrown into the fire. This fire caused the mandrake root to die, and with it, caused the mother to die during childbirth as well. When Mercedes cuts open the Captains mouth, it leaves reminiscent touches of the look of the Joker's face in Batman. I also noticed the shadow imagery that was used in Pan's Labyrinth is very similar to that of Schindler's List. In Schindler's List, Schindler, the factory owners face int he beginning of the film is always halfway covered, showing his hidden powers through the shadow. As he changes for the good, his face becomes more and more visible. Mercedes' face is covered in the beginning of the film she was always in the dark and once the viewers realize she is doing good, her face is seen and accounted for as a good person. These connections with other movies is pretty fascinating.

Everything about this movie was amazing, but I have been wondering: how different would the film have been if Ofelia was portrayed as a male? Since I'm in Women's Lives, the feminist side of the film struck me. Both Ofelia and Mercedes weren't afraid to stand up for what was moral, whereas the mother submitted herself to her violent, power-thirsty husband. Interestingly enough, the submissive female was killed first. I also was fascinated by the theme of the afterlife. Ofelia works to find an entrance to the labyrinth and succeeds only when taken by death, similarly to how we spend our entire lives working to reach a pleasant afterlife. Birth and death are entirely connected - you come into the earth from the same place (or "kingdom") where you end up post-death. Additionally, the concept of reincarnation is touched on slightly. Ofelia is re-birthed and given another chance at life. What happens after we die is completely unknown. Is there a kingdom (heaven) waiting to accept us? Are we later reincarnated? Or is it simply like falling into a deep slumber?

The movie ended with a great degree of uncertainty as to whether or not the fantasy world exists or not.The sole purpose of this movie is to make people believe that fantasy world exists,in the ending narrator says that she left behind small traces of her time on earth visible to only those who know where to look so that ending sentence explains that her traces will be visible to those who believe that fantasy world exists. In ending she was smiling while dying which explains that she was very happy that she has completed all the tasks and she was enjoying her presence there.

I really enjoyed this film because it was able to display a story line that was at times very unclear, but was able to pull everything together in the last few scenes. The director used colors and the characters "natural movements" to capture the scenes in a truly brilliant way. I was also shocked by how violent the film was when it seemed to be a fairy tale. When Ofelia was shot and entered the fantasy world I wasn't sure if it was real or just a figment of Ofelia's last dying breaths. I also wonder what the flower in the very last shot was representing. The narrator said " And if you look close enough, you will see traces of her." Overall I felt this was a wonderful film filled with visual imagery and mental imagery.