Pans Labyrinth 2 Scene Analysis
With close reference to two scenes from Pan's Labyrinth, explore how cinematography and mise-en-scene create meaning. (1,487 words)
Obedience is an extremely important scene in the film. After the Spanish Civil War, Spain became a very fascist country in which everything within it was controlled to the maximum, including what people did and spoke about. Set in 1944, 5 years into General Franco's regime, the movie interprets the strict rules and orders and personifies them, of which one of the most noticeable ones is the scene of the Pale Man.
Even at the beginning of the scene, the audience hears Ofelia go back over the Faun's orders. The faun, albeit a grotesque and gnarled character, shows himself as kind, caring and understanding of Ofelia's current position within the world. He presents himself as only trying to help her, but there could be a darker side to him that the audience doesn't wish to see. Society in 1944 was patriarchal, men were always to be treated with respect, but they often downgraded women in terms of how 'weak and fragile' they were; they had no real voice because of men. In relation to the Faun, although not actually a man, he still had a power over Ofelia that controlled her, and gave her orders to follow that if she did not complete, he would get angry.
When we first see the corridor which leads to the Pale Man, there is an immediate colour change. The medium to long shot shows the audience both outside, the main character and hints at what may be through the now opened door. Guillermo del Toro often uses the same aesthetic in his films, which is this green-blue aquatic coloured theme throughout; this green-blue colour emphasises the idea of sickness and disease, which could relate to General Franco's idea of wanting to 'purify' the country of Spain. It could also relate to the sickness of Ofelia's mother, who is extremely ill throughout her pregnancy. On the other hand however, we also see a warm orange colour through the door; this colour could relate to Ofelia's fantasy world. The country, for Ofelia, is dismal and depressing, there is no real place for her as the men are often fighting and the women are serving them. With Ofelia being too young to do any of that, she is lost and confused, and so takes comfort into going in and out of her own fantasy. In a sense, she is the princess writing her own fairytale.
Before Ofelia realises that the Pale Man is sitting at the end of the table, there is a tracking shot of her walking down the side of the table. This emphasises how long the table is and how much food is really on there. It shows her facial expressions too, at how blown away she is by everything in front of her. When Ofelia notices the Pale Man, there is non-diegetic sound that catches the audience off guard, much alike the main character. This sound is of a loud crash, instantly placed on top of when Ofelia looks up; this is a possible hint at the danger to come. In addition this over the shoulder shot emphasises how small Ofelia is compared to the Pale Man, presenting her as weak and vulnerable.
The next important scene is that of the children's shoes in a pile. The camera tracks up from a low angle shot to make the pile look bigger. While it does make sense, the Pale Man eats the children and then he throws away their clothes, there's an immediate reference to Auschwitz. 1.1 million people died there, yet many people in Spain at the time did not know about it as the media was heavily restricted. It emphasises this idea of Spain in which it was so dictated that the country almost shut off from the world completely. With the reference to Auschwitz and with the non-diegetic sound of baby's crying in the background, it makes the scene a lot more haunting and a lot more important than one may seem.
Disobedience is a continued theme throughout the film, and is shown here in this scene. Ofelia was warned not to eat anything, but having not eaten there's the emotion of desire and temptation. The sound at this point is non-diegetic, and is almost like a swarm of insects in the same room as Ofelia. It not only creates tension as the audience watches, as it promotes the idea of feeling on edge as our gut instinct would be to run away from the insects; however, Ofelia does not do this and instead her desire takes over. The sound could also be metaphorical to her thoughts, she knows she must not eat anything from the table but she wants to, and therefore cannot stop herself. This could be Ofelia's thoughts swarming around inside her mind. In addition, all of the food on the table is red, linking to that idea of blood and danger; the colour red is also seen in the hallway before seeing the Pale Man.
This use of depth of field is to show how tense the scene is; we see Ofelia standing on top of the chair - which does not look stable at all - while the Pale Man is seconds away from reaching her. This shot could represent the people in Spain, as people were always seconds away from death - whether it would have been dangerous weapons, saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing, there was a huge panic as people didn't know what to say or do anymore. Ofelia leaving the Pale Man's lair could represent the people who got out of Spain, and those who could live freely and peacefully somewhere else.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We then move onto the opening scene of Pan's Labyrinth.
The audience can notice that the shot is actually in reverse, and that as the camera pans to the left, we see that the blood is going back into Ofelia's nose via the use of a close up. Although it gives away a huge part of the plot, a lot of the mystery still lingers as we do not know how this has happened or what events took place before this. In this shot as well, the heavily themed dark blue/grey aesthetics are present, much alike del Toro's other films. This provokes emotion as the colours resemble coldness and quite evidently, death. In addition, the heavily used nursery rhyme is part of the non-diegetic sound in the background, which could connect to the motherly themes running throughout the film; although del Toro combats the stereotypical representations of women towards the end of the film, he does also show some of them during the beginning and middle, thus the motherly themes.
What is interesting however is that in the opening of the film, the colour palettes representing the fantasy world are very dark and cold colours, like blues and greys. Whereas on the other hand, in the real world, the colour palettes consist of oranges, yellows and typically warm colours. This could be to represent the fact that Ofelia has not yet graced the fantasy world with her presence, as this is the beginning of the film, or in turn it could be mourning her.
Both fantasy and the real world are focused on in the movie, and we can tell which one is which by the use of the colour palettes as spoken about before. In relation to the fantasy element as well, there is already hints to it as Ofelia is seen reading a fantasy book in one of the very opening scenes. The film also hints at sickness and disease as portrayed by the mother, who is sick during her pregnancy. This can then be related to the 'sickness' in Spain that General Franco wanted to 'purify and cleanse'.
At this point, we notice that the fantasy world is already beginning to mix with the real world. Although there was diegetic sound of the soldier's speaking in the background, along with Ofelia's mother, all of this noise is drowned out by the non-diegetic sound of music. What is important about this piece of music however, is that it sounds just like 'London Bridge is Falling Down', which is a nursery rhyme meant for children, although the meaning behind it is possibly about conflict and death. This then relates to the current state of Spain. In addition, the fact that the noise is drowned out by the music, it shows the audience that Ofelia is already entering her fantasy world. She is no longer aware of what is going on around her, and as she is mesmerised by the insect, she doesn't have to worry about the current state of her country or the danger around her. This in turn reflects the idea that the fantasy world for Ofelia is a coping mechanism. Once the insect flies off and her mother calls her name several times, she is then bought back into the real world.
Before Ofelia realises that the Pale Man is sitting at the end of the table, there is a tracking shot of her walking down the side of the table. This emphasises how long the table is and how much food is really on there. It shows her facial expressions too, at how blown away she is by everything in front of her. When Ofelia notices the Pale Man, there is non-diegetic sound that catches the audience off guard, much alike the main character. This sound is of a loud crash, instantly placed on top of when Ofelia looks up; this is a possible hint at the danger to come. In addition this over the shoulder shot emphasises how small Ofelia is compared to the Pale Man, presenting her as weak and vulnerable.
The next important scene is that of the children's shoes in a pile. The camera tracks up from a low angle shot to make the pile look bigger. While it does make sense, the Pale Man eats the children and then he throws away their clothes, there's an immediate reference to Auschwitz. 1.1 million people died there, yet many people in Spain at the time did not know about it as the media was heavily restricted. It emphasises this idea of Spain in which it was so dictated that the country almost shut off from the world completely. With the reference to Auschwitz and with the non-diegetic sound of baby's crying in the background, it makes the scene a lot more haunting and a lot more important than one may seem.
Disobedience is a continued theme throughout the film, and is shown here in this scene. Ofelia was warned not to eat anything, but having not eaten there's the emotion of desire and temptation. The sound at this point is non-diegetic, and is almost like a swarm of insects in the same room as Ofelia. It not only creates tension as the audience watches, as it promotes the idea of feeling on edge as our gut instinct would be to run away from the insects; however, Ofelia does not do this and instead her desire takes over. The sound could also be metaphorical to her thoughts, she knows she must not eat anything from the table but she wants to, and therefore cannot stop herself. This could be Ofelia's thoughts swarming around inside her mind. In addition, all of the food on the table is red, linking to that idea of blood and danger; the colour red is also seen in the hallway before seeing the Pale Man.
This use of depth of field is to show how tense the scene is; we see Ofelia standing on top of the chair - which does not look stable at all - while the Pale Man is seconds away from reaching her. This shot could represent the people in Spain, as people were always seconds away from death - whether it would have been dangerous weapons, saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing, there was a huge panic as people didn't know what to say or do anymore. Ofelia leaving the Pale Man's lair could represent the people who got out of Spain, and those who could live freely and peacefully somewhere else.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We then move onto the opening scene of Pan's Labyrinth.
The audience can notice that the shot is actually in reverse, and that as the camera pans to the left, we see that the blood is going back into Ofelia's nose via the use of a close up. Although it gives away a huge part of the plot, a lot of the mystery still lingers as we do not know how this has happened or what events took place before this. In this shot as well, the heavily themed dark blue/grey aesthetics are present, much alike del Toro's other films. This provokes emotion as the colours resemble coldness and quite evidently, death. In addition, the heavily used nursery rhyme is part of the non-diegetic sound in the background, which could connect to the motherly themes running throughout the film; although del Toro combats the stereotypical representations of women towards the end of the film, he does also show some of them during the beginning and middle, thus the motherly themes.
What is interesting however is that in the opening of the film, the colour palettes representing the fantasy world are very dark and cold colours, like blues and greys. Whereas on the other hand, in the real world, the colour palettes consist of oranges, yellows and typically warm colours. This could be to represent the fact that Ofelia has not yet graced the fantasy world with her presence, as this is the beginning of the film, or in turn it could be mourning her.
At this point, we notice that the fantasy world is already beginning to mix with the real world. Although there was diegetic sound of the soldier's speaking in the background, along with Ofelia's mother, all of this noise is drowned out by the non-diegetic sound of music. What is important about this piece of music however, is that it sounds just like 'London Bridge is Falling Down', which is a nursery rhyme meant for children, although the meaning behind it is possibly about conflict and death. This then relates to the current state of Spain. In addition, the fact that the noise is drowned out by the music, it shows the audience that Ofelia is already entering her fantasy world. She is no longer aware of what is going on around her, and as she is mesmerised by the insect, she doesn't have to worry about the current state of her country or the danger around her. This in turn reflects the idea that the fantasy world for Ofelia is a coping mechanism. Once the insect flies off and her mother calls her name several times, she is then bought back into the real world.
Comments
Post a Comment