"In trying to do that, I chose that war because it was a household war. People that shared beds, shared dining tables and shared lives ultimately killed each other. I tried to use an orphanage as the classic haunted building of gothic romance and use the ghost story to prove the same thing that I wanted to prove in Pan's Labyrinth, that is the only real monsters are human. And the only thing you have to be afraid of is people, not creatures, not ghosts"
Interview: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/21/guardianinterviewsatbfisouthbank
Sketches: http://www.theguardian.com/film/flash/page/0,,1949730,00.html
http://seriousfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/20-pans-labyrinth-details-you-may-have.html
Friday, November 15, 2013
20 Pan's Labyrinth Details You May Have Missed
Pan's Labyrinth is one of those rare films where the imagery is so dense that you keep making discoveries no matter how often you return to it. I have lost count of how many times I have watched Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece since 2006, and I have yet to have get through a viewing without spotting some new element. Here are just some of the details I didn't notice until after several viewings:
1. Empty Sockets
There is an early bit of foreshadowing when Ofelia is on her way to the mill for the first time where she returns the eye to its place on a stone figure. The motif of placing eyeballs into sockets will repeat later with the Pale Man.
2. Hidden Fauns
The image of the Faun is scattered
throughout the film. In this shot, for example, a faun can be spotted
carved into the banister.
3. Gears
The giant gears in the background of
Captain Vidal’s lair deliberately echo the gears of his prized watch
that was left to him by his father.
4. Birthmark
Ofelia has a birthmark on her
shoulder, which is said to be proof of her royal identity. At the start
of the film the moon can be seen to be a crescent that matches the
birthmark. At the film’s end the moon is full, perhaps signifying her
complete transformation to her royal identity.
5. Color Coding
Pan's Labyrinth color codes
the separate worlds of the film. Blue for reality. Red/Gold for fantasy.
Green for the world of the Faun. As the boundaries between the worlds
break down so too do the colors bleed from one world to another.
6. A Nod to Alice
The film is peppered with references
to film and literature. The design of Ofelia’s green dress, for
example, is a clear tribute to Alice in Wonderland.
7. Reverse Aging
As the film progresses the faun gets
younger and healthier looking. He sheds moss and dirt. His hair goes
from white to blond. His teeth straighten and whiten. His eyes become
unclouded and his movements go from jerky to smooth.
Del Toro explained that it means more in the end for Ofelia to refuse
the Faun’s request if she does so when the Faun is at his most
appealing.
8. Right Next Door
The film frequently uses vertical wipes to transfer between scenes. It's a subtle way to suggest the real world and the fantasy world exist closely alongside one another
9. Tree of Life
The film’s central image of the tree
with the split trunk is loaded with symbolic weight. Not only do the
curved trunks bring to mind the twisted horns of the Faun but it also
resembles the shape of fallopian tubes in one of the film’s many
examples of birth imagery.
10. Mirror Images
- In both worlds a key is an object of importance
- A hidden blade pays a role in both reality and fantasy worlds
- Mercedes has a secret hole in the floor. Ofelia later creates a hole in the floor using magic.
- Ofelia is given a living mandrake root by the Faun to heal her mother. Earlier Mercedes is glimpsed chopping a mandrake root in the kitchen.
12. Why So Hungry?
Many viewers wonder why Ofelia is so
foolish as to disobey the Faun’s instructions and wake the monster by
eating the grapes. Beside the fact that disobedience in the face of
authority is one of Pan’s central themes, recall that Ofelia was
sent to bed with dinner the night before and may have gone a full day
without eating at this point. Also keep in mind that Ofelia has just
been proven right when she trusted her own judgment and ignored advice
about which door hid the knife.
13. Lies Everywhere
The Fairies weren't the only ones to
mislead Ofelia about which door hides the blade. The Faun’s book also
suggests the incorrect middle door. The door also plays on the same
theme of deceptive visuals as the increasing beauty of the Faun. The
beautiful door is the false choice. The shabby, broken down door hides
the treasure.
14. 1 Out Of 3 Ain’t Bad
Ofelia returns to her Kingdom at the
film’s end despite failing two out of three tests put to her in the
film. She wakes the Pale Man and refuses to turn over her brother to the
Faun. The only test she passes is retrieving the key from the toad.
15. Backbone Reunion
The young stars of del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone have a brief cameo as rebel fighters.
16. Wings of Fire
Captain Vidal is positioned in front of the fireplace in such a way as to create the impression of fiery wings.
17. The Unexplained Chalk
Throughout most of the
film all Ofelia’s actions in the "real" world have plausible,
non-magical explanations. It’s not until her escape from the attic at
the film's end that there is an action that can only be explained by
magic. Where did that chalk come from if not the Faun?
18. The Immortality Rose
19. Tailor Tales
It is briefly mentioned that
Ofelia’s murdered father was a tailor. This may explain why Ofelia is
such a devoted fan of fairy tales. Tailors and cobblers were
traditionally the tellers of fairy tales which is why so many have
tailors and cobblers as central characters.
20. Fairies Resurrected
The two fairies killed by the Pale
Man are seen alive again in the final scene. If we are taking the
fantasy sequences literally this lends credence to the theory that the
tests may have been faked and were more about how Ofelia behaved during
the tests than about the supposed goals.
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