With close references to two scenes from “Pan’s Labyrinth”, explore how cinematography and mise-en-scene create meaning. (A grade)

The story of the toad in the tree is very similar to Ofelia’s mother’s pregnancy. The baby is making her unwell just like the toad is making the tree. This creates a parallel early on in the film from the real world to the fantasy world and shows that the fantasy world is affected by the real world. When Ofelia enters the tree, we can straight away hear the sound of squelching which really adds to the grotesque aesthetic of the film and begins to create a picture of a disgusting place. The shot of Ofelia’s ribbon blowing away in the wind foreshadow the trouble she is going to get into after this quest which makes it more sinister. The grotesque insects crawling around inside the tree represent life and the frog seems to be eating away at it, the bugs are crawling all over Ofelia almost as though they are guiding her or begging for her help. The long shot of Ofelia as she is crawling through the tree establishes the fact that the tree is dying, the roots seem blackened and some are broken and the life is slowly being drained from it by the frog creature. The closeup of Ofelia’s muddy hands show her disobedience and childlikeness and really emphasises the theme of deviance. It also made me think about consequence and the factuality of the adult real world against the abstract fantasy of Ofelia’s world. I think it shows that consequences come in all worlds but just in different ways and for different reasons. The tracking shot of Ofelia crawling through the mud shows her difficulty getting through such a thick substance. Here we can see Ofelia’s determination which is unique from many fairy tales as she isn’t the damsel in distress but almost the heroine of the story, this shows through the style of the auteur and the abstract nature of his stories.

 The editing is really seamlessly done in the next shot as it cuts to the captain trying to find the communists with a tree, therefore emphasising the close parallels of the two worlds. The first thing noticeable about the two narratives is that the characters Ofelia and the Captain have similar personal quests. Ofelia is finding the frog so she can kill it and he is finding the communists so that he can kill them, the two stories are in parallel with one another and even though the two characters are enemies they are on similar quests. The close-ups of the Captain’s face show his constant frown which shows his merciless attitude towards people of different opinions than him and his military background shines through as he can tell how many men they were looking for and how long ago they were there from the heat of the fire. The close up of his hand as he tests the heat brings in another common theme: hands, hands link to decisions and choices and in the real-world choices for everybody are limited, even captain Vidal. The fact that the Captain finds the antibiotics shows his observants and that nothing goes unseen by him, and the lottery ticket is very telling of the situation of the communists hiding in the forest. They have survived only by luck. The way the camera tracks more quickly around the captain mirrors his frantic searching and his hunger to destroy the communists and the behind angle on the captain shows the fact that he is being tricked, the communists can see him but he can’t see them. This gives him an uncommon vulnerability. The sounds of his voice echoing show the emptiness of his demands, his enemies have got away yet again. The non-diegetic 3 beats of music show his regimented movements, he seems to move with the sounds. His stiffness shows his anger at losing the communists and his determination to kill them. The behind shot and the low angle on the communists as Vidal rides away show their triumph however the music makes me sense they haven’t won, as it is slightly tense and sinister.  

 When we cut back to Ofelia we see her muddy face straight away and hear her very heavy breathing, this is also a rare moment in the film where there is no music, which for me built up more tension because you could hear every little sound. There is then a shot-reverse-shot of the long tunnel ahead of Ofelia which made my heart sink because there was so far to go for her. The noises of the frog are then heard which built apprehension when the camera pans round to show the frog the grim nature of the story is emphasised, and as Ofelia speaks to it and says “aren’t you ashamed living down here?” this is a parallel between the narrative of captain Vidal, the communists are hiding away from him like cowards and are living off other people’s trust, just like the toad is living off the tree’s life. Also, it fits in with the story of Ofelia’s mother and her unborn child who seems to be selfishly eating away at her. As the frog is fed the stones from Ofelia it vomits a huge yellow blob full of dead bugs, this shows Ofelia’s triumph but the dead bugs link to her mother, even though the frog may have been stopped what is done can’t be undone and the life of the tree is still damaged just like her mother is.

In the pale man scene the first shot is a dolly out with a fade halfway through into an extreme long shot. This shot firstly establishes the location Ofelia has entered which is a long corridor. Ofelia appears very small in this shot which emphasises her childlikeness and already begins to mirror how she feels in the real world beneath the huge wrath of the Captain. Also, the mise-en-scene of the red colour scheme of the corridor signifies danger and the aesthetic and style of the set reminds me of a darker fairy-tale such as Alice in Wonderland. In addition to this the non-diegetic music is different from the general music played when somebody enters a magical world. The music is very sinister sounding and it makes me feel quite uncomfortable. I think here Guillermo del Toro is trying to express that just because Ofelia has entered a different world doesn’t mean the dangers disappear. This really gives the current fascist political situation in Franco’s Spain a nature of inescapability and helps the audience to empathise with Ofelia. The fact that Ofelia needs a chair to get down reminds me that she is just a child now facing the danger from two different worlds with so much resting on her shoulders. As we see Ofelia putting the bag containing the fairies around her neck we can see a clear contrast between the world she is in and the world she is about to step into. The real world seems hard and unchanging whereas the fantasy world is inviting and also more malleable, because although there are dangers now it has the potential to be the beautiful place it once was. The diegetic echoes in this frame resemble the sounds of footsteps, which build suspense and makes me feel the danger Ofelia is in from both worlds. The zoom on the sand timer emphasises a key theme of the narrative: time. In this sequence the focus is on the lack of time. The fact that time is running out is a very prominent thought when Ofelia is in both worlds and her short amount of time to complete the quest could mirror the short amount of time she has left with her mother. This parallel among others really connects the real world and the fantasy world and brings the two separate narratives together.

  We also here see a closeup of Ofelia’s face as she looks at the sand timer, this is to show her emotions and create a sense of fear and suspense. The behind shot of Ofelia after this shows our first glimpse of the banquet. Behind the pale man is the flickering fire which gives connotations that Ofelia is in a kind of underworld or hell and always foreshadows the danger she will encounter also this set up is very similar to that of Captain Vidal’s dinner party. This could show that del Toro was trying to compare the Pale Man who is a child eating monster with a fascist leader. He is using fairy tale creatures to make a political statement.

The tracking shot of the food with Ofelia in the background looking longingly at it shows all the times she has been deprived of her dinner, also it emphasises her harshly disciplined real life, here she has a whole table of food and as it appears nobody to tell her not to eat it. Here she has the freedom to make her own decisions. The mise-en-scene of all the food being red in colour shows that the pale man is hungry for blood and foreshadows the danger eating the food will cause. The non-diegetic loud noise that is heard when Ofelia sees the pale man immediately makes the pale man scary and unpredictable as though he could move at any moment. This really reflects Captain Vidal in my opinion because he is just as unpredictable and terrifying as the pale man is therefore creating yet another parallel between real life and fantasy. When Ofelia picks up the eyeballs on the plate we see a close-up of her face to show her disgust. As well as this, eyes are a recurring theme throughout Pan’s Labyrinth and it is to signify the fact that in Franco’s Spain people would see wrong doing but it was too dangerous to say anything. I think he fact that the pale man’s eyes aren’t in his face to represent Vidal and how he fails to see what he is doing is wrong. The pan of all the pictures on the ceiling of the pale man eating and killing children is very harrowing and reflects the evil of his real world parallel Vidal. The images, like much of del Toro’s work, are inspired by Goya’s art. The painting of Saturn devouring his son is extremely like the paintings of the of the pale man. In del Toro’s other films, he uses inspiration from other ancient stories and myths and it is a common theme in his work. The next shot is a close-up of Ofelia with the raging fire and the pale man in the background which could foreshadow Ofelia’s fate. Then the shot of the children’s shoes in front of the fire resemble images taken of the concentration camps in the holocaust. This gives the underlying political theme a sombre mood and begins to show the awful consequences from such a small action especially under fascist governments. In the next part, the fairies tell Ofelia to open the middle door however she opens the door on her left, this brings back the theme of disobedience and the choice Ofelia has that she never has in the real world. This time, there is more of a sinister feel each time she disobeys. The next zoom of the hourglass reminds the audience that time is running out for Ofelia which further builds the suspense and a dangerous atmosphere. Locks and keys are also a huge running theme in the film in both worlds and they represent concealment and secrets and what happens behind closed doors. The shot from inside the door shows Ofelia’s facial expression and builds up apprehension of what is behind it. When Ofelia disobeys the fairies once again and eats the food there are consequences. This shows del Toro’s idea that fairy tales aren’t always perfect, and consequences exist whichever realm you’re in. The consequences also portray the harshness of the punishments in the real world at the time being around captain Vidal.

These two scenes captured del Toro’s grotesque vision using both mise-en-scene and cinematography. He has managed to create two worlds that are in parallel with each other with two different aesthetics and colour scheme. His use of themes has shown consequences are inevitable and every action means something and that in a fascist government there was no place for speaking freely. Both the scenes were close moments for Ofelia and they showed her bravery, defying the common princess expectations. Overall what del Toro has created is a dark fairy tale with a real-life twist.