Pan's Labyrinth - Setting and Themes List

Title: Pan's Labyrinth
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Genre: magical realism, gothic fairytale, foreign film (Spanish), horror
Characters: Ofelia, Capitan Vidal, Mercedes, Carmen, Dr. Ferreiro, Faun

Main themes:

1. That rebellion is necessary to experience full and independent self-discovery.
2. Imagination is a fundamental part of human nature that has become lost.
3. Everyone has a dark hunger for power, that will consume all else.
4. Exploring one's individuality involves the exploration of one's imagination
5. The challenges of everyday life require imagination as a way to escape reality
6. Imagination is necessary for surviving the real world and for discovering the fantasy realm.

About Guillermo del Toro:

• Grew up in a Roman Catholic family, this upbringing has heavily influenced his work
• Mexican interested in Spanish politics
• Prefers to make very strongly themed films with unrealistic circumstances or creatures. Examples are The Devil's Backbone, Hellboy, Hellboy II.
  
• Loves comics.

About the setting of Pan's Labyrinth:

• Time is 1944. Spanish Civil War. Modernist movement and also a lean towards Fascism in Spain.
• Physical setting: A mill on the border of Spain. Pockets of "Reds" pepper the forests.
• Social setting: Fascist coup, unstable, women are subordinate to men, war is raging across the world. Time of paranoia and suspicion.
• Fantasy settings: Labyrinth (acts as hub), Pale Man's Lair, Fig Tree, Underground Kingdom.

Spain is introduced to the audience in the form of ruins through a blinding flash of light. Princess Moanna has "eluded her keepers" and found a barren world where she "feels pain". Skulls in here signify the mortality of the upper world, it's not a nice place or time. One of war and killing. Like the ruins, the war-ravaged Spain we become acquainted is experiencing the crumble of political foundations as Generalissimo Franco takes power. The sweep and crossfade of the camera from the ruins to a car in the desert-like road gives the viewer a sense that this Spain is still struggling with turmoil. Del Toro's view of "Franco's Spain" is clear, and also gives the idea that Ofelia is "Princess Moanna" more plausibility.

Not much of Spain outside the mill is referred to other than little hints we pick up from the characters. The influence of military is strong and almost encroaching on the natural order of Spain (Vidal's entry into the forest is unusual in the juxtaposed costume of the fascists and the communists. The steely blue gray uniform is unnatural in the forest, doesn't belong. Whilst the rebels wear earthy browns. Link to the faun being "the mountain, the forest and the earth"). The war between political groups can be seen as represented by where they situate themselves. The fascists' headquarters lie in a small mill, masculine in its appearance (functional, without adornment. Straight lines). They are surrounded by trees and forestry though, the rebels' habitat. The heroic symmetry given to the men who reside there (set dressing: men stand in a V shape in this low angled shot) is easier on our eyes and hints at del Toro's sympathetic opinion of them. The forests are the place of rebellion, where Ofelia finds the Labyrinth, goes to find the toad etc. The fascists are the small pocket of dry land in the midst of rising communism. They are simply "a waste of time".

To further the point on the mill's lack of femininity, it's an indication to us as an audience that this is not right for Ofelia. There is no room to grow and discover, it is representative of a world that "is a cruel place". The box shape of it exists only for function, efficiency and work. It doesn't seem to fit in with its surroundings, much like fascism doesn't fit in Spain to del Toro. Women in Pan's Labyrinth are often associated with a circle motif, yet there are none (save three circular windows and the mill grinder) to be seen at the mill. This is a show of how dominant Vidal is over the "silly stories" of women in this tale. Del Toro uses this to contrast our view of Ofelia and to anger us at Vidal's immensely evil character. We make a stand for women when we enter the curved arches of the Labyrinth and "get lost" in its depths and revel in the freedom of open space (shown by a constant camera movement and God shots). The circular Labyrinth is a haven for women - who traditionally are associated with "the moon" and imagination - as opposed to Vidal's constricting and manly mill.

The settings in the fantasy world are direct parallels to the real world. A transference from Ofelia's reality to the magical has taken place. From mirrored mise en scene to smooth transitions between shots it's evident Guillermo del Toro is actively linking both these worlds together. When entering the Pale Man's lair, we find a grand banquet table laden in rich red fruits and meats whilst the Pale Man "sleeps there" at the head. The same table is seen when the camera crosscuts to Vidal's dining hall, with the man himself at the head, fire blazing behind him (as in the lair). This directly links the Pale Man to Vidal as a representation of a man who "is not human". His greed and merciless consumption of Spain's innocent growth (frescoes of Pale Man devouring children hungrily. An allusion to the Goyan painting of 'Saturn Devouring his Sons'). Guillermo del Toro fills Pan's Labyrinth with political reference.

The Labyrinth is a very important part of describing the fantasy setting of Pan's Labyrinth in set dressing and motif. The moon is almost constantly present in conjunction with the labyrinth. Referring back to the idea that the moon is representative generally of women due to menstrual cycle and also the faun's claim that it was "the moon that bore [her]". It's a place Ofelia can fully realise her imagination, however it is also an opportunity to rebel. Mercedes suggestion that Ofelia "better not go in there" is soon ignored in pursuit of more mysterious things. The deep bass choir that swiftly takes our audible attention is both foreboding and yet fascinating as it gives the sense that the Labyrinth has in fact "always been there" with an ancient mysteriousness we as an audience feel pulled toward with Ofelia. The stone faun figure atop the entrance also foreshadows his appearance. He has always been looking down upon her, like a Protector, "waiting for [her]". It's also interestingly enough a parallel to the ruins we encounter first in the film. We enter the real world through destruction and likewise we exit it. Del Toro is following a circular structure, again Pan's Labyrinth itself is a circle in structure, enhancing the qualities of the Labyrinth and women. The need to be able to feel and imagine is necessary to survive the real world and overcome the obstacles within it.