pans labyrinth -component 2 section A: global film

pans labyrinth

writer/producer/director-Guillermo del toro in 2006

CONTEXT

nuevo cine Mexicano 

pro (institutional revolutionary party)governed Mexico for over 70 years from 1929 to 2001.

during this time they were responsible for corruption, electoral fraud, and authoritarianism.
it is against this backdrop of political unrest that Nuevo cine Mexicano- new wave cinema -was born when the  PRI was in parliament a lot of films was censored, however, after 2001 the PRI was out of parliament the enabled Mexican film directors to be more expressive and creative and led to the rise of nuevo cine Mexico.
Mexican directors such as del Toro and Inarritu.

characteristics of nuevo cine Mexico :
influenced by french new wave and Italian neorealism:
-documentary visual style
-avoidance of neatly plotted storylines
-conversational speech
-avoidance of artifice camera work and lighting and editing


Context of pans labyrinth: Spanish civil war 
1936-1939
THEMES:
Loss
Escapism
Fantasy/Reality
War
loss of childhood
Ofelia death =literal metaphorical
Trauma

main characters analysis:

OFELIA:
a metaphor for children in war
liberalism
morality
innocence
idealism
model of ideal utopian of Spain

VIDAL:
metaphor
order-shaving-watch
dictator
patriarchy
male violence/dominance
pure evil that's what Ophelia thinks of him as being pure evil and that's what it portrays from her point of view.

VIDAL FEAST SCENE

performance:
-Vidal head of the table, visual hierarchy mostly men at the table illustrates the patriarchy
lots of women maids serving food shows the
-Vidal speaks the most
-shift structural centred framing, if character off-centre frame then there is an imbalance
-Carmen reaches for the captain's hands he removes away displaying coldness camera racking from Vidal to carmen displaying distraught, then Mercedes touches carmen shoulder putting the attention back carmen but the shot still contains Vidal showing his Ominous stare towards carmen and Mercedes both women.
Vidal feast scene illustrates the ongoing tension between Vidal and the rest of the table especially his wife Carmen. Del toro starts This scene placing Vidal at the head of the table displays the visual hierarchy and encapsulates the patriarchal society, specifically lots of women maids serving the food.

How does performance create meaning in the table scene:

Del Toro conveys Vidal as powerful and dominant within the feast scene, Sergi Lopez shows this through his performance. specifically his body language and his posture. Vidal sits at the head of the table with his back upright, and legs apart this physically demonstrates his power and control over the table. This is contrasted with Carmen's body posture, she's seating with her hand on her lap and whilst she speaks she looking down at her food, this indicates Vidal honour ship over her. Del toro does this to represent the state of gender politics and the patriarchal society that men held dominance over women at this time. However, this is contrasted with the portrayal of Mercedes. Firstly she is shown in a position of control, she is standing and takes control from Vidal by taking Carmen out of the scene. This could foreshadow the end of the film, where Mercedes takes both his child and his life.

ben and Benji para

In Pan's Labyrinth, meaning is created in the feast scene through aesthetic qualities by having the setting and colour palette at the start as dark and muted blues and the setting is rainy. Before they all sit down to have dinner, it's raining outside and is very dark. This could be a pathetic fallacy and foreshadowing that something bad will come later in the film. The director's message here is that the place that they are staying at is evil and dangerous. This creates meaning as the spectator now feels on edge as they are unsure about what will happen next. Another way meaning is created is by the framing in the dinner scene. When the camera focus on Carmen, it's an over the shoulder shot of Vidal and they are both in the frame. However, when it cuts and the camera focuses only on Vidal he is the only person in the whole frame. The director's intentions here are to isolate Vidal from everyone else and to shows he's of importance here as he was in the frame with Carmen, but in the fame on his own and this shows he has power over everyone there. This makes the spectator feel inferior to Vidal as they are intimated by him due to how his importance is portrayed. 

Another way aesthetic qualities create meaning is through the use of the opening shot establishing a new scene is a pan left and tracking shot which shows maids preparing the dining table, and the movement of the camera stops to reveal Carmen in a wheelchair being pushed around. This reminds the spectators of the constant the patriarchal theme of the film, where Vidal wants to assert his dominance by being in control of what Carmen is free to do, despite them being partners. We enter another shot, where the farm shows a dining room table, with an equal amount of people opposite each other, with Vidal at the head of the table. Not only does this show to spectator's Vidal's obsession with authority, but the equity of
people on his left and right also shows the table perfectly balanced and in order. This reflects how the fascists want to bring balance and order to everyone in Spain. 

josh and Xander sound editing

In the scene where Vidal hosts the dinner, the editing and sound are key to understanding the scene. But to understand this we need to first understand the director's intentions through the editing, in this scene del Toro intended to present the ideas of patriarchy. An example of this is in the feast scene, where there is a shot-reverse-shot where we see Carman from Vidal's shoulder and Vidal from in front. This shows us that Vidal is the superior character, this is the idea of the patriarchy being bad and this idea is presented by using Vidal who is the antagonist as a mouthpiece for the patriarchy. During this scene, there is the constant diegetic sound of the fire which helps the spectator to understand the chilling and dark atmosphere, given off by Vidal. This also gives an uncomfortable feeling, for the spectator as they are forced to listen to daunting sounds while looking at the sinister character with the background amplifying this persona. this mirrors how Del toro is strongly against the patriarchy and racist regime presenting them as the enemy and the imagination and innocence of a child as positive. He puts this idea forward that a child's imagination is key to escaping the world they are trapped in. Del Toro wants to establish the difference between good and evil and does this effectively with the non-diegetic sound presented. When there is a cut to Mercedes alone, we hear a Heroic motif in a major key which ultimately adds to the idea that Del Toro wants the spectator to see how she is Valiant and courageous. 

4th November 2019

pale man scene-sound:

• whilst Ofelia walking down the long corridor you can hear heavy, echoic breathing from pale man. whilst the camera is filming the ceiling there are paintings of children you can hear faint children screaming.
• the screeching sound of the key whilst she's opening the door. hyper reel sound.
• the irritating screeching sound of the fairies
• sound of suffocating from the pale man whilst he outs the eyes in his hands

12th November 2019
poachers scene -microfeatures

mise en scene
monochromatic blue colour palette emphasizes the  and ominous atmosphere

the recurring theme of the grain mill in the background

The very precise fetishistic uniform of the sergeants contrasts with the ragged ordinary rebels costume, makes the spectators emphasize more with the rebels because they identify with them because they dress normally.
and the spectators automatically have hatred towards the sergeants because they represent the patriarchal, authoritarian and corrupted ness of Spain.

editing 
when they find the poachers there just one long take to show the issue is with a small group of people.
 shot reverse shot Vidal + poachers
constantly focuses on Vidal throughout his face being beaten in

sound

dark ominous music, sudden music, scares spectator, complements violence
when Vidal shoots the other man the music moves up the optic to increase the dark atmosphere with an eerie sound in a higher pitch.
the hyper reel Diegetic sound of the gunshot adds to the sociopathic tendencies, Vidal.

cinematography

• back to a camera shot of Vidal
• the camera is up, puts him in a place of importance 
• slow tracking shots
• constant movements
• the camera switches to the floor, looking up at Vidal
• low angle shots 
• after the violence, camera looks up at Vidal, places spectator in the place of the poachers
• Vidal centre in the framing camera continually follows Vidal