How do cinematography and mise-en-scene create meaning in Pans Labyrinth?

The narrative structure of the film Pan’s Labyrinth is circular meaning that the opening scene is actually an event that happens right at the end of the film. This gives it a very surreal, fairy tale like feeling as it tells the story of how it got to that point just like in a fairy tale story. We see a close up of the protagonist, Ofelia, lying on the floor with blood dripping from her nose as non-diegetic humming is heard. This creates a calm and slightly saddening atmosphere however it seems quite tranquil. The low-key, blue lighting makes the scene seem dull and melancholy which fits the action going on in the scene. This shot instantly engages the audience and makes them feel sympathy for Ofelia as they know what is going to happen to her at the end. The non-diegetic voice over during the whole opening sequence tells a prelude to the events in the film however it tells a story that links to Ofelia’s view on the events in the film which makes me feel like the voice over at the start is in Ofelia’s mind as it is very much fantasy which we only see when she is away from the adults in the film and gets a chance to let her over active imagination change her perception of reality.  The scene cuts to a close up of Ofelia reading a book which could imply that the voice over is what she is reading from the book which would explain why she comes up with this fantasy world later in the story. Her mother says to her that the fairy tales she reads are “nonsense” which is a theme throughout the film as none of the adults believe or understand what Ofelia is saying and she is often told what to say. Later in the beginning of the film Ofelia’s mother tells her to call someone her father and before she can protest she says “It’s only a word”. The restriction of speech is a common theme throughout the film as in the time the film was set, Spain was ruled by a dictator who made everyone afraid and unable to speak out about their beliefs and the things that they saw. We see many subtle references to this such as when the bug crawls out of the mouth of the statue and the fact that the only soldier that they managed to capture alive was the one with the stutter so even though they were trying to force him to talk, he was unable to.

The Auteur, Guillermo del Toro, was stylistically inspired by the artist Francisco Goya, who’s paintings can be seen on the walls of the room where the Pale Man is situated. He was known for painting gruesome monsters attacking and eating children which is clearly what the concept of the Pale Man was based on as we see a close up of a pile of children’s shoes leading the audience to believe that he eats children. An interesting part of mise-en-scene is the way the Pale Man looks as he has no eyes and has to put them in his hands in order to see. This leaves him unable to use his hands to do anything when he is looking at something. In my opinion this could represent the people in Spain seeing the terrible things that were happening but not being able to take action and do anything about it. However, the Pale Man could also represent the man who is supposed to be Ofelia’s new father, captain Vidal, as the banquet table he sits at mirrors the one that the Pale man is sitting at and the shots are parallel showing that they are happening at the same time which creates a juxtaposition between the real world and the fantasy world. The Pale Man kills some of Ofelia’s fairies which were supposed to lead her way, this could represent her feeling that her new father is destroying her future and ruining her life.

Colour plays a huge part in this film as it helps to distinguish real life frim Ofelia’s fantasy. The real world was made up of cool toned grey and blue colours which convey a saddening and miserable atmosphere. Whereas the fantasy world is made up of warm golden and read colours making it seem a lot more welcoming and friendly. This gives the audience an idea of why Ofelia goes to this place to escape the cruel, unfriendly reality of the world.

It is made very obvious that the fantasy world is all in Ofelia’s mind as she only sees the mythical creatures when she is on her own. Also, it is stated throughout the film that she reads a lot of fairy tales and we see elements of this in the fantasy scenes. For example the scene with the frog in the tree which brings in elements from the princess and the frog and Ofelia’s dress which is noticeably similar to Alice’s dress in Alice in wonderland. This supports the theory that all of the fantasy elements are just in Ofelia’s head as her encounters with the fantasy world all seem similar to books she as read. I know this because in one of the scenes, a close up of Ofelia’s magical book is shown and there appears to be a drawing of Alice crawling into the rabbit hole and this occurs shortly before Ofelia crawls into the hole in the tree wearing a very similar costume which is the Auteurs clever use of mise-en-scene to tie more fairy tale elements into the film to make the distinction between real life and fantasy more distinct.

There are also a lot of elements in the fantasy world that represent the unborn child in the mother’s womb. One example of this is the frog in the tree. Ofelia has to seek out the frog just like captain Vidal had to seek out a woman who was pregnant with a son in order to carry on his name. The toad is an element of life inside a dying tree which could be foreshadowing the mothers death later on in the film as she dies but the baby lives. Ofelia is asked to complete a challenge involving defeating the toad which could be linked to her being asked to sacrifice her brother later in the film. Also, when the magic root is thrown into the fire there is instantly something wrong with the baby. The fact that so many of Ofelia’s fantasies include her brother shows how much she cares about him and may foreshadow her refusing to sacrifice him at the end.