A-Level Film Studies - 'Pan's Labyrinth' & Representation (Part 2 of 2)

Summary

In Part 2 of the analysis series on 'Pan's Labyrinth' by Mr. Gardner, the focus shifts to examining gender representation and power dynamics within the film. The discussion highlights how female characters like Ophelia and Mercedes challenge traditional gender roles, showcasing strength and disobedience as positive traits. Contrastingly, fascists, exemplified by Captain Vidal, embody cruelty and are depicted negatively. The narrative crafts a stark opposition between the oppressive fascists and the sympathetic rebels, emphasizing themes of resistance and empowerment. The film ultimately conveys a powerful message about gender fluidity and the destructiveness of rigid societal roles, while critiquing authoritative figures.

Highlights

• Ophelia defies traditional gender roles by choosing bravery and disobedience over conformity, symbolized by her actions against the tyrant ✊.
• Mercedes represents a strong, complex female character who operates in the shadows yet proves crucial in the rebellion against fascism 🕶️.
• Captain Vidal embodies toxic masculinity, cruelty, and the oppressive nature of fascism, contrasting against the morally upright rebels ⚔️.
• The film critiques not just malevolent males but also institutional structures, including religion, that perpetuate inequality 🏰.
• Color schemes in the film visually emphasize the moral divide, with earth tones for the virtuous rebels and cold blues for the fascists 🔵.

Key Takeaways

• Ophelia and Mercedes challenge traditional gender roles, embodying strength and rebellion as positive traits 💪.
• Fascists, represented by Captain Vidal, are depicted as cruel and oppressive, highlighting the film's anti-authoritarian stance 👨‍✈️.
• The narrative celebrates disobedience and resistance as necessary forces for change, making the film a rich text for feminist analysis 📚.
• 'Pan's Labyrinth' critiques rigid gender roles and promotes gender fluidity, aligning with Judith Butler's views on gender performativity ✨.
• The film uses vibrant color symbolism to differentiate good (rebels) from evil (fascists), enhancing its thematic depth 🌈.

Overview

Pan's Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo del Toro, presents a captivating critique of gender norms and power structures. Ophelia, the young protagonist, is not your typical damsel; she embodies courage and defiance, opting for muddy shoes over pretty dresses. Likewise, Mercedes, another key female character, stealthily aids the rebels, challenging the underestimation of women in a male-dominated society. Together, they eschew traditional femininity, illustrating the strength found in rebellion.

The fascists, led by the cruel Captain Vidal, are depicted in stark contrast to the female characters and the rebels. Vidal's character exudes toxic masculinity and a cold, authoritarian demeanor, often displaying unnecessary violence. The narrative sets up a clear dichotomy between the oppressive fascists and the sympathetic rebels, underscoring themes of resistance and moral integrity. This contrast is visually reinforced through the film’s color palette, mirroring the ideological battle.

Del Toro crafts a narrative where disobedience becomes virtuous, aligning with philosophical critiques of rigid gender roles as discussed by Judith Butler. The film suggests that true change stems from questioning societal conventions, emphasized through Ophelia's and Mercedes' empowered actions. Through its engaging story and rich symbolism, 'Pan's Labyrinth' becomes a powerful commentary on the necessity of challenging authoritarian power and embracing gender fluidity.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter introduces the focus of a film study video, specifically on 'Pan's Labyrinth'. It is a continuation, part 2, designed for an A level Film Studies exam. The video delves into the themes of gender representation and the depiction of fascists as compared to the rebels, as well as exploring socio-economic class contrasts.
• 00:30 - 05:00: Traditional Representations of Gender The chapter explores the portrayal of characters that conform to traditional gender roles and how they are often depicted in a positive light. It raises the question of whether characters that do not conform to these traditional gender roles are represented negatively, prompting readers to consider the implications of such representations in media and literature. The discussion includes an analysis of powerful versus less powerful characters and how gender roles influence their depiction.
• 05:00 - 07:00: Disobedience as a Positive Trait The chapter 'Disobedience as a Positive Trait' explores the theme of disobedience in a positive light, particularly through the character Ophelia. Unlike her mother, Ophelia is not interested in conforming to traditional gender roles and instead, asserts her own will and desires. Her character is portrayed as disobedient from the beginning, suggesting that such behavior can be seen as a strength rather than a flaw.
• 07:00 - 14:00: Ophelia's Rejection of Traditional Gender Roles The chapter discusses Ophelia's rejection of traditional gender roles through her actions and thoughts. It highlights her journey of self-discovery and empowerment, as she challenges societal norms and expectations. Ophelia's character is portrayed as a symbol of resistance and independence, inspiring readers to question and redefine gender roles. The chapter uses Ophelia's story to explore broader themes of feminism and equality, encouraging a deeper understanding of the struggles and triumphs faced by women who defy conventional roles.
• 14:00 - 23:30: Mercedes as a Strong Female Character The chapter titled 'Mercedes as a Strong Female Character' focuses on the attributes and narrative arcs that establish Mercedes as a strong, independent character within the story. While the transcript provided does not contain specific dialogue or description, the chapter likely explores her resilience, intelligence, and influential actions that defy traditional gender roles, contributing to her development as a strong female protagonist.
• 23:30 - 30:00: Representations of Masculinity The chapter explores different representations of masculinity by examining how traits traditionally considered negative, such as disobedience, can be viewed positively in certain contexts. Specifically, it references 'Pan's Labyrinth' to illustrate how disobedience can be necessary, challenging conventional perceptions of masculine behavior.
• 30:00 - 37:00: Class Distinctions and Power Structures In the chapter titled 'Class Distinctions and Power Structures', a character named Dr. Ferrero is highlighted as making significant remarks during the film, addressing someone as captain and expressing doubt. The narrative focuses on a character who, according to Dr. Ferrero, is quite active and unafraid of getting dirty or muddy. This individual embarks on daunting tasks, demonstrating significant bravery, particularly in their interactions with the 'form'—although the context of 'form' is not fully defined in the summary provided.
• 37:00 - 42:00: The Fascists vs. The Rebels In 'The Fascists vs. The Rebels,' the narrative revolves around a crucial interaction that a character has with a toad. The implications of this interaction are significant, suggesting symbolic undertones that relate to the broader conflict between two opposing factions: the fascists and the rebels. This chapter explores themes of resistance, loyalty, and the unexpected alliances that can form in times of political turmoil. As such, the chapter is likely rich with metaphorical meaning and sets the stage for the struggles and developments that follow in the storyline.

A-Level Film Studies - 'Pan's Labyrinth' & Representation (Part 2 of 2) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] hello everyone this is part 2 of my video on Pan's Labyrinth representation this is four component to section a global film of the educast a level Film Studies exam this video is going to be focusing on the representation of gender and also the representation of fascists versus the brittles but also the rich
• 00:30 - 01:00 and powerful characters versus the representation of the poor and less powerful characters [Music] so if characters that conform to traditional representations of gender are being represented in a positive light does that mean that the characters who don't conform to traditional representations of gender are
• 01:00 - 01:30 represented in a positive light and the answer is a big fat yes so to begin with we have athelia and Ophelia is not interested in being your traditional girly girl so unlike her mother who completely obeys and submits to a man's will a philia is shown to be a disobedient person from the get-go
• 01:30 - 02:00 [Music]
• 02:00 - 02:30 [Music] [Applause]
• 02:30 - 03:00 there's a tree fecal ELISA the mother was too angry and disability willingness indeed he said an Oldham approver the muscle Dundee and normally when we think of disobedience we wouldn't necessarily consider that to be a positive trait it's not like you would complement a parent by saying oh yes your child is very disobedient is great however in Pan's Labyrinth disobedience is shown to be a necessary
• 03:00 - 03:30 thing in fact dr. Ferrero in the film says at one point to captain the doubt obviously what I said actually stick name cetera disgusting she's a very active character so she isn't afraid to get dirty to get muddy she goes on these tasks even though they're incredibly scary she shows a great deal of bravery when she interacts with the form
• 03:30 - 04:00 when she interacts with the toad and
• 04:00 - 04:30 also of course the panel man and she stands up for what she believes in so at the end of the film when the forum says you have a choice you can become a princess if you spilled the blood of the innocent she does not do it she would rather give her own life than to harm another person and that's because she has a strong moral core and unlike a failures mother who is seems to be obsessed with looking pretty and dressing up nicely for captain Vidal not that I think Vidal would appreciate it whatsoever athelia doesn't have an
• 04:30 - 05:00 interest in those things and we see this really clearly in the first house where she has a choice between going to the banquet and wearing this nice pretty dress or by going on the first talk and so we see there's the close-up on her shoes which completely covered in mud and then she takes off the dress and the camera stays on the dress and we see that dress blow off in the wind and it gets covered in mud and it all gets ripped up and this is a really clear sign that a philia is rejecting the patriarchy's notion of what a female
• 05:00 - 05:30 should look like and how a female should behave one of the most interesting aspects of the representation of Ophelia is the idea that she is a fairytale princess and we hear this very early on the film the voice-over the introduction says a princess escape from this magical land and obviously that's supposed to be a philia but also the forum calls her Princess Moana and Ophelia refers to herself as princess marijuana when she first comes across the toad and when we think about the way that fairytale princesses are normally represented
• 05:30 - 06:00 they're often very passive characters and the ones who need to be saved by their Prince Charming and one of the fairy tales immediately springs to mind when we think of Paris labyrinth is the princess and the frog so in that traditional story it goes that the prince kisses the Frog he turns into a handsome prince charming and then they get married and this is the way that fairy tales often end is with the princess getting married and for them that's where their story finishes they've achieved everything that could possibly be achieved by a woman they've managed
• 06:00 - 06:30 to find a rich and handsome man and then they're married and then that's the end of their story but this couldn't be further from the truth for Ophelia she isn't interested in finding a prince charming in fact when she comes across the toad the toad does kiss her and athelia is visibly disgusted we see it in her face we also have that horrible sound effect the squelching of the
• 06:30 - 07:00 saliva and he does that hideous belch as well and neatly afterwards so this kiss is obviously something that philia doesn't desire however compared to the princess and the frog fairy tale how it usually goes he doesn't turn into a prince charming in fact when he kisses her philia athelia ends up killing the toad is that so clear as an example as any philia is rejecting the traditional notions of what a female fairytale princess should be and it may be an obvious thing to point out but a philia is the protagonist of the film she's the main character so just by putting her as
• 07:00 - 07:30 the main character in the film he's sending out a clear message regarding the representation of women they do matter their voice their actions are important and they can affect change even a little girl can affect change but a philia does to exhibit some traditional feminine quality things that we would typically see women being represented as so to begin with she is a creative sensitive person and she does believe in fairies and fairy tales and this is something that somebody like the doubt would see as being completely
• 07:30 - 08:00 irrational and silly and useless people like Afilias mum who is conforming more to the traditional idea of what a woman should be also poo-poos Afilias interest in these types of things like that doesn't interest me when she first meets captain birdell a philia extends her left hand to him to shake and quite often people who are left handed are often considered to be more
• 08:00 - 08:30 artistic more creative more sensitive so this is a clear sign that a theatre is a creative sensitive soul if we didn't already know from the the prop of the fairy tale book and she's also a very compassionate and caring character she does show affection and love toward her mother but also to characters like Mercedes and to her young brother as well so she's happy to be compassionate and caring she's happy to be imaginative and creative but she isn't happy to be submissive and sublimely obeyed mayo
• 08:30 - 09:00 orders she isn't happy to dress up in pretty dresses she isn't happy to kiss toads and look for a fairytale Prince Charming she wants to make her own story happen and the other female character that really challenges these traditional representations of femininity is Mercedes and I think you could argue that Mercedes is the strongest female character in the film and quite a complex representation of a female character when we're first introduced to Mercedes she's very often lurking in the background of the shot and she is being
• 09:00 - 09:30 ordered to do things by male characters and this is a very clear indicator that whilst we find out later on this whole time she is a disobedient character in the same way that failure is because she's helping out the rebels she has to do it in the shadows she has to do it in a way that men like the down and the patriarchal structure will not notice and it's because of her gender that she is underestimated by the men in the film they don't realize the power that a character like Mercedes has and this is something that she challenges
• 09:30 - 10:00 Fordow about when he eventually does find out that she has been disobeying that she has been rebelling put on more videos nothing masculine where it says love adventures myself what is up with this - Erica forgetting BCA fastest and so this scene I think might be one of the best ones to look at in terms of the representation of both the Dow and Mercedes so in this scene we
• 10:00 - 10:30 see that sadistic aspect of the Dow's character and the fact that his aggression his love of violence is being represented as a negative thing but also we see this representation of Mercedes as a strong and empowered female at several points during this scene we get close-ups on the ropes that are tired around mercedes wrists and these are a very powerful symbol they're a symbol of how women during the Franco patriarchal regime how they were restricted how they
• 10:30 - 11:00 were tired in bondage to stop them from being free citizens [Music] don't send him up your hair still and you may not see him again oh why should always be
• 11:00 - 11:30 it also alludes to the classic narrative trope of the damsel in distress who is tied by ropes to the railway line and they have to wait for a male character to come along and save them however in the case of Mercedes because she's a strong and empowered female she doesn't wait for a man to save her she saves herself and the way that she does this and I think this is really interesting is the film quite often will show you shots of Mercedes tucking a knife into her apron and an apron is a costume item
• 11:30 - 12:00 that would be traditionally associated with domestic chores and therefore stereotypically it's something that we would imagine a female character to wear because they often be the ones doing the domestic chores and that's certainly the case in Pan's Labyrinth and certainly the case in the time that the film is set but what I like about this is that we see the knife being concealed in this female item of clothing and this ties in nicely to Carol clovers orc men women
• 12:00 - 12:30 and chainsaws where she describes a character called the final girl now the final girl is character that you'll often see in slash a stalker horror films films like a lloween or scream okay and I know Paris labyrinth isn't a slash a stalker film but I think that Mercedes and also a fini ecause we see her with a knife as well might be good examples of the final girl being transported into this narrative so what makes Mercedes and Ophelia these four girl type characters well it's done through the use of props so Carol clover
• 12:30 - 13:00 points out that quite often in horror film slash a stalker films women are masculinized by phallic appropriation by picking up a knife and thereby this mask unites them because the knife the the prop is a phallic object and so when Mercedes is concealing the knife and then producing it from the apron what she's doing is she is hiding this masculinized aspect of herself inside the disguise of this feminine costume item and she uses this phallic object the knife to free herself from the ropes we see her cut herself
• 13:00 - 13:30 from it but also she uses it to penetrate the doubt thereby feminizing him or castrating him as Carol cloak would say in her essay and one of the most gruesome aspects of this scene is where Mercedes certs the knife into the Dow's mouth and we hear that very sort of gut churning sound of his mouth being cut open by the knife thereby giving him this almost little yannick symbol on his face but it's not just the knives and the phallic symbols
• 13:30 - 14:00 and the janic objects which make Mercedes look like an empowered female character in this scene it's also done through the use of camerawork so up until this point Mercedes has mentioned would either be lurking in the background of shots and the Dow would be shot in close-ups or low angle shots looking up in whereas in missing the cinematography reverses and we see Mercedes being shot in this high angle shot making her look incredibly brave and powerful and we see the doubt
• 14:00 - 14:30 literally brought to his knees you know Mercedes is bringing the patriarchy to its knees and he's being now shot in his high anguish shot making him look weak and vulnerable so if as I print the film which just says men are bad and women are good you know is it a Miss and wrist film I don't think so it's a very complex film like all of the films and if you're looking to get you know those banned five responses in the exam you always want to point out the subtleties and nuances the complex areas of the film and I think Pan's Labyrinth is
• 14:30 - 15:00 certainly a feminist film it has strong empowered representations of women but that doesn't mean it's a Miss and wrist film it's all he doesn't hate men it hates the doubt hates that type of man and he is obviously the antagonist of the film that there are positive representations of men in the film one example of that would be the rebels themselves so they're almost an exclusively male organization with the exception of Mercedes and we see a strong sense of brotherhood compassion they care about each other even if the ill health of a rebel might cause greater harm to the group like athelia
• 15:00 - 15:30 they put the interests of others above their own selfish needs but probably the most positive representation of a male character would come through dr. Ferrero he is an extremely compassionate character obviously he's a doctor so he's there to administer health and a to others he will exhibit qualities that we might traditionally associate with women so he's very nurturing one scene where he has to sawed off the leg of one of the rebels you can see that it pains him he shows a great deal of empathy and compassion and when the rebel asked him
• 15:30 - 16:00 to stop for a moment he does that he listens to the person and then once the rebel then says yes it's fine go ahead only then does he do it he's also an incredibly selfless character so when he sees the torture that has happened to the the stuttering rebel he euthanizes the character even knowing that it will result in negative consequences for him and it does obviously the doubt ends up killing him and he's a disobedient character and disobedience is something that was
• 16:00 - 16:30 associated with women in the film and he's the one character that most openly voices now when he stands up to the DAO and his start on obedience or Gilliland they don't know any caca for the earth no get up a little bit there me were you nobody though they don't always Butterbean I see them a whole but off then it's oh no sorry no no I'll get on
• 16:30 - 17:00 it with if you're okay obvious it what over there I see stick name settle this was a disgusting habit so overall I think the parents labyrinth is offering us a range of representations of gender it has a very clear message one that I think Judith Butler would agree with we shouldn't just conform to gender roles quite often those traditional qualities those stereotypical qualities actually
• 17:00 - 17:30 do a lot more harm than they do good despite all of that though there are actually some positive representations of traditional gender qualities in particular I think it's quite interesting at the end of the film when Ophelia goes to the magical fantasy Kingdom man the one that she's wanted to go to throughout the whole film and what she's seen as being a really happy ending for her the person in charge is a king is a patriarch so it is a film
• 17:30 - 18:00 which perhaps suggests that some male leaders some male authority figures are positive and curiously at the end of the film it isn't Mercedes or athelia or another female character that gets to topple the patriarchy through the character of a Down killed the down it is in fact another male character that shoots him it's Mercedes brother so is the film about suggesting that alcohol you do need a man to restore balance and order and a woman can't do it or won't do it
• 18:00 - 18:30 so I mentioned earlier that there was a bit of a binary opposition in the way that we might consider gender and also think that's perhaps true of the way the film represents power so the ones in power in this film are the fascists and the ones who are not empowering the film are the rebels or to put it another way we have rich characters in the fascists and we have poor characters in the rebels so in this film the fascists perhaps unsurprisingly are being represented in a very negative light and they're kind of figurehead if you like is the down who could be a cipher or a
• 18:30 - 19:00 substitute for Franco him self so all of the qualities that we would associate with the Dow like cruelness sadism selfishness greed these are things that by extension we can attribute to fascists and the rich in general and if you do any research into guillermo del toro this is a common theme across his work you can see in the shape of water as well he is quite distrustful of authority and the heads of organizations and structures in general including you know things like perhaps governments and the
• 19:00 - 19:30 Catholic Church and so on he's somebody who openly questions those authority figures if he believes that they are unjust and one of the clearest examples of this would be the banquet scene so the hypocrisy and the greed and the selfishness of the fascists and those in power comes through very very clearly so in this scene we have this incredible banquet that's being laid out with every possible food that you could want and whilst these rich powerful people were sitting around the table and eating whatever they want they are discussing
• 19:30 - 20:00 ration cards they are discussing the amount of food that the poor the ordinary civilians if you like are allowed to eat one particularly chilling bit of dialogue comes from one of the priests Oh No so long don't know so she listed us with youth to see that we don't know so she basically said well longer okay good police to do that so an often film to represent religion and the church as being something that might be a positive thing but it's very very clear that impairs Labyrinth the church just like
• 20:00 - 20:30 the fascists are guilty of being entirely hypocritical selfish and greedy religion [Music] instead
• 20:30 - 21:00 [Music] from this thing it's very clear that the fascist system is being represented as beneficial only to those in power and if you are not in power if you're not part of the fascist organization then you will suffer we see it's later on in the film where the citizens of Spain are having to queue up for bread and they are being told how lucky and how fortunate they are to get a small piece
• 21:00 - 21:30 of bread and there is a clear class distinction between the fascists and the rebels the dalles costume in particular looks to be very expensive there is decoration on it it's very clean it's very crisp the color of it is this cold blue which is a color that we would associate with the fascists in general and with the patriarchy and there is a sense there is something unnatural or unfeeling or lacking in compassion in these characters whereas if you compare it to the costume of the rebels and sadie's and dr. Ferrero and they tend to wear much more earthy
• 21:30 - 22:00 atones colors that we might associate with nature and therefore associate with things that are natural good and right del toro encourages us throughout the film to side with the rebels and see them as the good guys as mentioned we see them wearing those earth two-toned costumes which we would associate with nature but also the fact that they seem to live in the woods which again roots and down in the natural world and the world of right and good and also the color orange this warm glow which we see
• 22:00 - 22:30 in the fantasy sequences with the theatre and also the end of the film we also associate that with robots because they're the ones who start fires we see this couple of points in the film and we wouldn't always have that kind of orange glow behind them in the frame which suggests again that there is something warm and inviting about the rebels the poor people of Spain compare this to the fascists the rich people they're always associated with this cold dark blue D saturated lifeless tone when we see the
• 22:30 - 23:00 fascists we have you know this down pouring rain which might suggest tears crying over the unjustness of the system or just you know thetic fantasy the weather reflecting the downbeat mood that the fascists bring about and the binary opposition's between them is very very clear at the end the scene where the rebels finally confront the doubt behind them we have that warm orange glow that we've mentioned and then when we cut two shots of the Dow that shot reverse shot we see that he has that cold blue D saturated tone and obviously he dies at the end of
• 23:00 - 23:30 the film which is this kind of wish fulfillment of the end of fascism the end of patriarchy as symbolized in the character of the dow and at no point are we ever supposed to side with the fascists to see them as being the good guys they're only ever shown as being cruel sadistic and selfish a clear example of that would be the scenes where the DAO tortures the stammering rebel likewise the pharma scene where he kills those two at the start the film in terms of narrative there is no need for
• 23:30 - 24:00 that scene to be in the film if you were to take that out the rest of the film would make perfect sense but it is really important for constructing the representations of fascists as being cruel sadistic and unjust it's very clear that the rebels are the innocence in this part of the film and that the fascists are the villains and perhaps the most chilling aspects of that scene is firstly the douse completely emotionless face as he is taking these
• 24:00 - 24:30 people's lives but also immediately after he has just killed these two men he finds the rabbit and he realizes that they were innocent that they aren't rebels they were innocently hunting rabbits rather than displaying remorse or upset or grief what he's just done wrongly taking the lives of two innocent men the DAO instead just shows an annoyance having been disturbed by his men okay so that's the end of my video
• 24:30 - 25:00 on Pan's Labyrinth representation I hope that it was helpful thank you very much [Music] [Music]