Independent Study. Pan's Labyrinth

For my independent study I will be writing about the film Pan’s Labyrinth. The film is directed by the Mexican Director Guillermo del Toro [Devils Backbone, Hellboy]. He created a vivid fantasy worlds set in the contrast of The Spanish Civil War.

Amidst all this is a young girl named Ofelia [played by Ivana Baquero], a dreamy little girl, has been moved from her rural home to live at a command outpost by her new Step father Captain Vidal [played by Sergi Lopez] with her pregnant Mother, Carmen [played by Ariadna Gil]. Ofelia is a great reader of fairytales, although her mother Carmen tries to dissuade her from reading them.

When Ofelia and Carmen move to the Spanish Military camp to live with Captain Vidal, Ofelia fancies she can see woodland fairies, and is drawn toward the estates over grown labyrinth garden. In the garden, Ofelia encounters Pan [played by Doug Jones], a faun who tells her that she must be the princess of the Underworld in disguise, and sets her three increasingly difficult tasks to prove that she is the princess.

Pan’s Labyrinth is set in Spain in the early 1940s during the facist regime, after the Spanish Civil War. Ofelia’s step father is a strict military man who is determined to hunt down any remaining resistance fighters in the area. Vidal is so greatly concerned with the imminent birth of his son, to the point where he cares more about the child than the mother, and not at all for Ofelia. With her mother confined to bed, Ofelia’s only non magical comfort comes from the house keeper Mercedes [played by Maribel Verdu], who has a secret agenda all of her own.

Even though the film is spoken in Spanish with subtitles, it is not difficult to watch even if you’re not fond of subtitles, because the visuals are so much stronger and more compelling than the dialogue.

What is appealing about this film is that, even though it is fictional and a fairytale, it appeals to adults as well as the younger teenage audience. It does this by combining the more serious setting of the Spanish Civil War with the fairytale Labyrinth and its creatures.

Pan's Labyrinth has won numerous film awards, including Best Picture from National Society of Film Critics and Academy Awards for Achievements in Cinematography Makeup and Art Direction. It has also earned BAFTA awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hair.

At the Goya Awards, the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards, the film won in many categories including Best Cinematography, Editing, Make Up & Hairstyles, New Actress for Ivana Baquero, Original Screenplay, Sound, and Special Effects. At Mexico's Ariel Awards, the movie won in 8 categories, including Best Movie and Best Director. The film won the top award at the 2007 edition of Fantasporto. At the 2007 Saturn Awards, it received accolades for Best International Film and Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Ivana Baquero. The film also won "Best Film" at the 2007 Spacey Awards.

The film was also nominated for a number of other awards such as Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form in 2007.

I have referenced books from the college library on Contemporary Spanish Cinema, internet sources and magazines, and these will help me with my research. Using the Key Concepts and Wider Contexts and can talk about the use of Mise en Scene, Costume, Props, Lighting etc. I feel I can write a detailed essay on this film as there are lots of different interesting points.