1. What is this movie personally telling or teaching you? What is the film’s ending trying to personally convey to you?
Personally, Pan's Labyrinth taught me two things: the importance of standing up for what you believe in and the difference between taking risks and taking chances. In my last blog post, I talked about the themes of "rebellion" and "choice." In the time period that the movie was set in, obviously the theme of rebellion is against the brutality of Captain Vidal. We can see that when the doctor kills the rebel so he does not have to be tortured, which was against Vidal's orders. Throughout the movie, it is revealed to the audience that Mercedes is secretly working against Vidal. Most of all, Ofelia never liked Vidal. Ofelia does everything in her power to protect her little brother from her brother, including taking him from the home and trying to run away, with the help of Mercedes. The audience knows that Vidal is the villain in the movie and the importance of each character development lied within how they chose to confront Vidal. With the discussion of "choice," I personally felt like it showed the difference between taking risks and taking chances. The former is a more dangerous decision with consequences that could be dissatisfying and the latter is a better decision in which enhance development. For example, Ofelia knew not to mess with the Pale Man in her second task but she took the risk to anyways and caused the death of two fairies and the temporary loss at her third task. A chance is like how Ofelia risked her living situation by taking her baby brother to the labyrinth as the Faun ordered her to not knowing what the completion of the task would entail. I felt that taking a chance is usually motivated by intuition, which can be seen in Ofelia.
Personally, the ending conveyed to me the importance of sacrifice. Ofelia sacrificed herself for her brother even if that meant that she would not complete all three tasks and prove herself to the Faun. When I watched the ending for the first time, my initial thought that all the fantasy aspects of the movie was all in her head, a directorial choice to convey how a child's brain works in traumatic situations. But when I watched it again, I changed my thinking to believe that it all did in fact happen in addition to the idea that it was a directorial choice. Most of all, I think the scene where Ofelia is unharmed contrasted with her death scene suggests that because she lived her life taking chances, standing up for what she believes in and sacrificing herself that she is raised to heaven in the afterlife.
3. Keys: Keys seemingly play a “key” role in the film. Ofelia uses a key to obtain the sacred dagger; Mercedes gives a key to her brother to open the storage shed for supplies; you might assert that the chalk was a portal of sorts to the lair of the Pale Man. Discuss the symbolic importance of keys to the film.
Keys obviously open things, so I think the symbolic importance of keys in the film correlates to how each time it is used that a piece of information of the plot is revealed towards a fantastical happy ending. For example, the key Ofelia used to retrieve the sacred dagger can represent how it opened up a path of challenges for Ofelia that comes full circle at the end; the dagger was intended to be used for the third quest, upon which Ofelia refused to complete for the safety and innocence of her brother. In this case, the key did not unlock to just a materialistic thing but rather the idea that the world offers temptations that we have the power to give in or not. With the key Mercedes gives to open the shed represents duality: the key is a belonging to Vidal and his house, and it shows that even though Mercedes works for him she is secretly against him. As much as the closet unlocks freedom it opens the door to unfortunate events as well. This is when Vidal realized that Mercedes is against him and kills in return, as he does. Overall, I think the keys are a symbol of how it unlocks not only physical things but the idea that there is the potential for good and bad to happen and it is up to the characters in how the react; ultimately, the keys unlock to a spiritual or intellectual finding.
Personally, Pan's Labyrinth taught me two things: the importance of standing up for what you believe in and the difference between taking risks and taking chances. In my last blog post, I talked about the themes of "rebellion" and "choice." In the time period that the movie was set in, obviously the theme of rebellion is against the brutality of Captain Vidal. We can see that when the doctor kills the rebel so he does not have to be tortured, which was against Vidal's orders. Throughout the movie, it is revealed to the audience that Mercedes is secretly working against Vidal. Most of all, Ofelia never liked Vidal. Ofelia does everything in her power to protect her little brother from her brother, including taking him from the home and trying to run away, with the help of Mercedes. The audience knows that Vidal is the villain in the movie and the importance of each character development lied within how they chose to confront Vidal. With the discussion of "choice," I personally felt like it showed the difference between taking risks and taking chances. The former is a more dangerous decision with consequences that could be dissatisfying and the latter is a better decision in which enhance development. For example, Ofelia knew not to mess with the Pale Man in her second task but she took the risk to anyways and caused the death of two fairies and the temporary loss at her third task. A chance is like how Ofelia risked her living situation by taking her baby brother to the labyrinth as the Faun ordered her to not knowing what the completion of the task would entail. I felt that taking a chance is usually motivated by intuition, which can be seen in Ofelia.
Personally, the ending conveyed to me the importance of sacrifice. Ofelia sacrificed herself for her brother even if that meant that she would not complete all three tasks and prove herself to the Faun. When I watched the ending for the first time, my initial thought that all the fantasy aspects of the movie was all in her head, a directorial choice to convey how a child's brain works in traumatic situations. But when I watched it again, I changed my thinking to believe that it all did in fact happen in addition to the idea that it was a directorial choice. Most of all, I think the scene where Ofelia is unharmed contrasted with her death scene suggests that because she lived her life taking chances, standing up for what she believes in and sacrificing herself that she is raised to heaven in the afterlife.
3. Keys: Keys seemingly play a “key” role in the film. Ofelia uses a key to obtain the sacred dagger; Mercedes gives a key to her brother to open the storage shed for supplies; you might assert that the chalk was a portal of sorts to the lair of the Pale Man. Discuss the symbolic importance of keys to the film.
Keys obviously open things, so I think the symbolic importance of keys in the film correlates to how each time it is used that a piece of information of the plot is revealed towards a fantastical happy ending. For example, the key Ofelia used to retrieve the sacred dagger can represent how it opened up a path of challenges for Ofelia that comes full circle at the end; the dagger was intended to be used for the third quest, upon which Ofelia refused to complete for the safety and innocence of her brother. In this case, the key did not unlock to just a materialistic thing but rather the idea that the world offers temptations that we have the power to give in or not. With the key Mercedes gives to open the shed represents duality: the key is a belonging to Vidal and his house, and it shows that even though Mercedes works for him she is secretly against him. As much as the closet unlocks freedom it opens the door to unfortunate events as well. This is when Vidal realized that Mercedes is against him and kills in return, as he does. Overall, I think the keys are a symbol of how it unlocks not only physical things but the idea that there is the potential for good and bad to happen and it is up to the characters in how the react; ultimately, the keys unlock to a spiritual or intellectual finding.
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