Spanish 1 0 1- 03 Essays - Speculative Fiction, Arts, Spanish Films

Spanish 1 0 1- 03 Cultural Composition October 23 , 2013 El laberinto del fauno Pan's Labyrinth (2007), directed by Guillermo del Toro, is the story of a girl named Ofelia who escapes from the reality of war into a magical land . S he is a lost princess who must regain her title through a series of tasks given to her by a mysterious faun. It fits neatly into the categorization of the fantasy genre, where magic is often a driving force of the plot. The genre of fantasy uses a number of conventions such as good vs. evil, the quest of the hero, magic and magical beings to tell a story, and Pan's Labyrinth is no exception to this rule. Pan's Labyrinth is set in Spain, during 1944 at the time Francisco Franco taking power as dictator in Spain . The setting takes place at a house, known in the movie as a mill, surrounded by the forest. The movie shows two worlds; the real world and the fairy tale world of a little girl, Ofelia. It depicts violence and repression from the Francoise regime, as well as by resistance from antifascist guerrillas who hide in the mountains and are aided by village sympathizers. Ofelia s stepfather, Vidal, is a cruel captain in Franco's Civil Guard based at a rural military post. As figure of Fascism, Vidal is in charge of fighting the guerrillas who resist his regime. Ofelia is an orphan whose father died in obscure circumstances during the Spanish Civil War. Carmen, her mother, remarried Vidal who controls her and limits her to being a housewife. She is constantly sick and weak to the point where she cannot leave the bedroom during the last weeks of her pregnancy with Vidal's child. From the beginning of the story, it is clear that Ofelia does not have a good relationship with her stepfather. Vidal is incapable of noble feelings, and completely uninterested in any type of familial relationship with Ofelia. The main theme of the story centers on Ofelia's internal struggle . She loves to read fairy tales, although her mother disapproves of her reading and encourages her to stop. In the film, Carmen does not seem to be very interested in Ofelia's interests or her emotional well being, but rather constantly thinking of ways to please Vidal. For instance, she pressures Ofelia to call the vicious captain "father." She is isolated in a violent world with a weak and needy mother who is constantly sick and a disconnected, nasty stepfather whose only interest is in gaining more power and does not care about her. Ofelia is left with no choice but to escape into her fantasy world in quest for finding a new hope and identity. Mercedes is her only hope in the real world, who takes the role of Ofelia's biological mother. In conclusion, the film is based on Ofelia's difficult change of circumstances that surrounds the story, allowing for an exploration of a psychological process associated with her inner reality. In this film, fantasy and innocence conflict with reality and cruelty to describe the characters of Ofelia and Vidal, respectively. Around these two characters a double narrative develops to represent a larger historical event that left an indelible mark in the collective subconscious of Spain.