Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Approach ....................................................................................................................................................... 1
3. Brief summary and characterization ............................................................................................................. 2
4. Analysis .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
4.1 Story and Plot .......................................................................................................................................... 2
4.2 Psychological aspect of Pan’s Labirynth .................................................................................................. 3
4.3 Title Sequence ......................................................................................................................................... 4
4.4 The start and the ending ......................................................................................................................... 4
4.5 Creature Symbolism in Pan’s Labyrinth................................................................................................... 5
4.4 Mise-en-scene ......................................................................................................................................... 7
4.5 Sound ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
5. Conclusion (½ page)......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6. Works cited .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
Narrative and Stylistic Analysis of
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth
1. Introduction
I have chosen to write this assignment on Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, as I think it
seems like a very interesting movie to work with and take a closer look at. I have been a big fan of
the movie for a long time, as I’ve seen it quite a few times, and every time I have see it, I have still
managed to find new elements that boggle me and spark a further interest. Furthermore, I think it
could be an interesting piece of work to analyze, as there are so many elements and aspects that can
be looked into. What fascinates me is also how the more you think about the characters and details,
the more you discover on a bigger scale. A common theme in Guillermo Del Toro films is the
aspect of fantasy and a how reality does not always be as straightforward as we might seem. With
Pan’s Labyrinth, it is, of course, no different, with a dark and grotesque take, leaving the audience
with a fairytale for grown-ups.
In my assignment I want to make a narrative and stylistic analysis of the movie, trying to figure
out how the movie with managing to mix both reality and fiction, drags the audience into this
beautiful, yet grotesque universe, and what meaning lies behind it.
2. Approach
I will approach this assignment by basing my analyses on chapter five from our Film and/or
Media Analysis course book by Gitte Rose and H.C. Christiansen, Analyse af Billedemedier – En
Introduktion. I have decided to mainly focus on the narrative analysis of the film, but also touch
upon the most important aspects of a stylistic analysis, as this, of course, also is a very crucial part
of the assignment as a whole. In order to be able to reach a broader conclusion, I will also briefly
look into the movie’s psychological aspect as well as some of the creatures’ symbolism, as I deem
both to be important to look into, trying to find the meaning behind the reality and fairytale
elements of the movie.
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Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
3. Brief summary
Pan’s Labyrinth is about Ofelia - a dreamy young, little girl fascinated by books and fairytales
and a vivid imagination that is sent out with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, the
Captain of the Spanish army. Ofelia finds herself misplaced and lonely, living with the cruelty and
evil ways of her stepfather and is forced to live her life through a fable where she meets monsters both inhuman and human. The action of the movie takes place in 1944 in Spain, where the civil war
has ended and is now dictated by Francisco Franco. When Ofelia arrives, she discovers a labyrinth,
later gets led by a fairy to middle of it and meets a faun who tells her that she is a princess from the
underworld. She gets promised that she can go there and reunite with her father; she just has to
complete three tasks for him. In her journey to complete these tasks, Ofelia deals with the reality of
death and has to learn the difference between right and wrong through self-sacrifice. That is the
overall story of the movie, however, within this story there is also the fairytale plot also centring on
Ofelia. In the actual fairy tale of the movie, Princess Moranna lives in a kingdom underground. She
leaves the kingdom, but when she comes up to the surface of the earth, she is blinded by the sun,
gets ill and dies. Her father thinks that she will return one day. Her soul will resurface and when
Ofelia meets the faun, she is told that she is indeed Princess Moranna.
4. Analysis
4.1 Story and Plot
In order to examine the story and plot in Pan’s Labyrinth, I first want to state what the difference
between the two is. The story is when the audience has to make assumptions and deductions in
order to understand the coherence of the movie. The elements that we as an audience deduce in
order to understand the narrative, is what make the story. With Pan’s Labyrinth we can say that at
the very start of the movie, in the first scene, we find Ofelia lying on the ground bleeding from her
nose, but then the blood starts going backwards. As an audience, we instantly assume that this is not
where the story actually starts and that there have to have been some events leading up to this scene.
That is of course also true. It makes the story to not necessarily be explicitly visible in the visuals in
the movie – it is rather what is not shown, but what makes the audience piece together the overall
action. The term plot is on the other hand used to describe the events and happenings that are
actually presented to us on screen.
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Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
The film consists of two different narrative plots evolving around the main character, the tenyear-old Ofelia. We have the plot which takes place in the real-world of Franco's Spain with
Captain Vidal leading the fascist nation, and then we also have the fantasy-world plot of Princess
Moranna who wants to return to her underworld kingdom. The plot taking place in the fantasyworld, can by rules be seen as an actual fairy tale – an original fairy tale by Del Toro, however,
even though the real-world plot also consists of fairy tale elements and characters, giving the whole
movie a proper fairy-tale feel throughout, it cannot fully be regarded as a fairytale, as it also lacks
crucial parts of the fairytale elements.
Finally, I also want to shortly explain the extent or degree of the information we are given in the
plot. In Pan’s Labirynth, we can surely say that the film has a limited narration – the information
the viewer recieves is limited. We know this, because throughout the whole movie we are lulled
into Ofelia’s fantasy fable, believing it just as much as she does – making it a pure fantasy film - but
in the end we find out that this all could just be a fragment of her own imagination – her own way
of coping with reality. The narrative strategy of the movie is also limited, as we are restricted to see
the story by Ofelia’s knowledge only. Furthermore, I want to provide a brief description of the
depth of the narrative – how deep we get into the character’s psychological state. The narration in
the movie is objective, as we see the characters’ external behaviour, what they do and say, and is
not seen through and optical point of view of any of the characters in the movie. However, there is
mental subjectivity in the movie, as we do engage in Ofelia’s dreams and fantasies, making the
narrative of the film reaching a deeper psychological level. (Christiansen, 238)
4.2 Psychological aspect of Pan’s Labirynth
While touching base on how the narrative of Pan’s Labirynth touches a deeper level, I briefly
also want to examine some psychological aspects of Pan’s Labirynth that are worth to mention. The
first one is Freud’s infamous theory of dividing the mind into three sections – the id, the ego and the
superego. The ego is considered to be the self (on a social level), the superego the law that punishes
bad behaviour and rewards the good, and the id (in contrast to the ego) the animal instinct.
(AllPsych Online) There is one scene I have in mind specifically, that portrays Freud’s theory in
Ofelia. It is when Ofelia has to complete the second task she is given. It is the scene where Ofelia
has to get a dagger from a chamber, without eating any food from the big table filled with
appetizing food. Ofelia manages to complete the task and get the dagger without eating anything;
however, on her way out she starts eating a grape and awakens the monster inside the room. The
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Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
awakening of the monster can be a representation of Ofelia’s id coming to life and as she realizes
this monster is coming alive, she of course stops eating, representing her ego. Her superego of
course also awakens, as we see Ofelia’s horrified expression on her face.
Another aspect of the psychology in the movie is how children often use fairytales to cope with
their everyday pressure and imprint from the outside world. This is a coping mechanism very
common in children and this is also the coping mechanism Ofelia uses in the movie. The plot in the
movie is driven by the story Ofelia creates in order to cope with her sick mother, the death of her
father and the horror of having such a vicious stepfather.
4.3 Title Sequence
The title sequence of the movie starts out with title credits on a pitch black background, while we
hear a subtle wind blowing in the background. We start hearing breathing and when we have seen
the title credits the screen just stays pitch black, where we just hear the breathing and after just
about 4 seconds, a woman starts humming the title melody of the film. We hear breathing and the
humming melody for almost 10 additional seconds, when we then again see some text in the same
font as the title credits. However, this time it is not credits, but text explaining the setting of the
movie. Spain, 1944. We still keep hearing the breathing and while the melody also continues, more
text appears explaining how the civil war has ended and the current situation. The visual aspect of
the title sequence is non-diegetic, as it is not a part of the movie itself – it purely serves as
information of the production of the movie and informs the audience on the setting – however,
sonically it is diegetic and the sound continues as the pitch black background glides over to the
introductory scene of the movie. Sonically it is not purely diegetic, though, as it is only the
breathing that is a real part of the introduction – the humming melody is non-diegetic.
4.4 The start and the ending
To create an overview of Pan’s Labyrinth and consider the development of the movie, I will now
look at the movie’s start and then the ending. After the title sequence, we go over to the very first
scene of the movie, and this is where it starts. It can be said that the movie starts in medias res, with
Ofelia lying on the ground, bleeding from her nose and no introduction, however, we did get
introduced to the time and setting we are currently in the title sequence. We do not know at which
point of the whole story the movie starts, as all we see is Ofelia laying on the ground, bleeding from
her nose, when then it shifts to a narrator telling us the tale of Princess Morana. Furthermore
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Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
throughout the movie, we do not see the scenario we see at the very start of the movie – as an
audience we even manage to forget all about with, as the plot chronologically develops the story.
Not until near the very end, do we find out what lead to our first scene.
This brings us to the very ending of the movie. The ending sequence starts by zooming out from
the same sequence we saw at the very start of the movie. When the camera setting reaches the bird’s
eye view, the narrator tells us:
“And it is said that the Princess returned to her father's kingdom. That she reigned there with
justice and a kind heart for many centuries. That she was loved by her people. And that she left
behind small traces of her time on Earth, visible only to those who know where to look.”
While the narrator is telling us this, the image shifts to the big tree and ends on a shot of a flower
growing on the tree with a stick bug. The colours in this sequence are not dark nor do they have a
blue tint to it anymore, though. The colours are warm and bright now, indicating that things are
better. I would say that the ending of the movie is open to interpretation. Given the way that she
dies and how nobody else is able to see anything or anyone from the underworld, one might think
that the fairytale was all just a fragment of Ofelia’s imagination. However, it is also plausible that it
is just a bittersweet ending, where it is sad how Ofelia dies in the real world, but in the end actually
does get back and find her true place in the underworld, with the flower in the very end indicating
that the underworld and fairytale indeed was real. Whether or not it is an actually happy ending, is
all depending on how you look at it. One thing I can say for sure, however, it is not a traditional
fairytale happy ending.
4.5 Creature Symbolism in Pan’s Labyrinth
Taking a movie like Pan’s Labyrinth, we are bound to find a lot of symbolism and imagery.
Some we have to look harder for than others, but I have discovered that most creatures in Pan’s
Labyrinth symbolize several things and can have many interpretations, rather than just one apparent
one. The one thing being on a smaller personal level relating to Ofelia and her life specifically,
while the other one being on a larger scale, representing things like branches of the Spanish society
or religion/Catholicism. Here I will take account one some of the elements of symbolism in the film
I have found prominent and important to the whole narrative and understanding of the movie.
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Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
The first creature I will try and obstruct is the very first creature Ofelia
meets; the stick bug and/or the fairy. Although it seems harmless, the stick
bug is a predatory creature and this can be a symbol of various things in
the movie. It can be said that it represents Ofelia’s mindset towards her
baby brother in the womb; he seems so harmless to everyone else, but she
sees that he causes the mother a lot of pain and illness. It can also be a symbolism of Ofelia herself.
She is a sweet, harmless little girl, but at the same time it can be interpreted that she in her
subconscious mind has ill feelings towards her baby brother who causes both her mother and Ofelia
so much pain. Given the fact that near the end the Faun also asks Ofelia to sacrifice her brother, we
can see that she does have an internal conflict with her little brother; however, she does know her
brother is innocent and we see her protect him throughout the movie - like for instance with the
turmeric root she bathes in milk - and in the very end, when she sacrifices herself instead.
In the movie, the stick bug eventually morphs into a fairy. This is very interesting, because as
previously mentioned; the stick bug is a predatory bug and now morphs into a fairy, which is
commonly a symbol of childhood and something innocent – that is quite a contrast! This, however,
goes very well with the overall feel of the movie, as it is a mix between a children’s fairytale and
the grotesque and brutality of the world we live in.
The second creature I want to analyze is the Toad living in the big tree. If you
take a close look at the big tree, you definitely see that it has a similar look to a
female uterus and thus the Toad living in that tree can symbolize Ofelia’s baby
brother living inside her mother. The Toad is draining the life out of the tree and that
is also how Ofelia experiences her little brother – he is draining the life out of her mother, making
her weak.
The Toad can also be interpreted in a more general sense, though,
making it a representation of the rich in the Spanish society. The Toad sits
in this tree full of resources, but is greedy and eats it all making the tree’s
small creatures and animals disappear – the Toad being the rich aristocrats
and the small creatures being the lower social group in Spanish society.
On a side note, I find it interesting to mention that it is commonly known that a major inspiration
for Guillermo Del Toro’s works has been the painter Francisco de Goya and there is of course no
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Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
exception with Pan’s Labyrinth. There is a scene in the film were the creature
commonly referred to as “the Pale Man” bites the fairies head off and eats them,
and this can even be seen as a direct reference to one of Goya’s paintings in
specific, Saturn devouring his son. However, I will not go into further detail
with that, as I would rather want to focus on the symbolism of the Pale Man
within the movie itself and as a reflection of aspects of Spanish society, rather
than touching base upon what symbolisms it could have in relation to Goya’s painting.
The Pale Man is for Ofelia a symbol of the Captain and the adult world. The Pale Man takes the
fairies, bites their heads off and eats them and that can be a symbolism of destroying childhood and
innocence, which is exactly how Ofelia sees the Captain. The Pale
Man can also be a symbol of the Catholic Church at the time in
Spain. The Pale Man has so much food in front of him, but he still
chooses to feast on the innocent fairies, much like the Catholic
Church in Spain being really wealthy, but still going after the
people in Spain with violence and threats.
4.4 Mise-en-scene
In Pan’s Labyrinth, creating the appropriate set and costumes is particularly important as it is a
crucial point to make the audience believe in the world
Guillermo Del Toro created. There is a consistent look
throughout the whole movie, and that must have required a lot
of work from the art department, also working together with
the director, making all the details. The mise-en-scene in
Pan’s Labyrinth is very fantastic and surreal and one of the key aspects in Pan’s Labyrinth
cinematography is the colour tonality range. The setting of the movies takes place in Spain in 1944,
post-civil war and when we are in the real world in the movie, the colours are all very dark and a
blue, green and pale hues over them – both in the over-all
setting, but also in the characters’’ clothes and detail representing the cold and fascist environment created by
Captain Vidal and his men. However, when we enter the
fairytale world, the colours get brighter and have more red
and orangey tones to them, reflecting warmth, which makes
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Media Studies
Film and/or Media Analysis
Martina O. Poulsen
6th Semester
April 2013
Aalborg University
the fairytale scenes a far more welcoming setting throughout the movie. The movie’s mise-en-scene
presents both magical and realistic images, making it magical realism. As mentioned before, there is
an obvious contrast between the two worlds, however the movie manages to link these two worlds
and bring them together in such way that as an audience, it does not become overly noticeable or
obvious at first glance.
4.5 Sound
The sound of the movie has a very big role in the movie. It plays an important role as the sound
and music in the movie is very stylized, built to make the fairytale element of the movie even
stronger. One of the memorable sounds in the movie is the sound the big insect in the movie
makes – the fairy dialogue. It has a very unique sound – almost mechanical, which just adds to the
surrealism. The sounds the root Ofelia bathes in milk makes are also quite memorable. The Faun’s
voice in the movie is also really interesting – it seems to have lots of layers added to it, especially
with being in the fairytale world, where there are lots of animalistic and crawling sounds and noises
added to create an effect of the underworld. The Toad in the big tree also has a very significant
sound – heavy breathing and roaring – maybe a little over the top for a toad, but I find that the
sounds in the fairytale world are all a little bigger and exaggerated – a little more intense - to create
the effect of surrealism. In summary, the stylistic features also reinforce the fairytale element of the
movie, with having such elements as sounds and colour enhanced to make the film more stylized,
playing a big role.
6. Works cited
Del Toro, Guillermo. Pan’s Labyrinth (2010)
Christiansen, H. C og Gitte Rose, Analyse af Billedmedier – En Introduktion. 2009. Narayana Press,
Gylling
AllPsych Online, Freud's Structural and Topographical Models of Personality, Web 19-04-2013
(http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego.html)
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