Initial Observations:
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is a composite of many different classic fairy
tales. There are traces Hansel and Gretel
when Ofelia faces the pale man, and the film even has the evil stepmother
trope but in the film it’s an evil stepfather. Yet, one fairy tale that seems
to outline the film is The Grimm Brothers’ The
Little Red Cap. The film follows a
little girl, Ofelia dealing with the death of her father and her mother remarrying
the extremely violent Captain Vidal. When the film begins, Ofelia’s mother,
Carmen is pregnant with Captain Vidal’s baby.
On the way to
moving in with Captain Vidal Ofelia triggers the event that would lead the Faun
revealing that Ofelia was at one point a princess and needs to complete three
tasks to reclaim the title. While completing the three tasks, Ofelia’s mother
becomes deathly ill and the Faun uses this to manipulate her to into completing
the final two tasks. While her mother is ill, Ofelia becomes close to a woman
named Mercedes who works for Captain Vidal. To help her mother, Ofelia, has to complete
the tasks that were meant to prove she was the princess the faun had led her to
believe. Carmen eventually dies, Mercedes gets captured by Vidal, and Ofelia
has to complete the last task.
We see there is a vague similarity between The Little Red Cap and Pan’s Labyrinth throughout the film. In
the beginning, she is wondering the forest alone which leads her to unleash the
events that take place throughout the film. Additionally, to get back to her real
family she has to go through the forest to take her baby brother through the
labyrinth. Were we see, her lost in the labyrinth until it opens itself to her.
Ofelia’s goal throughout the film is either to help her mother get better or to
return to the family the Faun says she is really a part of.
Much like little red is trying to get to her
grandmother to help nurse back to health. Yet, the wrinkle in her plan is the
big bad wolf, or in Ofelia’s case Captain Vidal. Captain Vidal is of course an
oppressive force that seeks to control everything in his path. His hateful and
oppressive nature is almost a supernatural force. We see him survive multiple attempts on his
life much like the big bad wolf survived multiple attempts on its life. That
were made by the hunter, or Mercedes, and it wasn’t until both experienced an
extremely violent death did they both cease to exist. The central location of
the film takes place in a country home that looks like a cabin much like the
little red’s story ultimately takes place.
Historical Background:
In the original, French version, of Little Red Riding Hood, little red is
killed by the wolf she is not saved in the final moments like in the Grimm
version. Many have suggested that this
version the story is about chastity and seduction and a warning against being
seduced by suitors who didn’t have their best interests in mind. Furthermore in
French, there is slang for when a woman loses her virginity which is elle avoit
vû le loup meaning “she’d seen the wolf,” so we can infer the
effect this fairy tale has had over time. Additionally, red was a
symbol for scandal and blood which sentenced Little Red from the very
beginning.
In the Grimm
version of the tale introduces the lumberjack saves Little Red from the wolf. The
lumberjack character can be seen as a protector, a counselor, and maybe even a
father figure. Making these few changed the meaning of the fairy tale from one
of chastity to one of the importance of obeying the rules set out as safety
measures. Ofelia doesn’t follow the
rules, she ate the food on the pale man’s table, while she was in the base of
the tree she looked back when she was told not to, and she did not hand over her
brother to the Faun. Yet in the end, Mercedes kills Vidal saving her brother
and Ofelia is depending on your interpreting of the film she is either dead or
the princess. Unlike the moral of the
Grimm brothers’ version and no matter your interpretation of the film, Del Toro
is saying that sometimes it is the best thing not to follow the rules. Mercedes and the rebels broke the rules to
escape oppression. Ofelia failed to follow rules set forth by the Faun and as a
result she died but was immortalized if you choose to believe as the princess.
Another, connection between the early version of the
Little Red Riding Hood story and Pan’s Labyrinth is the scene where
Ofelia goes to see what her second task is but the pages of the book only
reveal the pages covered in red. We then see Ofelia’s mother covered in her own
blood and we can tell something is wrong with the baby. Like previously stated
she dies, much like Little Red she was cloaked in red and fated to die with no
redemption.
Music Connection :
The music played throughout the film is a kind of
dark lullaby with a melancholic tone. This matches the feeling of them film and
the tone is so soft that it blends into the background of the film, going
unnoticed. The music is unlike the kind of music that is heard in another film
we watched this semester, Tsotsi, it
isn’t loud or intrusive, but like the music featured in Tsotsi it tells the audience how to react and feel during the film.
As for an example, when the film begins the music sounds like a dream, sweet, and light. Although the fist images of the film are of the death of Ofelia we still feel as though the music it self is saying "once upon a time, in a place long time ago." Yet, as the tone of the
film becomes darker so does the tone of the music that accompanies the film.
Visual Connection:
A lot of the film looks hand drawn, particularly the
fairy tale elements giving it an actual fairy tale feel. Like the detail on the
Faun specifically the lines on his head and arms, and we also see it in the
pale man’s lair except they were illustrations of it eating small children. The
fairies also look hand drawn and the fact that they mirrored their appearance from
the fairies out of Ofelia’s book reinforces the fairy tale theme. On the other
hand, the natural elements seen in the film look inoffensive but many are the
gateway to the supernatural world or allow Ofelia to go to the other side. So
they tend to be big or menacing in some way like the tree from the first task
or the thorn vines in the labyrinth from the final task. Like many fairy tales authors, Del Toro
created this world that is magical yet dangerous and wondrous yet terrifying.
How Del Toro Uses Little Red Cap:
Both stories deal with the consequences of breaking
the rules, yet with the choices made by Del Toro the film tells the audience
that sometimes it is necessary to break the rules. The moral of the Little Red Cap is obedience and listening to your elders. Yet, Captain Vidal, who lived his life by the
ticking of his pocket watch, and Carmen who followed rules to survive both met
their end in Del Toro’s film. While Ofelia and Mercedes who choose not to
follow the rules or failed to did something good and they both changed the
world around them for the better. Moreover, fairy tales were a way to pass on
lessons to children, and like I previously mentioned the Grimm’s version is one
about obedience. Yet if Mercedes, the rebels, and Ofelia took their situation
as it was than the people of Spain would have continued to live under oppression,
Ofelia’s brother would have been raised in the same manner as Captain Vidal. Also
depending on how you look at the end Ofelia would not have gone home to her
real family and there is no telling what Vidal would have done with her. Like the old saying goes some rules are just
made to be broken, or rather when faced with such oppression, something that
seems so impossible, the only thing to do is break the rule and stand up for yourself
and others.
Source: Orenstein, Catherine "Dances With Wolves: Little Red Ridding Hoods Long Walk in The Woods." Ms. Magazine, n.p. summer 2004. 22, December 2013
Source: Orenstein, Catherine "Dances With Wolves: Little Red Ridding Hoods Long Walk in The Woods." Ms. Magazine, n.p. summer 2004. 22, December 2013
