Pan's Labyrinth - Scene Analysis

The introduction of the Faun is a rich piece of film making on del Toro’s part. As early as
the first shot we’re told a lot about Ofelia and her nature as a character due to the
Mise-en-scène of the scene. Her costume appears simple; A white nightdress and a grey
cardigan. However, with the lighting in the scene, as well as the general colour grading,
her costume appears to blend in naturally with the walls of the “Rabbit Hole” that Ofelia
has found herself in. This then shows the audience that Ofelia belongs in the fantasy
world with the Faun, and not in reality. The white nightdress also indicates Ofelia's purity.
This is important as it links directly to the end of the movie where the Faun needs the
blood of an innocent to open the gateway. So far we’ve been told so much about both
Ofelia and theFaun before the Faun has even made an appearance. 

Mentioned briefly before, the place Ofelia is in resembles that of the Rabbit Hole that
Alice found herself in “Alice in Wonderland”. However, it’s darker and more threatening
than that from the classic tale. This links back to del Toro’s intent and inspiration of fairy
tales with a dark twist. Moving on, we follow Ofelia with a mid tracking shot. Interestingly
enough Ofelia continues moving as the camera pans towards the wall, revealing the
Faun. The focus shifts to the Faun as he awakens. The design of the Faun, much like
Ofelia, blends him into the surroundings of the “Rabbit Hole”, albeit in a more literal
sense. This indicates that they are one and the same. They have the same intentions
and end goals, even if it’s not apparent to the audience at this moment in time. This is
also interesting when you consider the fact that the rebels always appear in nature and
look natural there too with their costumes. This links back to how Ofelia’s tasks are to
do with disrupting fascism along with the rebels.

An interesting point of notice with the Faun is that whenever he appears throughout the
film, he is always emerging out of shadow and is always illuminated in low light and
thus part of his face is always shrouded in shadow. This gives the character an uneasy
feeling and makes the audience think that there might be malicious intentions with this
character. The actors stilted performance indicates this also. I believe this was an
intentional decision by del Toro to once again emphasise his point of fairy tales having
dark subject matter. However, the audience can still tell that the Faun is a good
character, as the light that shines upon him is blue. Traditionally in fiction blue is the
colour of the hero and red is the colour of the villain.

When the Faun begins talking to Ofelia, we get a Mid Close up shot of Ofelia using top
lighting. Ofelia is in center frame and the background of the shot is not in focus. This is
to highlight the importance of what the Faun is telling Ofelia and to further convey the
innocence of the character.

As the Faun moves around the rock, we see that his movement is quite stilted and slow.
This is a visual indication as to how long Princess Moanna has been away from her
kingdom and how long the Faun has had to stay in place, lying in wait for her return.
Interestingly enough this could also be an inter-textual reference to “The Wizard of Oz”
and the character of the Tin Man, as he had also been stuck in one place and could
only move once he met Dorothy. An interesting point of notice would be the design of
the Faun itself as it represents del Toro’s theme/inspiration of dark fairy tales. What I
mean by this is that the features of the Faun, like his eyes, appear mystical and
somewhat majestic. Consequently other features, for example his teeth, are sharp
and appear to be those of a wild animal. This indicates subtle uneasiness and the dark
undertones of the film. This is the same for his body, as it is that of a tree. This can be
linked to an enchanted forest that can be found in many fairy tales, however the wood
seems somewhat decayed and old, representing evil forests filled with evil creatures
from fairy tales.

Continuing on with the scene, we get a match on action shot as the Faun walks behind
the rock. The scene cuts to Ofelia as she follows him and then back to the Faun.
Ofelia is positioned in the same place as the Faun and the framing of the shot places
them at the same height, despite the Faun being much taller. This further shows the
shared intentions of the characters as well as showing an equal power balance between
the two, as despite the fact that the Faun appears in charge, he still needs Ofelia to do
the challenges for him. Ofelia controls his future. Subsequently, the Faun can chose to
not give Ofelia challenges as he does in the aftermath of her encounter with the Pale
Man.

Despite the equal power balance between the two, the Faun is positioned higher
than Ofelia, showing that she is intimidated by his presence, specifically when he
talks of her being a princess. A mid shot of Ofelia conveys this also. Later on there’s
a long shot of the “Rabbit Hole” where top lighting illuminates the rock in the center
of the frame. The rock shows Ofelia and the Faun living in Ofelia’s kingdom. This
represents that this is the end goal for them to reach. Despite this, only the front half
of Ofelia and the Faun is illuminated. Their back half is darkened. This could represent
that dark and twisted actions that must happen to reach the end goal, like Ofelia’s death.

At the end of the scene there’s a back tracking shot of Ofelia that goes from a
Mid Shot to a Long Shot. I believe this was used to represent Ofelia’s uncertainty
about taking on the Faun’s challenges, as well as her loneliness at the house
with Vidal. This is especially interesting as these themes are conveyed as Ofelia is
leaving the “Rabbit Hole”, as she’s transitioning from fantasy to reality.