Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's labyrinth
Dinner scene and the place man scene
The scene is set during the night with a dinner being arranged with very posh and important fascist supporters. The scene is about the rebels and is very formal. The scene shares a lot of similarities and contrasts with the pale man scene as well as sharing symbolism of the fascist regime at the time of the film.

 The scene starts with a contrast in colour from the blue toned rainy night outside and the war, red colour of the bricks and fire from inside the house. This contrast is important as it shows opposites as the house is seem as a place people want to be however the movie has shown it is not by the actions of Vidal and the soldiers within the house, this is also shown in context as they are fascist characters from Franco's reign over Spain during 1944 when the movie is set. The scene also starts with the arrival of cars carrying guests for the party the cars they arrive in are black this gives the feeling that they are important but it also links to the country they live in as everything would be quite secretive and it would be hard to see the cars in the dark rain shown in the scene. The scene as the people from the car enter shows them greeting Carmen which can be seen as quite forced/unnatural from the close up on Carmen's facial reaction this could be due to how she is perceived by the others at the dinner as she is not as powerful as them. The scene also has Carmen sitting in a wheelchair which means that all characters speaking are always looking down on her showing she is weaker than everyone else on screen this can be linked to how fascist society was in 1944 where everyone had a rating of importance. When everyone in the scene is in and seated the camera pans down the sides of the table and shows all the characters there, what is notable is that the officers of  the Spanish army do not change into dress uniform or another form of outfit they stay in there duty clothes this links to the fact that Spain during 1944 was a military state ran by the armed forces and oversaw by Francisco Franco who was very Fascist himself.

Vidal sits at the head of the table this in it self is a metaphor for him providing the food as the camera looks down on him from the other end of the table, this is interesting as a later during the scene he shows them a ration card and informs them that there will be changes to the building and food will from now on be rationed. Vidal also sits at the head of the table where he mimics the later scene of the pale man, due to the fact that the pale man can only see when he is allowed to see this also mimics the fascist way of life which Vidal is accustomed to being one himself and a heavy supporter of its cause. Del toro uses heavy mise en scene around Vidal as he is sat directly infront of the fire which can be seen peaking behind him at points hinting at his motives and evil intent but also reminding the audience/viewer of his prior violence towards the farmers in a previous scene. Vidal wears his officers uniform which is covered in medals however in the film he is seen to be blinded by his love for fascism. Vidal also chooses to ignore his father as upon being asked about his father's watch he responds by saying he didn't have a watch, he does this through a close up which allows a clear view of his emotions which is shown to be serious and almost emotionless in response. Vidal is paired with his watch through mise en scene and acts in clockwork like his watch, this also shown as when he is in his study he is always surrounded by cogs or machinery which is a direct link to the personality that is presented in the film.

The pale man scene starts with a contrast to the dinner scene as the scene follows Ofeilia where as the dinner scene was entirely without her in it. The pale man scene shows has I direct link to how Spain was during francos dictatorship as the pale man is sickly looking in appearance which is a deliberate design choice as the pale man is said to eat kids. The pale man's room could be seen as the underside of properganda as the dinner seen is how fascism is seen from the outside and the pale man could be how it really is. The pale man himself is unnatural and links to Vidal as he is always seen around machinery. The pale man's room has a store of shoes off to the side that are a direct link to auswitz and concentration camps of World War 2. Del toro makes a point not to focus on them until later and unlike the room from the dinner everything is symmetrical which links to the unnatural appearance of the pale man and his building. The place man is put there to be obscure but has links to fascism this is due to the obscurity of fascism in world war 2 and how came about. The pale man seen is meant to be a scary scene but instead of using low key lighting it uses high key lighting to lure viewers into a false sense of security.