Pans Labyrinth final scene

The shot-reverse-shot which has the fawn in the frame of the shot, yet not in the reverse shot in Captain Vidal's p.o.v can be used to argue the underworld is in fact in Ofelia's mind (although Some may argue due to him being under the influence this can't be used as evidence to support this argument- it is left very ambiguous and open by Del Toro for interpretation for the audience to decide).

The cinematography of the final scene blends both the warm toned lighting of the underworld with the golden hues of the real world. It is evident as Ofelia runs towards the icy toned portal as a roaring fire burns behind here. She is literally and metaphorically running away from the mortal world.

The dietetic noise of Mercedes' lullaby which plays in the opening scene aids the cyclical nature of the film.

The man speaking through voiceover beckons Ofelia, his daughter, to the underworld. A golden hue fills the screen and a blur is used to transition. The shot is finally both warm toned and set in the underworld and the princess has finally returned. Yet in the real world, where the cinematography is finally coldly alienating, Ofelia takes her last dying breath as the camera pans slowly around her body with Mercedes weeping over her. The non diegetic music accompanying Mercedes' melody is fairytale-like (high pitched with little ornamentation with underlying harp strings being plucked). The camera pans to an extremely high angle looking down into the portal and the spiral motif returns. 

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) Ending Explained: Was It Real? - The Odd Apple

As the narrator discusses the ending to the tale,  Del Toro uses scene layering to transition rather than panning, yet still avoiding any cuts. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shaun Of The Dead- Narrative Structure and Genre

Image
Essentially, the first half of the film takes place in the genre of a romantic comedy- the only hint of what's to come is the sound references through film form to the zombie horror genre. In the opening scene the equilibrium of the rom-com genre is set up perfectly- a romantic standstill. The scene  explains Shaun's problems to be: he needs to grow up and mature a little bit for Liz, mend his relationship with his step-father and finally find a solution to ensure Davs and Diane as well as Ed are no longer stuck in the middle of his relationship. The scene opens with a long mid-shot of Shaun smoking in a pub as relaxed diegetic music plays and the camera slowly zooms outwards, establishing our protagonist as well as the setting through the British iconography of  the location- an english pub. One of Shaun's problems is explicitly stated from the offset by Liz. Although we go on to have allegiance for Ed  in a way we agree with Liz. She states "it's ...
Read more

City of God- End Scene Analysis

Image
  The end scene is crucial for exploring and presenting the ideological themes of the film such as escapism ,urban life and the changing nature of it's crime.  Towards the end of the film, Rocket begins to see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of his escape. Through use of mise-en-scene we are put in a professional office environment which reveals major hope for our antagonist as we haven't seen outside the city before,  however the cool toned lighting which looms over the present day is still prevalent. Finally, in relation to Rocket's escape, he gets another camera from a photographer he looks up to. This can be seen as symbolic for his journey, however Rocket is not the one character upgrading his weapon- Both gangs buy guns from the police yet Lil Ze doesn't pay for them. And thus the "beginning of the end" scene commences and the City Of God is transformed into a war zone.  In the closing scene, we are brought back to the opening scene which enforce...
Read more

Trainspotting Opening Scene Analysis

Image
Straightaway as soon as the movie opens we are aligned with Renton through use of voiceover and framing. In contrast to the heavy subject matter, the film narratively opens halfway through a scene, dropping the audience in the midst of action and subsequently engaging them. The non-diegetic upbeat Iggy Pop rock music creates an upbeat and exciting atmosphere and the cinematography is fairly bright and colourful yet at this stage still realistic.  The scene opens with Renton and Spud being chased, running towar ds the camera as Renton delivers his infamous "choose life" monologue. It discusses traditional life yet in a cynical way with an ironic view and satirical tone. According to Renton, life is food, work, material possessions, bills and dental insurance, friendship, ageing and death- and Renton "chooses not to choose life".  Essentially the film's ideology s conveyed through Renton, and at this point in the film the audience is told "who ne...
Read more