Pan's Labryinth (Feb. 22)

A story told during the Spanish Civil War with Franco and fascism controlling the nation in the 1940s. The blue tint of the film gives the story a morbid tone to represent the repression and death during Franco’s rule. The surrealism is used to show an escape from the real world to a heaven-like place under the hell of earth. It is ironic that heaven could be under hell, but the director could be relating the placement of the magical kingdom to that of a grave. The underground idea can also relate to the guerilla warfare where the underground army is fighting against the repression of fascism.
The title of the movie portrays the messenger’s struggle to help the underground army succeed, and she is also helping her family. The woman’s life is similar to Ofelia’s struggle to return to her family by undergoing tasks to prove her worthiness. Both females want to return to their home before the death and terror of fascism. To further the dreamlike scenarios in the film, a lullaby becomes a key factor in the film because it helps one fall asleep to escape the current troubles of the real world. The calming song shows how the world needs imagination and beauty to live. The blue tint of the film also represents night as the characters’ struggle through darkness actually helps them.
When it comes to Ofelia choosing between right and wrong, she uses her moral stance willing to give up a return to her peaceful happy kingdom. Ofelia represents what the Spanish people fighting underground want Spain to be, and the general represents the cold and selfish fascists running the country using pain and death. Even though Ofelia sacrificed herself, she returned to a place that is like what Spain used to be.