Themes in Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth, a film made in 2006 and directed by Guillermo Del Toro, explores many themes during it's story development. One of which is gender. The captain is the most stereotypical 'manly' man that you could create. He is arrogant, powerful, intimidating and brave. On multiple occasions, he shoots and kills people, some of which are not even his enemies. However, the film explores gender in a good way, as Pan is not a stereotypical female. She is strong-minded, witty and brave. This is shown numerous times throughout the movie. At the end of the movie, she sacrifices her own life to save her brother's. There are links between the patriarchal system and the way Spain's society was under the fascist government. This links to the theme of rules or rewards. The movie's plot arguably uses political influence in the form of the underworld. In the real world, Ofelia sees that things are unjust and horrible. However, in the underworld, there is a fair system in place, in which if she does tasks for Pan, she will be rewarded, and ultimately is by becoming princess. We do not know for certain if this was real or not, however. An interpretation of the film may be that Ofelia's mind created this made up fairytale life to escape the real world. Another theme is decisions. There are a lot of choices that Ofelia has to make that would be considered extreme for a young girl to make. At the end of the movie, she has to decide between the potential death of her newborn brother and becoming a princess. Morality is restored in the end as the decision to not give her brother to Pan means that she can become princess.
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