Essay on Pan’s Labyrinth Film Analysis

Not only do Soviet Montage, German expressionism, and French impressionism influence nearly every film we see today, it also molds and builds the appearance of films and help to evoke emotion from the intended audience. Montage can best be described as the selecting, editing, or piecing together of film to create some type of meaning, this is seen in some way, shape, or form, in every film. German expressionism is seen as a movement towards distorted settings, along with supernatural stories. Expressionism in simplest terms was, what the audience saw, was how they were feeling about the events or characters.

Lastly, French impressionism movement had a huge affect on film including: naturalistic acting, dream sequences, artistic camera use, and personal action/physiological stories. One of these characteristics can be clearly observed in every film. Analysis into two films, Pan’s Labyrinth and Run Lola, Run, both display the influence these three concepts have on modern film. Pan’s Labyrinth contains many intricate and underlying concepts that are conveyed through its artistic characteristics and ability to tug on the emotional strings of the audience.

Montage can be observed one way or another in almost any film due to the fact that most films are composed of a series of shots that are edited to condense time and space. In Pan’s Labyrinth, I believe the method of montage utilized is overtonal/ associational. This type of montage has very abstract and complicated affects on the viewers and it also evokes many different emotions from the audience. For example, the cut and recombination of scenes, the movement of camera, and intertwine of fantasy and real world into the same time line.

German Expressionism was clearly a very influential part in the making of this film due to the Mise-en-scene. Throughout the movie, color is a huge factor affecting the overall mood of the work. The people in the film are usually wearing in dark blue, green and grey, which presents a feeling of sorrow. The outside setting in the forest and labyrinth is full of trees and stones that make it grim, highlighting the heavy contrast between the real world and a fantasy. of the real world. The magic world is much brighter, and the warm colors are the theme.

For example, the tree hole is full of bright light, and the room of the inhuman creature is red. The color contrast makes the magic world enticing to Ofelia, and therefore, the audience. French impressionism also had a strong influence on this work through the use of naturalistic acting, artistic camera use, and personal story. Clearly naturalistic acting is present, as it is in most movies, but the artistic use of the camera is what really highlights the impressionistic aspect. In the beginning of the film, the camera angle is used to taking the audience from fairy world into the real one.

For example, the camera shoots from the dark castles underground to a series of stairs, and then continues until the sunshine and ground appear in the scene, indicating that the scene has changed into the real world. Through this artistic camera use, the film can switch within two worlds freely. Finally, the speed of the camera plays a large role in determining what the audience’s emotions will be. The speed of the film is not fast because it works synergistically with the style of the story and tone of sorrow throughout the whole film.

But, it is observed that the speed becomes fast in some tense scenes. For example, when it comes to the sense of the inhuman creature running after Ofelia, the screen switches quick to portray a tense and suspenseful feeling for the audience. Describing the creature, the camera shots from the sight of Ofelia to present he is getting closer and closer and these two groups of scenes interweave to evoke a very suspenseful feeling. Run Lola, Run is a fast paced thriller that catches the attention of the audience through the use of the three concepts: ontage, expressionism, and impressionism.

Montage is the most crucial step to appearance and quality of the overall movie. The montage presented in this film is expressed as one incident is intertwined with the characters dialogue. It is clear that the scenes fall on places as dialogues are said at the same rate. The editing of the film and the timing and placement of the scenes and shots is really what made this movie so outstanding. The editing led to a clearer understanding of the viewers in regards to theme, characters, and plot in the film.

Expressionism is seen through mise en scene because it is based in reality. The lighting appears realistic, and Lola’s clothes are dirty with a messy room. She also lacks good make up, and the locations are realistic. The realistic mise-en-scene puts the audience in the same frame of thought as the characters, which increases tension to the scene and creates a connection the viewers have with the main characters about choice and consequence. In one scene in particular, there is a sense of sympathy for Manni knowing he is under pressure by an overbearing boss.

But also a feeling of hopelessness is present knowing that the punishment for losing such a large amount of money will be much more tragic. In this scene, they are shown on the phone in color while past events are shown in black and white. The black and white indicates the action is in the past and this displays how the use of color can affect the film in different ways. Finally, the film can be labeled as impressionistic because it is a physiological story and not to mention the naturalistic acting. The camera use was most notable in the scenes where close-ups were used frequently to emphasize certain objects or emotions of characters.

For example, there is a close up on the red phone because it has significant importance, as it is the starting point of all the events. It can also be observed that longer shots are taken when Lola and Manni are both running to be on time, to make the audience feel as if they are running with the characters. Most of the shots are eye level and we don’t see many oblique shots, but overall the artistic camera use significantly sets the stage of the film and all three concepts (montage, expressionism, and impressionism) assist in evoking a certain emotion from the audience, and come together to make a film like no other.