Extended Blog Post: Pan's Labyrinth Vs. The Little Mermaid

Within Pan's Labyrinth I was able to see a connection to both the Grimm and Disney versions of The Little Mermaid. In Pan's Labyrinth Ofelia is given tasks she must complete in order to keep her immortality, and she must fulfill them by the next full moon. The connection came when the Faun tells Ofelia that she only has three more days to complete her tasks. In The Little Mermaid, the mermaid (who goes unnamed in the Grimm version, but most know her as Ariel) is given three days to make the prince fall in love with her after she gave up her voice. If she failed to get the Prince to kiss her, she would not be able to stay a human. 

Ofelia is unable to complete her tasks after she doest follow the rules that the Faun set and she is doomed to be mortal. However, the Faun decides to give her a second chance and she is then able to complete her tasks. In the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, Ariel fails at first and she then has to fight Ursula and in the end is able to stay human and keep her Prince. In Pan's Labyrinth, Ofelia is killed, but by being killed she is able to complete her third and final task and become immortal. 

 

The main connection for the Grimm tail is the inability to complete the task and untimely ends in death. The Mermaid turns into sea foam after not being able to get her Prince, Ofelia is killed by her step-father. With Ofelia's death though, comes the connection to the Disney film. 

Ofelia refuses to spill the blood of her brother, and in the end is killed by her step-father. By him killing her, her blood is spilt and this completes her third task.  With the Disney version of The Little Mermaid Ariel is able to defeat Ursula and she is able to then stay human and keep her Prince. In both tales, the compilation of tasks lead to their "happily ever after".

Pan's Labyrinth Vs. The Little Mermaid

My idea is to try and tie in The Little Mermaid with Pan's Labyrinth. I saw the similarities when the Faun was telling Ofelia about the task she has to complete. Then at one point the Faun make sure to tell her that she only has three days left to complete the tasks. In The Little Mermaid, Ursula gives Ariel three days to get the kiss from the Prince and to stay a human for ever. Granted Ofelia doesn't need to obtain a kiss, but she has to complete the tasks in order to gain her immortality and to be reunited with her father. 

Stick It

I chose this scene from the movie Stick It. I thought this was interesting because it starts off with soft music that would typically be heard for a floor routine at a gymnastics meet, but then when Haley goes on for her routine, it is a high energy rock song and completely fits her personality.

Water

The use of water as a cultural symbol I thought was very well done. Water in many cultures can symbolize cleansing, life and death, and even rebirth. With in the movie I saw all three of these ideas. Whenever someone had passed away they were laid out by the water to have their cremation ceremony. This could be the idea of life and death along with rebirth. The person gives themselves to the water then the water can give this life again. Several times throughout the move people can be see washing in the pond, this could be the idea of cleansing. 

Insurgent: Special Effects

This scene comes from the Insurgent and Tris is in a simulation where she has to beat obstacles to beat the simulation. The effects in the scene I think is just amazing.

Tsotsi: Music and Sound

I really like the music in the movie. I thought the music really helped set some of the scenes. In the opening of the movie the music was very heavy with a rap song that showed the "hardness" of David and his friends. Then when baby David was in the picture, a lot of the scenes had softer music that was not as intimidating. The music was well balanced, there was just enough to help move the story along. 

My Mad Fat Diary: Interesting Transition

I chose this clip from a TV show that I got hooked on while I was in England. It's called My Mad Fat Diary and there is actually two types of transitions that I found interesting. The first is the zoom out from the bathroom stall and this is interesting to me because we see Rea leaving the stall but the camera doesn't follow her. To set some context, her friend Tixy she met in hospital and they used to meet in the bathroom to talk, she finds out that Tixy relapsed and may not make it out and she went to the bathroom to process. 

 The second type of transition is at the end of the clip when everything freezes and we then see a check list that Tixy's name get crossed out. Right after this it goes to a scene in her house where Rea is talking to her mum. This I thought was cool because it was a look insider her head while she is processing the news.

The Whale Rider

The movie is based on the Maori tale of Paikea, The Whale Rider. The movie is rich with cultural representation. The Maori believed that above all nature gives life, and in the movie Paikea is never seen with shoes on. As funny as this sounds, not wearing shoes to lots of cultures to show either respect or to bring yourself closer to Earth is really common. Some people believe that when you walk barefoot, you are letting Earth pass its energy to you and you pass your energy to Earth. The director even made a point in showing after Pai's first concert everyone left their shoes outside and then we see them putting their shoes back on outside. For me, I also see this as a form of respect. Since Pai is Maori, for her to be shoeless most of the time can be her connecting to Earth, but also giving respect to the earth as well. 

From the movie I can infer that the Maori view men as the only ones that can be leaders. In the movie Pai is often told she can't do certain things, like train with the boys. Her grandfather took the task of training the first born boys to be the chief that their people needed. The grandfather believed that it was Pai's birth that brought the distress and it was his job to fix it. Pai kept trying to prove herself and to get her grandfather to let her train, but he would not hear of it. In the end, it is found out that a group of whales have beached themselves and when Pai tried to help she was told by her grandfather that she need to go away because she had done enough, meaning he thought it was her fault that they beached. Pai then takes it upon herself to ride the whale back into the ocean saying that she is not afraid to die. Pai is willing to give her life for the approval of her grandfather. 

My response to this film is emotional. This is a story that can be seen and interpreted across many cultures. The story is, one feels they are not good enough for their family and they keep getting metaphorically knocked down when they try and prove themselves, then in the end they either die or come close before their family or family member finally accepts them. Pai came close to losing her life and it took that before her grandfather would actually accept her and treat her life he would treat one of the boys in the tribe. The ending is debated on if Pai died or not, and I like to believe that she was lucky and because she was doing something of the tribe, her ancestors protected her and made sure she came out alive. 

The Road Home: Symbolism

For symbolism I chose to talk about the loom. In the movie I noticed that the minute she meets the Teacher she goes to her loom to start working on a project for his school, then after they are long married and he then passes away, she wants her son to find her loom so she can work on it. I look at this as a form of symbolism of remembrance. When she is happy and think about the teacher she was at her loom, then when she is sad after loosing him she goes to her loom. It is a way for her to hang on to the memories of her husband and her way of grieving for him. 

Luke, I am Your Father

This is the scene in Star Wars where Luke finds out that Darth Vader is in fact his father. I thought this was interesting because there is not much camera movement. There is the choppy camera shots that focus on an intense fight. I really like the contrast of the movement of the fight not being toned down by the movement of the camera. 

The Game Of Thrones

For a screen shot I picked the scene from Game of Thrones where Daenerys Targaryen (Khaleesi) has just become the Mother of Dragons. I thought this camera angle was interesting because at this point in the show she is already a queen and the camera seems to be looking down on her with her looking up. Compared to other shots in the show with King Joffery or the Regent Queen Cersei Lannister all the camera angles seem to be looking right at or from under them giving that sense of importance. In the show Daenerys had never been overly pompous like the Lannisters so I think with this angle the director was trying to show that yes she did just become the mother of the first dragons the realm has seen in a long time, but she is still humble. 

The 400 Blows

I really enjoy the fact that the movie was black and white. I am a sucker for a good black and white film because I feel that I have to work a little more to understand and enjoy the film. In film work today, directors will use color to try and show a particular message. In black and white film the director has to be a little more creative with how they are going to show an emotion or get a point across. With the absence of color I have to really pay attention and look for other clues as to what the director is trying to say to me.