Pan's Labrynth (El Laberinto Del Fauno)

Dave Da · Post by **Dave Da** » 23 May 2007 06:39

If you notice, when the Captain finds the root it isn't life like as the little girl sees it. It was just merely a smelly old root in some milk. I think it is coincidence that the mother was getting better. She at that point in the movie was getting frequent visits from the doctor. After the Captain throws the root in the fire the mothers health doesnâ€™t just diminish

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 23 May 2007 07:51

And using the chalk to make a second door to get out of the locked room?

Dave Da · Post by **Dave Da** » 23 May 2007 08:42

No one else witnessed that event. It could of just been her imagination. Her Mother, the Maid, the Captain, no one saw that happen. So there is no defined truth in whether or not that was real or imaginary. Basically the whole fantast/reality thing is up to your interpretation.

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 23 May 2007 09:06

Dave Da wrote:No one else witnessed that event. It could of just been her imagination. Her Mother, the Maid, the Captain, no one saw that happen. So there is no defined truth in whether or not that was real or imaginary. Basically the whole fantast/reality thing is up to your interpretation.

Then how did she get out of the room silly?

Dave Da · Post by **Dave Da** » 23 May 2007 09:44

who the fuck knows?

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 23 May 2007 21:36

I win, AH HA! lol, just kidding. I don't really care, I didn't see the entire movie. Missed the first twenty minutes.

Dave Da · Post by **Dave Da** » 24 May 2007 05:26

Well, I guess you win. I dont remember that particular part. I have the DVD but only watched it once since Ive had it. and I saw it in theaters on its opening weekend so it all isnt fresh in my mind I suppose. I watch it again and come back for round two.

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 24 May 2007 05:36

Dave Da wrote:Well, I guess you win. I dont remember that particular part. I have the DVD but only watched it once since Ive had it. and I saw it in theaters on its opening weekend so it all isnt fresh in my mind I suppose. I watch it again and come back for round two.

I'll be waiting.

dyalander · Post by **dyalander** » 24 May 2007 21:50

From memory, you don't see how she gets from one room to the other. You see her draw a door using the chalk, but you don't see her go through it like the other time. Why not?
Well, most likely because its supposed to be ambiguous. You're not supposed to be sure the chalk is actually magic chalk or weather its just her fantasy. If you were supposed to know for sure, you'd see her get out of the room either way. It's supposed to remain ambiguous until the big reveal which comes when we shift to the General's point of view in the labyrinth and it is revealed that the faun is not there.

Dave Da · Post by **Dave Da** » 25 May 2007 05:51

dyalander wrote:From memory, you don't see how she gets from one room to the other. You see her draw a door using the chalk, but you don't see her go through it like the other time. Why not?
Well, most likely because its supposed to be ambiguous. You're not supposed to be sure the chalk is actually magic chalk or weather its just her fantasy. If you were supposed to know for sure, you'd see her get out of the room either way. It's supposed to remain ambiguous until the big reveal which comes when we shift to the General's point of view in the labyrinth and it is revealed that the faun is not there.

haha I win. This guy helped.

full nelson · Post by **full nelson** » 27 May 2007 22:22

I just saw this tonight. Related to the above argument: It's true we never see her use the chalk to escape from her room and we see the captain can't didn't see the faun. But we do see the captain follow her into a dead-end of the maze which opens for her and closes for him.

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 27 May 2007 23:02

dyalander wrote:From memory, you don't see how she gets from one room to the other. You see her draw a door using the chalk, but you don't see her go through it like the other time. Why not?
Well, most likely because its supposed to be ambiguous. You're not supposed to be sure the chalk is actually magic chalk or weather its just her fantasy. If you were supposed to know for sure, you'd see her get out of the room either way. It's supposed to remain ambiguous until the big reveal which comes when we shift to the General's point of view in the labyrinth and it is revealed that the faun is not there.

Still doesn't explain how she got of the room that's locked and guarded.

dyalander · Post by **dyalander** » 28 May 2007 18:50

and that's the point because you're not supposed to know how she does it, you have to fill in the gaps latter based on information you're given in the following scenes.
As for the maze - doesn't it open up for the girl - who is already ahead of the dude - and when the dude gets to it he has to back track. The dude still gets to the centre - showing that the girl could just have easily back-tracked too. It is after this that the faun is shown to be a figment of the girls imagination - and with this revelation all the previous moments in which the girls fantasies are presented as real are revised - they are real to her but that is all.
So when the walls open for her in the maze it is her imagination manifesting itself as reality, it is not actually happening it is only her perceptual experience of what is happening - there is no reason for us to believe that she hasn't just backtracked or climbed a wall, or squeezed through a gap or whatever. This is exactly the same way we are to read her use of the chalk to escape the room only in that case the doubt we have in the reality of her fantasy is bolstered by the fact that we are not even shown the chalk door in action at that moment.
A coherent reading of the film is only valid if it can explain the contents of that film coherently without glaring omissions. Reading the fantastic elements as figments of her imagination is one such way of understanding the film, it does not need to explain exactly how she got out of the room nor how she gets through the maze - these things are not imposible tasks and there are plenty of ways these things could have been achieved by the girl without magic chalk or magically opening and closing walls.
If you read it the other way, that the fantasy is real, you need to explain the fact that the general doesn't see the faun - to do this you need to add a completely new concept to the foundation of the film's reality - that the fantasy is real but only to selective characters - there has been no indication that this is case earlier in the film, at the very least, to dump such an important concept on the audience at the end of a film would be poor filmmaking - the notion that it is only her fantasy escape on the other hand is developed throughout the film.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 10 Jun 2007 23:34

Switch, if we assume the fantasy stuff is real, what's the message of the movie? That we don't need to worry about bad stuff happening because fairies will take us to a magical land?

The movie makes no sense unless the "magic" was just in her head.

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 12 Jun 2007 06:42

...

<.<

How the hell does she get out of the room then?

God damn this is dumb.

mc · Post by mc » 12 Jun 2007 08:18

anyone ever read calvin and hobbes? there's a lot of ambiguity about the reality of hobbes, and it isn't ever really resolved. Sometimes, that's the creator's intent.

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 12 Jun 2007 13:25

Matt Cross wrote:anyone ever read calvin and hobbes? there's a lot of ambiguity about the reality of hobbes, and it isn't ever really resolved. Sometimes, that's the creator's intent.

Well that's one really frustrating and annoying intent. Kind of like when you get led on by your girlfriend all night, and you end up going home with blue balls.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 12 Jun 2007 18:36

Switch Kicker wrote:...

<.<

How the hell does she get out of the room then?

God damn this is dumb.

IT DOESN'T MATTER! How she gets out of the room is not the moral of the movie. It's not about what really happened, but about how she saw it happening.

dyalander · Post by **dyalander** » 12 Jun 2007 20:00

So I take it you guys haven't seen the secret special edition DVD in which she sneaks up behind the guard, tugs on his trowsers, and when he turns around punches him square in the nuts, you should check it out it will make you feel better.

Switch Kicker · Post by **Switch Kicker** » 13 Jun 2007 06:12

It would make me feel better... This is actually starting to bother me now. How... how the fuck does she get out of that room? I hate not understanding something. Even if it holds no value to the plot of the story.