Pan's Labyrinth & Cinderella

 

 

On February 15th 1950 Walt Disney studios released an animated film that detailed the rags to riches story of a princess to be, and her name was Cinderella. After the unfortunate deaths of both of her parents Cinderella is trapped in the care of her evil stepmother. Cinderella’s luck starts to change when she captures the heart of Prince Charming and proves to be his one true fit.

On December 29th 2006 the Guillermo del Toro directed film Pan's Labyrinth was released in the United States. It detailed the life of Ofelia, the unknowing princess of an alternate world who set out on a quest to gain immortality and take her rightful place.
 

The Evil Step Parents
 

 

These movies were created nearly 60 years apart. However these princesses have one core characteristic in common, their parents. Cinderella has a dead mother, a dead father, and an evil stepmother who makes her life miserable. Ofelia has a mother who’s very much alive, however the roles are reversed because Ofelia has an evil stepfather.

Although Cinderella’s father is dead, he’s absent which gives  her evil stepmother the opportunity to be present.  Ofelia suffers the same fate although she has two living parents. Her mother Carmen, is emotionally absent, she’s not strong enough to stand up for her daughter against Vidal, and this gives Vidal her evil stepfather the opportunity be present.

The Fairy God Mother & The Fairy God Faun

Cinderella is on a quest to the ball to meet Prince Charming and prove that she is his one true fit. While Ofelia is on a quest to the underworld to reclaim her rightful place as the princess. However neither one of them do it alone, they both have guides of sorts.

Cinderella’s guide is her Fairy Godmother who picks her up when she is down, protects her when she needs protecting, and ultimately leads her to her destiny, which is Prince Charming.

Ofelia’s guide is the Faun who informs her about three quests she must go on if she wants to reclaim her throne. The two guides differ in the danger department. It seems as if the Faun leads Ofelia to danger as opposed to protecting from it. However, although Ofelia does end up dead as result of these quests, just like Cinderella she meets her destiny. She reclaims her rightful place as princess.

Both of these stories parallel each other in regards to suffrage, quests for a better life, and perseverance.  Guillermo del Toro challenged traditional fairytales by defying the gender/parental roles that are showcased in traditional fairy tales. His story ends in a death and a rebirth of sorts. Even though Cinderella’s story is the traditional rags to riches princess story, just like Ofelia she has to suffer before her luck began to turn around. Although one princess had to be enslaved, and the other had to die before they gained all they wanted, they both lived happily ever after.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Presentation Proposal

A Little Princess & Walt Disney’s Cinderella

These two film are similar and significantly different from one another. The classic story of Cinderella seems to mirror Alfonso Cuarón’s A little princess. After losing her father young Cinderella is trapped being ‘raised’ by her evil step-mother. Young Sara Crewe, who has also lost her father, doesn’t have an evil step mother, but she does have miss Minchin which is far worse.

One aspect I would like to explore further is the affect that time has on each film. Sara Crewe has a Cinderella story, but she is not Cinderella. She is ethnic and cultured, and I want to analyze how her culture is represented in the film if at all and I want to see if Cinderella’s has a culture, and if so, how is it depicted.

 Both films depict young women losing their father under very different circumstances. It showcases how poorly these women are treated, and how both women defy the odds and overcome their discrepancies.

Though these movies were created nearly 50 years apart, they are linked at their foundation.

P.S I'm just now realizing that Miss Minchin & the evil step mother bare a striking resemblance.

 

 

Music & Michael Myers

 

 

For whatever reason, I couldn’t upload the video I wanted to upload to display how scary this music is. However, I've linked it below so you can look when you have time, and I uploaded the song specifically. I don't think anyone would have time recognizing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht3gFCqpFkE 

When I thought about an interesting use of music in film, this is the first song I thought about. The thing I find the most interesting is that even after seeing these films tons of times I still can’t get over how terrifying it is. I love to listen to the radio here a song I originally heard in a film, however this song is not one of them. Occasionally, I do hear variations of this song within other songs, and I can spot it anywhere. The thing that makes this collection of music notes so intense, is the fact no matter where/when you hear it you know what it means, and who's behind you. It’s amazing how a variation of music notes can become synonymous with a classic film.

Water, from a Spiritual Perspective.

 

 

I realized that throughout this movie water is represent in so many different interesting ways. The most profound representation was the spiritual connection. Most people who are religious view their faith as the foundation for everything. They rely on their faith through every moment of their life. The good times, the bad times, and the shameful times. This was represented well throughout this film. When these women would pray, they did it in the water. When these women were in distress, they would offer one another water. When rain fell from the sky, they jumped and played and skipped in it. I realize that water is prominent in many religions, but in this movie water itself seems to be the religion. It seems to be the only thing the women really believe in and rely on.



The Sounds of Tsotsi

 

 

 

 

We were prepped on how amazing the music in Tsotsi was, but it wasn’t until I watched it that I realized how much of key role music played throughout the film. It’s amazing how the music is so accurately linked to certain scenes within the film. For example, the up-beat music that played when Tsotsi’s friends asked him what they were going to do that night represented that they were going to get into trouble. Another representation of sound specifically was when Tsotsi followed the young mother into her home. The suspenseful music represented that scene completely. I love how Tsotsi managed to enhance the visual aspects of the film by using the sounds and music at just the right moment.

 

 

 

 

What’s So Special About Practical Effects?

 

Whenever I come across special effects I’m not too enthralled by them because they’re not very special at all. I notice that they seem extremely fake, or so overdone that it just couldn’t even be perceived as real. I know that most special effects aren't to be taken literally, but I am the type of movie watcher that needs a sense of reality even in the most fiction based films. However, when I started to research the different types of “special effects” I found an interesting type of special effect call the practical effect. This scene below from the Matrix reloaded is a good example of this “special effect” all the things that occur here blend an aspect of reality with computer generation.
P.S - The cool guy surfing on cars was added into the clip after the action scene had already been filmed!

The Whale Rider & The Historical Framework

The controversial view of gender in The Whale Rider is an underlying theme throughout the film. In order to have a better understanding of this viewpoint, I want acknowledge one of the many key questions related to the historical framework described in the “Critical Theory as Critical Thinking: A Book of Classroom Practice in Literary Criticism” book. The question states, “How does the work relate to the social climate and worldview of its time (26)?” Or in this specific case, how might Niki Caro’s depiction of gender roles, relate to the characters beliefs regarding “a woman’s role” in Maori culture? The historical approach bases its analysis on the assumption that, “there is a relationship between a work of art and the time and place in which it was created (25).” So in this specific analysis is based upon the assumption that there is a relationship between Niki Caro’s depiction of gender roles, and the social norms of the Maori culture.

For example, in the beginning of the film Pai criticized the older women for smoking stating that they had to protect their childbearing abilities, apparently this thought alone supports the idea of gender roles within the Maori culture. According to Maori history “women could not fight in war, perform the war dance, or have full facial tattoos; they were, however, considered sacred because of their childbearing abilities and this assistance to the future tribe.” (https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu)

Another example of this would be when Pai sang for the opening of the school as opposed to joining in herself, it’s explained that, “women could not fight in war, perform the war dance, or have full facial tattoos; they were, however, considered sacred because of their childbearing abilities and this assistance to the future tribe. ” (https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu)

It seems that the male favored gender roles within Maori culture may either enrich or desert the women of the culture.