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Pan’s Labyrinth is a film about the civil war in Spain, directed by Guillermo del Toro. It attempts to tell the story of the war through the perspective of a child – the protagonist Ofelia. To do so, del Toro uses a range of cinematic devices, such as camera angles and lighting, to show the separation between the real world and Ofelia’s fantasy.

Through Ofelia, the audience experience the war from the perspective of a child. Del Toro uses high-angle shots to show her youth and innocence. The camera angle makes Ofelia seem very small, causing the audience to feel protective of her. Her innocence is also represented with the quote ‘Mercedes… do you believe in fairies?’

Due to her immaturity, Ofelia’s scenes contrast sharply with the scenes of war, which contain dark and violent themes. Therefore, the camera angles are very important to the storytelling of the film, as they emphasise the reality of the war from Ofelia’s point of view.

Furthermore, Ofelia provides a link between the two halves of the film: the fairy tales (or Ofelia’s fantasy) and the civil war with the story of the rebels and Captain Vidal. To show this, del Toro uses symbolic colours through the film. Normally, scenes of Ofelia’s fantasy are shown in reds and yellow, while the reality scenes are presented in cold colours, most noticeably blues. In transitional scenes, we often see greens: for example, in the forest at the start of the scene with the toad, the colours appear very bright and green.

Similarly, Ofelia often wears green, which demonstrates her role as a link between the real world and the magical one in the film. A clear example of this symbolism is when Ofelia enters the room of the pale man, in which the three colours are represented: Ofelia’s bedroom is blue toned, the corridor that leads to the Pale Man’s room is red, and Ofelia is wearing a green dress. Her role as a link between the two stories is crucial because it allows the audience to realise the similarities between both realities: for example, the power that the Pale Man has is similar to Captain Vidal’s power in the real world.

Camera angles are also used to represent the personality of Captain Vidal. Del Toro almost always films the captain from low angle shots, so that he seems tall and powerful. The captain represents the Franco dictatorship, and therefore his power and cruelty remind the audience of the reality of dictatorship.

Furthermore, this camera angle highlights the cruelty of the captain because it shows the power imbalance. An example of this is the scene in which Vidal tortures a rebel and says, ‘If you can count to three without stuttering, you can go’. In this scene, Vidal takes advantage of the rebel’s disability, so that he is unable to resist. During the scene, the rebel is shown from a high angle shot, and Vidal from a low angle, demonstrating the inequality between the two characters.

In conclusion, I believe that the techniques used in Pan’s Labyrinth are essential in allowing Guillermo del Toro to achieve his objectives, as the colours highlight the themes of fantasy and innocence, and the camera angles enable del Toro to show the power dynamics between various characters.