Guillermo Del Toro’s El Laberinto Del Fauno or Pan’s Labyrinth, is a 2006 Spanish-Mexican film that grew in popularity worldwide, particularly in the United States. The film is dark yet magical and challenges more mature viewers to discern what is real, what is worth living for, and what is worth dying for. The movie follows a young girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) in 1944 Falangist Spain. With rebellions still happening in the country, Ofelia’s new stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), summons her and her pregnant mother to join him at his military outpost. With an Alice in Wonderland like curiosity, she is guided by fairies to a labyrinth which reveals a world with magic and dangers of it own. Deep in the labyrinth she meets an ancient In both the fantastical and the real world viewers are presented with a smorgasbord of effects that bring these places to life. The Spanish setting includes more realistic effects dealing with the dark reality of Ofelia’s real world. These effects include explosions, violent murders, and gore all which support Captain Vidal’s sadistic nature and the horrors of his war. In the fantastical world the effects are primarily focused on the creatures that inhabit it. Unlike typical fantasy movies, these creatures aren’t brightly colored sugar coated beings, in fact they can be downright scary. The fairies are human-esq but are almost alien and by no means beautiful. The faun, who viewers can't always tell if he’s good or bad, is alluring yet menacing in a way that only exquisite costuming allows. But the fantasy world holds its host of true villains too, the most notable being the Pale Man. This creature and his lair represent the epitome of dark fantasy. His lair is brightly colored and a sumptuous banquet is laid out before him very much in Hansel and Gretel style. But the creature, also portrayed by Doug Jones, is a tall, white monster with eyes in his hands. It isn’t until he comes to life that the film shows the true dark side to fantasy. This contrast to the typical candy land fantasy viewers are used to is a reflection of how the violence and terrors of the real world can twist itself into the fantasy world of an
The movie the Labyrinth tells a story about a group of unlikely heroes trying to make their way though a maze in order to defeat the Goblin King. The story starts out with the main character Sarah whom, without even realizing it, wishes her baby brother to be taken way by Jareth the Goblin King. He tells her that if she wants her brother back she will have to make her way through the labyrinth and to the castle beyond the Goblin City. She only has 13 hours to complete the seemingly impossible task or her little brother Toby will be turned into a goblin. While making her way through the twisted and endless maze Sarah runs into many weird characters. The first person she encounters is Hoggle a very untrustworthy dwarf whom is under the influence of Jareth. He is selfish and does things only if there is something for him to gain. He betrays Sarah many times throughout the movie, but in the end he proves himself to be more than a traitorous coward. Ludo is a yeti and despite looking vicious is a gentle and caring monster. Ludo also has the power to control rocks. Sir Didymis is a loudmouthed, but noble knight who displays his valor throughout the movie. The four heroes manage to fight their way through the perilous labyrinth. The Goblin King Jareth is defeated and Sarah’s brother Toby is saved. Though the characters in this movie seemed to be nothing more than ordinary, and if not odd, they fought their way through labyrinth and conquered an entire army of evil goblins and their king. (Labyrinth 1986)
The movie I chose to write about is called “The Maze Runner” It is about a group of children that get dropped off inside a maze. When they wake up they have no memory of who took them there, or why they are there; They call this place “The Glades.” A new person randomly appears each month to try and pass a test which they are unaware of at the time.
Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995. 109-116.
Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realsim. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995. 109-116.
This novel, although funny on the surface, is the Alice in Wonderland of Spain. His imagination of ups and downs through turns within turns, along a crazy roller costar that his characters take and retake over and over again four hundred years ago. This is a classic story filled with adventures that seem as if they will never end. Don't let anyone tell you this book is old-fashioned.
In 1949, Dana Gioia reflected on the significance of Gabriel García Márquez’s narrative style when he accurately quoted, “[it] describes the matter-of-fact combination of the fantastic and everyday in Latin American literature” (Gioia). Today, García Márquez’s work is synonymous with magical realism. In “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes,” the tale begins with be dramatically bleak fairytale introduction:
Guenther, Irene. "Magical Realism in SpanishAmerican Literature" Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Wendy Faris and Zamora. Duke University Press, Durham and London,1995.33-73.
In the title “In This Strange Labyrinth”, the labyrinth is symbolic of love’s maze-like qualities. The speaker describes her predicament by saying, “In this strange Labyrinth how shall I turn/Ways are on all sides” (1-2). A different path on every side surrounds her, and every way seems to be the wrong way. She is confused about which way she should go. Wroth is conveying the theme of love in a decidedly negative way, for according to myth, the Labyrinth was where the Minotaur lived and before it’s demise, death was evident for all visitors of the maze. The speaker is struggling with every choice she may make and cannot rest or find aid until she finds the best way: “Go forward, or stand still, or back retire;/ I must these doubts endure without allay/ Or help, but travail find for my best hire” (10-11). She has several choices and each one is confusing and leaves her feeling helpless.
The film tells the disconcerting story of a young girl who finds a magical realm. Ofelia was a young girl caught up in the fantasies of her fairy-tale books. The film, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, presents the reader with the journey that Ofelia took in attempting to complete the three tasks given to her by the faun, which she discovered when wandering through a labyrinth.
The Maze Runner is a 2014 mystery/science fiction film that can be viewed from an archetypal perspective. An archetype can be described as a pattern that can and is copied and recurring symbols or characters. The concept of archetypes came from Carl Jung a psychiatrist who believed that all cultures use archetypes to build stories without communicating to each other about them. Two groups of archetypes are the character and symbolic archetypes. The film The Maze Runner should be analyzed through an archetypal perspective because it has character and symbolic archetypes.
Le Fanu uses gothic elements to intrigue and shock readers. This is clearly represented through vivid descriptions of isolated castles, abandoned churches, and mysterious woods. “… In the thick of the forest, overlooks the silent ruins of the town” (Le Faun Chapter I), “The castle is a ruin; the very village is deserted…” (Le Faun Chapter X). Le Faun uses this to create an eerie atmosphere. Through this, he manages to build suspense, forcing the readers to always be suspicious something is going to happen, but unable to determine how and when. This keeps the readers captivated. Similarly, by exploring the literature typified by ruin and mystery, Stoker explicitly exposes gothic tropes from Harker’s very first impression of the dilapidated castle. “The closed gates are of heavy old oak and iron, all eaten with rust” (Stoker Chapter II). As a result of this, Stoker is able to effectively convey the feelings of gloom, mystery and suspense. These are presented through the castle as it holds a lot of history, thus allowing Stoker to build up a haunting and ghostly atmosphere. This atmosphere is exaggerated through a sense of decaying which adds to the gothic convention in this context. “Hinges had fallen somewhat”, “wealth of dust’ and “dusty with age”, all indicating that the place is old, rusty and rather run-down (Stoker Chapter
The film is about Florence Cathcart, an author and debunker of the supernatural, sometime in post-World War I. After a boy 's death, she is requested to investigate a boarding school that is reportedly having sighting a ghost on the grounds. She soon finds out that there is more to the story.
Simon Bolivar is one of the most powerful and influential figures in the history of Latin America, a hero who led the movement for independence for several Latin American nations, a military and political leader with his own personal story full of tragic and dramatic moments. During his lifetime he helped to liberate people of Venezuela, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador and Bolivia from Spanish domination, played a big role in foundation of Gran Colombia and setting the principles of democracy. Even though Bolivar was not very well-known around the world, he was always held in respect among people in Latin America and remembered as a man who had an authority and power. Bolivar’s integrity, high moral standards, and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds made him a role model to many people. Simon Bolivar is a brave character whose leadership and risks turn against him when he least expects it. Bolívar's dream had always been to cause an American Revolution-style federation among all the newly independent republics in Latin America, where with a new government set up solely to recognize and support the rights of the individual. Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his book “The General in His Labyrinth” changes or “twists” a little the representation of the Latin American hero. First of all, Marquez never really references Simon Bolivar by his name, but only as “The Liberator”. His idea behind the book was to change the traditional heroic portrayal of Simon Bolivar and show an old man who is suffering through his illness and mental exhaustion.
Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995: 109-116.
...uperate the real; realities that have been obscured or erased by political and social injustice maybe reconstructed, a quality that is revealed in Isabel Allende's "The House of Spirits." With much about Alejo Carpentier already discussed it will just be noted here that his idea of "lo real maravilloso americano" uses what Amaryll Chanaday refers to as "territorialization of the imaginary"(Zamora 7). It becomes a new world phenomenon, an ever-changing phenomenon caught only at a point in time. Magical reality must be set in time though because it is necessary that it be an approach to history as well as literary genre because it supplies a historically resonant time and place, as the paragraphs above signify (Zamora 1-10).