"Narrative plays a significant role in communicating messages andvalues." To what extent is this evident in the films you have studied?[50 marks]

By studying both La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995 and Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro, 2006. I can understand that narrative helps to convey the message and values of the films.
Pan's Labyrinth is set in 1944, Spain, just after the Spanish Civil War. Spain is repressed by the Facist government, lead by Franco. Throughout the film, the oppression and conflict is conveyed by two main characters of opposing sides; Vidal and Mercedes/Mercedes' brother (the resistance).
A repressed state also exists in La Haine. We understand that there is conflict and oppression between two main groups; the government, agents of social control and middle class white Frenchmen vs. immigrants of a working class background.
Both films begin and end with an inflicted murder of an innocent. Pan's Labyrinth begins and ends with Ofelia's death. Ofelia is a very young girl who is damaged by the violent realism of the war and conflict that surrounds her. La Haine also begins and ends with a death, however this varies to Pan's Labyrinth as it is the murder of two different men; Abdel; whom we never actually meet, and Vinz;  a jewish boy who is 'accidentally' shot, both by members of the police. Therefore, Pan's Labyrinth and La Haine begin and end with a death; this incorporates a circular structure into the film, which therefore portrays the messages of the films; that this violent oppression is ongoing and reoccurring and that political change must occur in order for change.

Both films subvert the typical Hollywood narrative. By doing so, this makes the messages and values of the films more prominent and realistic. Both films are based in a historical period, therefore if the films were to adopt a classic Hollywood narrative, it would divert the audience away from the actual message(s) of the films. One way in which the films dismiss a classic Hollywood narrative is by not incorporating Torodov's Equilibrium Theory. Both Pan's Labyrinth and La Haine avoid the stereotypical state of equilibrium; at no one point do either of the films begin with the state of equilibrium. There is disruption throughout and no peaceful resolution. However, one may argue that, although subversively, Pan's Labyrinth does include the Equilibrium theory. We realise that Ofelia's equilibrium exists during her backstory with her father, and that this equilibrium is disrupted by the Fascists, (Vidal), who results in her death. Both the fairytale and realism war narrative is resolved; Ofelia being accepted into the underworld in the fairytale side of the story. However, the realism narrative is only resolved at the expense of Ofelia's death, caused by Vidal.
This however, juxtaposes with La Haine's structural narrative. Although the film also ends with a death, it is not at the expense of a resolution, as we soon see real footage of riots, this conveys that the oppression again is ongoing.

Because both of the films are based in historical events, we understand that the oppression and conflict is ongoing after the protagonist's deaths; that they were merely a symbol of the oppression, violence and conflict; their deaths did not cause the situation to come to an end. 

La Haine, however does follow some aspects of a Hollywood narrative by conforming to the cause and effect and character driven/ pyschological motivation. We understand at the beginning of the film, that the three boys have personal anger against the police, not just for their own oppression, but because their friend, Abdel has been shot by a policeman 'accidentally'. This results in the cause of the film as well as the character driven, pyschological motivation. Once the three boys find out that Abdel has died, Vinz, who vows to kill the policeman with the gun he found, finds that he cannot once he is given the opportunity. This then results in the main effect of the film; Vinz does not gain any good karma from this, resulting in a further effect of the film that is his death. This highlights the the audience the level of realism that exists in the film.  The cause and effect as well as the character driven motivation conveys he messages of the film. Intertwined with realism, it shows the lack of emotion and sympathy the oppressors show towards the oppressed group. We see Vinz's character develop into a mature, forgiving character towards the end of the film, compared to the hard, 'bad boy' persona he took on during the beginning. This helps the audience to sympathise and relate to the character of Vinz more as they have seen this development, however his sudden, unforgiving death reinforces the realism of the film, highlighting the message of oppression; to not be submissive and passive as this will not result in political change. 

Pan's Labyrinth takes a slightly different approach when analysing the use of cause and effect and character driven, pyschological motivation. If we view the film with two separate narratives, the realist narrative and the mysterical fairytale narrative, we the audience can understand this more clearly. Through the realist narrative, Ofelia is oppressed and does not have a say, therefore she does not have impact on cause and effect of the film, because of this she has no psychological motivation in the narrative. However, when she begins to have hallucinations we see her pyschological motivation develop which results in cause and effect. Once Ofelia is met with the Faun, she is told she must complete three tasks in order to gain her place as princess of the Labyrinth. This therefore is her focus in the rest of the film, which becomes her pyschological motivation. This results in Ofelia gaining a reason and voice, which becomes the cause of the film, this results in the main effects of the film; Ofelia's death. 

In my opinion, the way the cause and effect and pyschological motivation has been incorporated into this film in this way is to convey Ofelia's position in this fascist oppressive society, therefore conveying the message of the film, the effects of war and violence upon children. 

Pan's Labyrinth also subverts the stereotypical conventions of a war film, not only by incorporating the hallucinogenic fairytale aspect, but also because it follows an innocent child as it's protagonist. This, alongside the fairytale aspect portrays one of the messages of the film; the impact of war upon children and the idea of escapism.

Both Pan's Labyrinth and La Haine subvert the conventions of a classic Hollywood narrative in order to convey the messages of the film; the impact of war or violent oppression on youths and to not be passive if you want political change.




























http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/82300-unit-f633-global-cinema-and-critical-perspectives-specimen.pdf

Representation

La Haine 

Representation of women:
-There are no women in the film except the two women in the art gallery, who are merely viewed as a sex object/something to look at and admire
-The fact that there are no main female characters in the film show that women have little say and are oppressed




Pan's Labyrinth

Representation of women:
-3 main female characters who are clearly oppressed and have little say / voice
-Set in a Fascist, patriarchal society
-Representations of the female body; the tree symbolises the shape of the womb, and the blank book that Ofelia reads which bleeds blood also resembles of the womb

Religious representations:
-In the second quest, Ofelia must not eat anything from the feast that sits on the table in front of the Pale Man. This could have a biblical representation, like Eve and the forbidden fruit, Ofelia takes the grape from the table.

Mirroring:
-The Pale Man and his feast mirrors Vidal's feast with his friends. The Pale Man is a representation of the oppressive powers; Vidal, the Catholic Church and Spanish Fascism.
-The magical, hallucinative world mirrors the real world

How does narrative create meaning in Pan's Labyrinth?

The film is based in 1944 Fascist Spain, just before the time of the civil war. The protagonist of the film is a young girl named Ofelia, who we realise has hallucinations to escape the reality of the horror of the war around her. Ofelia is sent, along with her pregnant mother, to be with her new stepfather, Vidal, who happens to be a ruthless captain in the Spanish army.
Ofelia's hallucinations begin during the night once she is met with Vidal. She is met with a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the centre of the Labyrinth. She is told she is the princess but to prove her loyalty, she must survive three tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself as the princess, and never see the king, her father, again.
Amongst Ofelia's hallucinations, the film is also combined with the context of the civil war, to portray the effects of the war upon Ofelia. Violence in the film is inflicted upon the Rebels who hide in the mountains from the falangist troops.

The film does not follow the expectations of a classic Hollywood narrative.
The film does not include the stages of equilibrium. Pan's Labyrinth begins with Ofelia's death, even after this, the film involves conflict throughout, at no one point is there any resolution. The film only shows a slight aspect of resolution however, this encounters Ofelia's death. She is also murdered by Vidal, which portrays that the issues in the film will be ongoing, even after Ofelia's death. I believe that Del Toro has incorporated this into his film to portray one of it's messages; the effect of war upon children. Del Toro has subverted the typical stereotypes of a classic Hollywood narrative to make the effects of the war more prominent and real to the audience, whilst incorporating Ofelia's hallucinations may confuse one at first, it helps to portray the effects of war upon this child. Juxtaposing between war and the fairy-tale hallucination she has escaped into.

The film La Haine does not incorporate the theme of a mystical fairytale, but instead uses much realism to convey it's messages. La Haine is similar to some aspects of Pan's Labyrinth. For example, in my previous point I mentioned that it does not follow the expectations of a classic Hollywood narrative, as does La Haine; both films begin with conflict between to sides or groups, this is most likely used to convey the messages and the conflict within the story more prominently. Both films also end with a death of the protagonists, which is unexpected to the audience. I believe that both Pan's Labyrinth and La Haine have used an unexpected, unresolved death of the protagonist at the end of the films to convey the reality of the messages; that this conflict is unresolved and is still ongoing even after the ending of the film.

I shall elaborate on my previous point of the theme of magical realism and mystical fairytale. This is incorporated heavily into the film, from the beginning to the very end. Meanwhile, the reality side of the film is still ongoing. It is only during the night once Ofelia and her mother have travelled to Vidal; that Ofelia begins to have these hallucinations. We, the audience understand that these characters such as the fairies, the old faun and the pale man can only be seen by Ofelia. Ofelia spends all of her time interacting with these characters; escaping and distracting herself away from the violence and danger she is involved with. I understand that Del Toro has incorporated this into the narrative of the film to portray the effects of war upon children. Stereotypically a war film will deal with solider's and the civilian's impact and effect of war, however this film conveys what it is like for an innocent child. The fact that Ofelia is so young, conveys her innocence, as well as being a young girl.
There is much symbolism and mirroring that is incorporated within the film's narrative. The scene with the Pale Man could symbolise Eve and the forbidden fruit. The bible's version of this incorporates an innocent women who takes an apple, which is the only piece of fruit that is forbidden in the Garden of Eden, when she takes this, it symbolises her innocence of not understanding the consequences, but makes her and all other women suffer as the consequence. Therefore, when Ofelia takes the grape from the table that the Pale Man sits at (the one thing that was forbidden), it too symbolises Ofelia's innocence and arrogance of not understanding consequences. From this point in the film, all worsens for Ofelia, and eventually leads to her death.

The film also opens and closes with the same shot of Ofelia's death. This therefore provides us with a circular structured narrative, which portrays us with one of the messages of the film; that this conflict is ongoing and will keep reoccurring.  Ofelia is murdered by her stepfather, Vidal, creating irony in the film.
This is also similar to La Haine. The film too has a circular structure. The film begins with the riots, that result at the end of the film. The film begins with the possibility of Abdel's death. The film also ends with an ironic death, similar to Pan's Labyrinth. The death in La Haine is ironic because Vinz is shot by a policeman, who he vowed to murder if Abdel did die, however he decided not to, and was murdered himself. This circular structure and unresolved ending is similar to Pan's Labyrinth, portraying that the issue of conflict is ongoing and will not stop after the film ends.

Pan's Labyrinth

Themes:

Facism

Innocence 

Conflict and power

War: Spanish Civil War

Delusion 

Greed

Famine / poverty 

Oppression 

Legacy 

Family 

Male power/dominated 

Rebellion 

Messages: 

Beliefs don't solve problems : resistance to Facism links to the idea of fate not being avoidable. 

Facism is bad/destructive : it creates conflict between families and communities  : Facism regime of time period

War takes away childhood innocence

How innocence leads to delusion: she creates illusions to get away from the destructiveness of her reality. She becomes enraptured in her own hallucinations to escape.  

Good always wins over evil : internal conflict 

Fate isn't avoidable : people don't talk about it / thousands were forced to leave Spain to join resistance in France. 

Power is corrupting and leads to oppression 

Context relevant to the messages: 

During the period of the civil war people in communities were fighting against each other

Facist regime

Internal conflict at between neighbours and families

People avoid the topic now. 

Isolation and hardship

Thousands forced to flee Spain to join the resistance in France. 

Franco: head of army / war hero: took military with him to overthrow the king 

The church was on this side. The fascists were traditional: the family etc therefore the church sided with them

The Rebels were supplied with weapons from Russia a communist state; power to the people. The USSR. 

A proxy war: like the Cold War. The nazis and communist. Franco was helped by Germany. Brother v brother, two other super powers helping and supplying the opposing. Two wider powers influencing the next. 

Summary of Pan's Labyrinth: How is narrative used to portray the message?

Pan's Labyrinth is a film which juxtaposes the theme of a child's fairytale against the violent Fascist Spanish Civil War. Del Toro explained that this film is a 'fairytale for a grown-up'. He said that he wanted to create something as dangerous and scary as the real war.
Arguably, the film does not incorporate a Classic Hollywood Narrative. Although the film does incorporate several aspects of cause and effect (such as when Ofelia takes the grape, this results in her being chased and almost eaten by the Pale Man. Or when the man cannot finish his sentence due to his stutter, result in his death.) The film also has a beginning middle and end, however the character's psychological motivations, for example Vidal's hatred is not clearly conveyed. There is clear opposition and conflict in the film as this is what drives the narrative, however we see this through many different aspects. For example, the Faun's quests and Ofelia; the toad/pale man. And the general themes of the Spanish Civil War.
Another reason why Pan's is not a Classic Hollywood narrative could be the fact that it does not have a 3 act structure. For example, Torodov's Equilibrium theory, in my opinion, does not apply here. At the beginning and end of the film there is conflict, at no one point in the film is there an element of resolution. The film ends and begins with Ofelia's death, stating the circular structure of the narrative, and hinting that this will occur to many other children.

It is possible that Del Toro has followed the rules of Propp's character types, incorporating a dark macabre theme into a fairytale because he wanted to convey the severity of the Spanish Civil war and it's effects on children. Because Ofelia is a child, enrapt in her own fairytale like hallucinations, this is the main aspect of the film, without this the film would be pretty straight forward and dull, therefore Ofelia's hallucinations (the main aspect of the narrative) convey the effects of war on children; that this girl is obviously harmed by the danger and violence of her surroundings, that she has become tangled into her own hallucinations to escape the reality of the Spanish Civil War.
Children are the future of society, therefore it is possible that Toro has decided to use a child because of this, this portrays how war damages the future of society. Toro may have also used a girl because stereotypically, girls represent innocence and purity, what goes on in her mind juxtaposes this.
The narrative of the film ends and begins with Ofelia's death, resulting in a circular structure. This may have been used to portray another message of the film; that the result of the film is most likely to keep on happening to other children.
Because the film does not follow the classic Hollywood narrative, this may help to portray the message of the film and help to convey the real effects of war. Because the film does not follow Classic Hollywood Narrative is makes the film strangely more realistic once the audience realises that the fairy tale aspects of the film are hallucinations rather than actually there.