Context Pushing Boundaries Narrative Detail • • • • • • • • • 1944 Spain (5 years after the war during Francoist era) • Metaphor for the monstrous side of freedom • human nature • exiles • • • • • Still relevant as bodies being dug up Britain and France busy with WW2 Ofelia goes where she shouldn’t (the tree / the labyrinth / Pale Man’s lair Connection with del Toro’s Mexico which gave refuge to Communist Context – fascism v the Rebels / where she eats) • • • • Violence Goes against the Captain's authority The Doctor and Mercedes It’s the characters who push Mercedes escapes to the rebels, boundaries rather than the film – Ofelia to her dreams except visually The suffering of Spain Every fantasy is a political wish and every wish is a political fantasy • • Conception Birth Death Her internal emotions and fears have exaggerated to form monsters • • Ofelia is idealised and can never grow up • Influence by Alice with which there are parallels • • Vidal – archetypal Monsters / Ogres are metaphors for the monster sin society • Ofleia (Ophelia form Hamlet / stckc of fairy books – lends itself that it’s all in her imagination) Two worlds = different colours Spirals – faun, tree, mother’s bed, fallopian tubes • Puzzles – rule of 3; females; wishes; tasks; fairies • v.o at start, Ofleia bleeding; events have already happened CGI Sexual themes Coming of Age – Blood Parallels between worlds (Vidal and the pale Man) • • • • • Doorways Knives Keys Superstitions (the mandrake) Clocks and insects (both Freudian / surrealist symbols) Context • • • • • • • • Svankmayer’s LSD experience Made in 1988 before fall of the berlin Wall Behind iron curtain Limited access to art and film Reference points were folk tales Working under Soviet censorship Radical messages / social critiques hidden “Now yuou must close your eyes or you won’t see anything.” • Narrative Detail • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • More oppressive after 1968 uprising in works for children • Pushing Boundaries Doors / being trapped and other imagery The ending is ambiguous Familiar yet diverges from the original • • • • executions (unlike the book) • Linear narrative Told from child’s pov sense of a nonsensical world By making the film in the first place • V.O Narration Tries to quantify and make White rabbit carries out Punishment (key element of Freudian theory) • • • • • • Violence Alice as sexual Pricks her finger Red lips Symbolism She enters a forbidden world Incongruous relationship of space or size Wonderland is drab Stop motion Grotesque / disturbing Scissors and knives are recurring images Birth Childhood Dreamlike Toys familiar yet grotesque Imbues everyday objects with the uncanny ECU of mouths Exaggerated sound effects Mise-en-scene e.g muse trap; Punch and Judy • Cabinets and drawers (typical surrealist imagery) • • Low angled shots make us feel small) C.U shots = claustrophobia Context Pushing boundaries Narrative Detail / Style • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Bunuel’s favourite film Summarises his work The theme of chance governs everything Incidents which occurred to Buueul and Films title refers to Marx and Engels Communist Manifesto – A Spectre haunting Europe • Liberty is a phantom also refers to the civil rights movement of the 60s threatening social order • Illusive nature of freedom relevant to any time • • Deals with sexual hang ups Is critical of society / police / religion Suggestion of necrophilia (Dona Elvira’s body) • should be seen in the context of his life • Troops in Catholic church drinking Children in park being given pictures suggests child abduction and pedophilia • • • • • • • • Parents erotically stimulated by photos Monks playing poker Young man and his aunt = incest / nudity Dominatrix outfit Flagellation Behaviour of police like school children Guests on toilets Sniper = murder Chance encounters Wages war on storytelling Story’s like a relay race Stories not revisited Surrealist notion of a stream of consciousness • • • • • • No control / no reason Searches for truth Social ritual Characters are middle class types Stereotypes not allowed to develop Characters as victims of social ritual Focus on constructing ideas Lack of music Sound effects are important e riot at end suggested by sound only • • Economic style Insects / symmetry Fiction Challenge / Spectatorship Mediation • • • • • Mode • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Tight time frame Has an artistic view A message A moral Camera / cuts Performative / Reflexive Truth • • • • • • • • • Aim • • • • Framed in big c.u we can’t get away from Aileen Topic Relationship between NB and Aileen Limited editing Time limit Execution Facts about her life story Being locked in We look at it through NBs mediated eyes Intention Expectations of audience Conventions Actualities Captions Interviews Court footage Nature of camera work What’s at stake Overalls structure Execution at end We can s ee inside her mind We understand her and her motivations Covert filming – we’re listening in to something we shouldn’t; her private confession to someone she trusts • • • Details of the crime – we ‘enjoy’ listening to them We respond emotionally to her We accept the preferred reading Editing (limited) Covert filming C.U interviews Court footage Limited time Access Location shooting Not lit V.O Relationship between NB and Aileen No reconstruction Provocative questioning Fiction Challenge Spectatorship Mediation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Script • • Event couldn’t be predicted • • • Actors Script Costume Structure Artistic viewpoint Camera Editing Music Pace Engagement with family Time limit Birth scene Weeping scene Highly mediated Observational mode increases our understanding of the culture • We watch intimate moments (birth and weeping) • • • • Voyeuristic Emotional response Music is integral and baby to bond • • Subject matter Location filming Events – birth scene – Mode - observational • Music Structure Choice of family Aim of documentary Re-enactment Unconsciously we want the mother Mirror stage we identify with them Our response will differ depending on age, sex, background weeping scene • Environment Take pleasure in the spectacle True to documentary tradition Fiction Challenging Spectatorship Mediation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Music • • • • • All interviews are the same • • • • • Artistic Narrative structure Use of reconstruction Lighting Music Actors Editing Reconstruction and its repetition • • • • Music Highly mediated Composed and lighting Music Interviews are al staged with the Actualities same lens and same distance from Lack of V.O the camera Topic • • • Makes us work at our understanding End – taped conversation is covert keeps us at a distance Truth Changed outcome Poetic mode Interviews Actualities • Reconstruction Editing Structure (tape at end) Choice of interviewees No location shooting We respond intellectually rather than emotionally as Morris intentionally No V.O Lighting Take pleasure in the fact that there’s no resolution No V.O Balanced Taped conversations Range of interviews ... • • • • • • • • • • • • • Bunuel’s favourite film Summarises his work The theme of chance governs everything Incidents which occurred to Buueul and Films title refers to Marx and Engels Communist... (unlike the book) • Linear narrative Told from child’s pov sense of a nonsensical world By making the film in the first place • V.O Narration Tries to quantify and make White rabbit carries out Punishment... experience Made in 1988 before fall of the berlin Wall Behind iron curtain Limited access to art and film Reference points were folk tales Working under Soviet censorship Radical messages / social