1) Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 dark fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro that is set in 1944 fascist Spain after the Spanish Civil War. 2) The film uses magical realism to parallel the harsh realities of life under Francisco Franco's dictatorship, with Captain Vidal representing Franco and his violent authoritarian rule. 3) Del Toro draws numerous intertextual connections between Pan's Labyrinth and his previous films like The Devil's Backbone, as well as other works like Alice in Wonderland, to enrich the film's themes around escaping oppression through imagination.

1. Pan's Labyrinth
Introduction
Pan's Labyrinthisa 2006 filmdirectedbyGuillermodel Toro.The Mexicandirectorisalsoknow forhis
otherfilmssuchas PacificRim(2013) and hismostrecentfilmShape of Water(2016). His filmstypically
consistof dark fantasyand or horror.
Production Companies
An interestingfactaboutthisfilmistodo withthe subtilties.Del Toroalongwithtwootherpeople
translatedandwrote the subtitlesforthisfilm.The reasonthathe wrote the subtiltieshimself rather
than hire a companyto do itfor himwas because he wasdisappointedinhow theyhadworkedonhis
perviousfilm"The DevilsBackbone".
Historical Context
WhenlookingatPan's Labyrinthinmore contextyoushouldlookintoandconsiderthe historical
contextof not onlyissueswithinSpainduringthe time of filmingbutalsoduringthe time inwhichthe
filmwasset,1944. Duringthe time thatthe filmwassetitwas justafterthe postCivil War.Duringthis
time Spainhadalliedthemselveswiththe Nazisanddue tothishad setup concentrationcampsfor
manydifferentreasonssuchasbeingdeemedasa criminal,political rivalsandhomosexual peopleas
some of the examples.These people were imprisonedwithouttrial.The filmwassetinthe postcivil war
and therefore usedthe conflictbetweenthe fascistsandthe rebel guerrillastoexploitthe issuesand
turmoil duringSpainatthe time.During1944 whenthe filmwassetitis five yearsinto Francisco
Franco's regime,whenhe came intopoweratthe endof the SpanishCivil Warin1939.
Pan's Labyrinthisessentiallyareflectionof the civil warinthe sense thatthe filmisbrokendownsimply
intotwo parallel worlds;realityandfantasy.Del Torousesthis2006 filmasa modernrepresentationof
the powerstruggle betweendemocracy,thatof the democraticSecondSpanishRepublic,andfascism,
that of General FranciscoFranco's right-wingNationalists.
You couldtake thisfurtherand inferthatif the filmisto be a modernperspective of whathappened
duringaftermathof the Civil War thatCaptainVidal isthe embodimentof Francohimself,andhis
character representsatthe time their/hisfascistideology.Throughoutthe filmyoucansee influences
and parallelstothe characterof CaptainVidal toFranco regime.Forexampleduringthe filmyouwill
quicklyunderstandthatthe Captaincontrolseveryone aroundhimboththose onhisside andthose of
oppose himwithinfearandviolence inanattempttoshow dominance andcontrol whichisverysimilar
to that of Franco duringhisregime.
CaptainVidal issomeone who'swholeslive issetaroundrulesandregimentforexample withinthe film
handshake etiquette andhisregulartime keepingof hisstopwatch.ThisislinksbacktoFranco's own
authoritarianandhowhe acted duringhisregime.The Captainuseshisbrokenwatchface as part of his
heroismtofurtherenhance the fascistSpainof brave man'sdeath.
Eyesare a recurringmotif withinPan'sLabyrinthaspart of a extendedmetaphor abouthow itwaslike
to live infascistSpainatthe time,alsothe connectionbetweenthe eyesisalwaysinparllel tothe mouth
as well.Forexample whenthe Pale Manpicksuphiseyesinthe fire place behindhimyoucan alsosee
eyesanda mouth.This linksintothe historical contextdue tohorrorsthat were happeningatthe time,

2. the eyesare what the people of Spainare seeingall the time,itisadailyoccurrence forthembut the
reasonthat the mouthis alwayspresentisbecause the people can't talkaboutitto anyone infear of
beingoverheardandthenbeingsubjectedtothe horrorsthattheyhave seenthemselves.Anotherpoint
that youcan make thatlinksintothisas well ashistorical context,due tothe factthat Spainat the time
were alliedwithGermanywasthe close-upshotof the pilesof shoesthatare shownwhenOfeliais
runningpast.Thislinksintohistorical contextbecause itisareference toconcentrationcampswere
theyusedto pile theirshoesbeforehandandthiscanbe furtherreinforceddue tothe fire inthe
backgroundof the shotas well.
Overall Del Torousescharactersinfluencedbyreal people andeventstoshow how underFranco's
rule/regimeSpain'sfreedomandinasense innocence wasbrokenandcorrupted.Assadas itis as well
thenendingof the filmwhere Ofeliadiesshowsthe audience inavisual waythatthe fate of Ofeliawas
the realityat the time of fascistSpain.
Intertextuality
The Devil'sBackbone
In 2001 Guillermodel Toromade the filmThe Devil'sBackbone.Bothfilmsare setwithinthe same
timelineanduniverse,whichmakesthe connectionof the intertextualityforfansof bothfilmsmore
devastating.There are twosoldierswithinPan'sLabyrinthandthe audience will recognizethemfrom
the previousfilmThe Devil'sBackbone,whenthe Captainkillsthe twosoldiersitmakesthe filmseem
more real to the audience intermsof how of destructive the CivilWarinSpainwas butalso WorldWar
II was(Thisisbecause the filmwasseta year before WorldWar I ends) butitis alsoemotionallydraining
for the audience astheyhave grownto love the charactersand thoughtthat at the endof the filmthey
wouldhave a happyendingandtherefore now the realityisthattheydon't.It isalsousedcreativelyasa
tool to make the audience hate the antagonist,the Captain,evenmore thentheydidbefore.
Alice in Wonderland
There are a fewreferencestoAlice inWonderlandwithinPan'sLabyrinthwhichif peopleare familiar
withwill understandorhave aconnection withthe issuesthatare presentbothwithinthisfilmandAlice
and Wonderlandaswell.Forexampleonof the mainparallelsisthe blurredlinesbetweenfantasyand
realitythatisa predominantthemewithinbothmediatexts.Both antagonists are small andyoung
childrenwhoare tryingto escape reality. Furthermoreyoucouldalsoargue thatthe theme of time is
presentinbothfilmsandthiscan be linkedbackto Alice andWonderlandwiththe close upof the
hourglassOfeliausesasbothcharactersfeel asif theyare runningoutof time.
Hellboy
SimilartoThe DevilsBackbone,Guillermodel Torousesintertextualitybetweenhisfilms.The 2004 film
isthe lastfilmbyhimbefore Pan'sLabyrinth.The connectionbetweenbothfilmsisthe outline atthe
bottomof the maze,withinPan'sLabyrinth,whichfillsupwithbloodisthe same asthe
markings/etchingonthe floorwhere Rasputin,withinHellboy,isrevived.