Pan's Labyrinth

Question 1

What year did the Spanish Civil War occur?

Answer 1

1936-1939

Question 2

Who was the dictator that ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 2

Francisco Franco

Question 3

What political ideologies did the people of Spain turn to in response to Franco’s regime?

Answer 3

• Socialism
• Communism
• Anarchism

Question 4

What was the estimated number of deaths caused by Franco’s regime?

Answer 4

Approximately 250,000

Question 5

What does Captain Vidal represent in the context of the film?

Answer 5

A substitute for Franco

Question 6

What does the Doctor represent in the film?

Answer 6

The people

Question 7

What is the significance of the lighting on Captain Vidal’s face?

Answer 7

It reflects his political views

Question 8

What was Franco’s political ideology characterized by?

Answer 8

A mixture of political authoritarianism and conservative Catholicism

Question 9

What does Del Toro aim to highlight through the film?

Answer 9

The forgotten stories of those resisting paternalistic ideology

Question 10

In what year was the Law of Historical Memory passed?

Answer 10

2007

Question 11

What was the purpose of the Law of Historical Memory?

Answer 11

To resurrect the memory of those killed in the struggle and eliminate symbols of Francoism

Question 12

What does the Pact of Forgetting refer to?

Answer 12

A political decision to avoid confronting Franco’s legacy after his death

Question 13

What significant event occurred on July 17-18, 1936?

Answer 13

A military coup aimed at halting political democracy

Question 14

What were the three key factors that contributed to the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 14

• Uneven levels of development within Spain
• The role of the church
• The role of the military

Question 15

What does the phrase ‘años de hambre’ refer to?

Answer 15

The years of hunger in Spain during Franco’s regime

Question 16

What does Ofelia’s character represent in the film?

Answer 16

A critique of conformity and fascist order

Question 17

What does the toad symbolize in the film?

Answer 17

The Francoist regime sucking the life out of Spain

Question 18

In the context of the film, what does the Pale Man represent?

Answer 18

The Catholic Church and its oppressive nature

Question 19

What is the significance of the dinner party scene?

Answer 19

It highlights the inequality and hypocrisy within Franco’s regime

Question 20

What is the relationship between Captain Vidal and the concept of toxic masculinity?

Answer 20

Vidal embodies an extreme form of masculinity that rejects femininity

Question 21

Fill in the blank: The film was released in _______.

Answer 21

2006

Question 22

What visual technique does Del Toro use to represent the past in the opening sequence?

Answer 22

Anticlockwise camera roll

Question 23

True or False: The film Pan’s Labyrinth is set during a time of political stability in Spain.

Answer 23

False

Question 24

What is the significance of the watch in Captain Vidal’s character?

Answer 24

It symbolizes his obsession with order and his father’s legacy

Question 25

What does the phrase 'God has already saved their souls' imply in the film?

Answer 25

The indifference of the Catholic Church towards the suffering of the oppressed

Question 26

What does Ofelia's rejection of the dress symbolize?

Answer 26

A rejection of prescribed femininity and conformity

Question 27

What does the imagery of the tree in the Toad sequence represent?

Answer 27

Ofelia's mother's fragile condition and impending puberty

Question 28

How does Del Toro visually differentiate the fantasy world from the real world?

Answer 28

Using warm colors for fantasy and cold colors for reality

Question 29

What does the fireplace behind the Pale Man symbolize?

Answer 29

A connection to the oppressive nature of the Catholic Church

Question 30

What challenges the pact of forgetting in Pan’s Labyrinth?

Answer 30

The aftermath ## Footnote The aftermath refers to the consequences and memories of the fascist regime that persist despite attempts to forget.

Question 31

How is the geometry of the Pale Man’s dining room similar to Vidal’s?

Answer 31

Both are long rectangles with a chimney at the back and the monster at the head of the table.

Question 32

What does the fireplace behind the Pale Man symbolize?

Answer 32

Aesthetics of womanhood used in the fantasy world.

Question 33

What does the fireplace behind Vidal represent?

Answer 33

Aesthetics of fascism, connoting order and control.

Question 34

What could the crackling fire imagery represent?

Answer 34

The serpent from Adam and Eve alongside Hell.

Question 35

What does the Pale Man do to the fairies?

Answer 35

Bites their heads off, linking to the painting of 'Satan devouring his son.'

Question 36

What do the eyes in the palm of the Pale Man symbolize?

Answer 36

Vidal’s (and Franco’s) surveillance and control.

Question 37

What does restricted vision suggest about Vidal?

Answer 37

He is incapable of seeing beyond his narrow worldview.

Question 38

What drives all monsters in Pan’s Labyrinth?

Answer 38

An unrestrained appetite for greed and power.

Question 39

What does the hourglass symbolize in the film?

Answer 39

Womanhood.

Question 40

What act of disobedience does Ofelia commit?

Answer 40

She eats the food she was told not to eat.

Question 41

What does Ofelia’s act of disobedience link to?

Answer 41

The idea of the Spanish starving and the risk of eating a simple grape.

Question 42

What does Vidal's staggering gait and outstretched hand mirror?

Answer 42

The Pale Man chasing after Ofelia.

Question 43

How does Vidal’s monstrosity shift throughout the film?

Answer 43

From internal to external, exposing his inner evil.

Question 44

What does Del Toro say about disobedience?

Answer 44

It is a virtue, while blind obedience is a sin.

Question 45

What is Ofelia’s ultimate act of disobedience?

Answer 45

Refusing to kill her brother.

Question 46

How can the ending of Pan’s Labyrinth be interpreted?

Answer 46

1. It's in Ofelia’s head. 2. The fantasy world is real.

Question 47

What does Del Toro's open ending encode?

Answer 47

A democratic ideology allowing audience interpretation.

Question 48

What does Ofelia’s rejection of Vidal signify?

Answer 48

Her defiance against the brutality of the fascist state.

Question 49

What does the cold blue color palette represent?

Answer 49

The harsh brutality of fascist rule.

Question 50

How does Mercedes challenge Vidal’s patriarchal legacy?

Answer 50

By destroying his ego of handing down his legacy.

Question 51

What is confirmed about Vidal's moral blindness in his death?

Answer 51

Even after being shot, his eye rolls back and fills with blood.

Question 52

What motif does Del Toro use throughout Pan’s Labyrinth?

Answer 52

Eyes and sight.

Question 53

What can the meaning of eyes and sight be interpreted as?

Answer 53

1. Revisiting the past through Ofelia's perspective. 2. Confronting the horrors of the past. 3. Signifying moral blindness. 4. Representing surveillance of the fascist regime.

Question 54

What does Mercedes singing a lullaby to Ofelia signify?

Answer 54

Ofelia being reborn.

Question 55

What intertextual reference does Del Toro make to The Wizard of Oz?

Answer 55

Dorothy’s red shoes.

Question 56

What does Ofelia’s rebirth symbolize?

Answer 56

Her return to her mother and father in the underworld.

Question 57

What does the warm golden color palette represent?

Answer 57

The replacement of the cold blue aesthetic of the real world.

Question 58

What is the significance of the circular windows behind Ofelia’s father?

Answer 58

Reinforcing the aesthetic of womanhood in the fantasy world.

Question 59

What does Del Toro describe the story as?

Answer 59

The story of a girl who gives birth to herself as she wants to be.

Question 60

What bond do Mercedes and Ofelia form?

Answer 60

A mother and daughter bond.

Question 61

What does the death of the toad represent?

Answer 61

The rebirth of the tree and Spain after fascism.