The beginning of this film is in a circular narrative, it starts when we see Ofelia dying. After this, we see Ofelia and her mother in the car travelling towards the captain. As they get closer to the captain, Ofelia's mother Carmen becomes more and more sick indicating that the captain, Vidal is a bad character as he is already having an effect on Carmen.
When Ofelia stops the car for her mother, she gets out and walks until she finds a rock. She walks a bit further and then finds a statue with a missing eye. The stone that Ofelia finds matches perfectly. When she places the stone in its place, a large bug flies out of the statues mouth. The replacing of the eye represents how Ofelia now has the vision to see the fantasy creatures that she soon meets in the film. No other people have this ability. The concept of eyes throughout the film can be seen as a warning to the audience suggesting that they should look closer into the film at the different elements being shown.
In Spain in the early 20th century, it was a very masculine world. Ofelia and her mother are innocent in the film which is shown in the beginning scene. After Ofelia puts the rock into the statue, her mother walks her back to the car. At this point, we see guards surrounding them both, protecting them for the Captain. This shows the masculinity in the world and the difference in roles between men and women around 1944.
In the real world, Ofelia has to obey her mothers rules and has to do what she is told. However, in the fantasy world she feels as if she can do what she wants which isn't true. She soon disobeys the fantasy world rules leading to consequences.
When Ofelia and her mother get back into the car, we see the large bug fly out around the cars. As they drive off, the camera moves in a circular motion following the large bug as it moves around the tree. The way the camera moves in a circle refers back to how the film is in a circular narrative. Ofelia dies at the end mostly because she was listening to the faun, the large bug represents the beginning of the fantasy world which connects the circle.
The film has a few similarities to Alice in Wonderland, starting with the green dress that is given to her from her mother. The dress is very similar to Alice's in Disney's 1951 adaptation of the Lewis Carroll novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Just like Alice, who crawls down a rabbit hole into a very strange world of fantasy, Ofelia also crawls down a hole in a fig tree to her fantasy world. Even though Alice's and Ofelia's adventures are very different, they're still both stories of a young female protagonist looking for some respite from the human world. And, although Alice's story might have a bit more levity, they both run into some disturbing things when they enter their respective wonderlands. The character Captain Vidal also links to Alice in Wonderland as he is quite similar to the rabbit. This is shown because as he awaits Carmen and Ofelia, he continuously looks down at his watch. The rabbit uses his watch to attack and can also manipulate time which is similar to Vidal's traits. When Carmen and Ofelia arrive and meet with Captain Vidal, the angle when Vidal and Ofelia meet show his dominance and power over her. Ofelia shakes hands with him using the wrong hand which shows disrespectfulness.
When Ofelia stops the car for her mother, she gets out and walks until she finds a rock. She walks a bit further and then finds a statue with a missing eye. The stone that Ofelia finds matches perfectly. When she places the stone in its place, a large bug flies out of the statues mouth. The replacing of the eye represents how Ofelia now has the vision to see the fantasy creatures that she soon meets in the film. No other people have this ability. The concept of eyes throughout the film can be seen as a warning to the audience suggesting that they should look closer into the film at the different elements being shown.
In Spain in the early 20th century, it was a very masculine world. Ofelia and her mother are innocent in the film which is shown in the beginning scene. After Ofelia puts the rock into the statue, her mother walks her back to the car. At this point, we see guards surrounding them both, protecting them for the Captain. This shows the masculinity in the world and the difference in roles between men and women around 1944.
In the real world, Ofelia has to obey her mothers rules and has to do what she is told. However, in the fantasy world she feels as if she can do what she wants which isn't true. She soon disobeys the fantasy world rules leading to consequences.
When Ofelia and her mother get back into the car, we see the large bug fly out around the cars. As they drive off, the camera moves in a circular motion following the large bug as it moves around the tree. The way the camera moves in a circle refers back to how the film is in a circular narrative. Ofelia dies at the end mostly because she was listening to the faun, the large bug represents the beginning of the fantasy world which connects the circle.
The film has a few similarities to Alice in Wonderland, starting with the green dress that is given to her from her mother. The dress is very similar to Alice's in Disney's 1951 adaptation of the Lewis Carroll novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Just like Alice, who crawls down a rabbit hole into a very strange world of fantasy, Ofelia also crawls down a hole in a fig tree to her fantasy world. Even though Alice's and Ofelia's adventures are very different, they're still both stories of a young female protagonist looking for some respite from the human world. And, although Alice's story might have a bit more levity, they both run into some disturbing things when they enter their respective wonderlands. The character Captain Vidal also links to Alice in Wonderland as he is quite similar to the rabbit. This is shown because as he awaits Carmen and Ofelia, he continuously looks down at his watch. The rabbit uses his watch to attack and can also manipulate time which is similar to Vidal's traits. When Carmen and Ofelia arrive and meet with Captain Vidal, the angle when Vidal and Ofelia meet show his dominance and power over her. Ofelia shakes hands with him using the wrong hand which shows disrespectfulness.
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