The two films that I have studied, 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'La Haine' are significant in constructing national cinema. National cinema is a significant factor in the contribution of a National identity, it focuses upon cultural and social issues of the country in which it was made. At first glance, 'Pan's Labyrinth' fits more into World cinema as the director, Guillermo Del Toro, plays with his trademark use of fantasy and horror to delude the audience that the story fits as an adult fairytale. Even though a World audience would have to watch the Spanish film in subtitles, the use of fantasy is universal. The is partly true although Spain's context should be known in order to fully understand the messages in this National film.
In comparison, 'La Haine' shows a far more realistic portrayal of National identity as the motto of France 'Liberty, Fraternity, Equality' is represented through the three main characters. Which to an extent this true however as Saïd represents 'Equality' in the film and he is still trapped in a circle of violence by the end of the film, this shows that multi-ethnic community in France still hasn't gained equality from White peers in power.
POINT 1:
Both 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'La Haine' showcase masculinity in a negative way. In 'Pan's Labyrinth', the main male character Captain Vidal's acts of violence and fascism strike fear towards the communities that surrounds him as he leads the fight against the rebels in the Spanish Civil War. Whereas in 'La Haine', there are three male characters, because this symbolises the fraternity that they have together. Although the point of view is mainly seen from only Saïd, who although Arabic, he does not represent all races within the mutli-ethnic community. Like 'Pan's Labyrinth', the men in 'La Haine' have conflict against each other but have one thing that binds them, their country.
In 'Pan's Labyrinth', Captain Vidal is compared to the monsters Ofelia escapes from in her imaginary world. The monsters are metaphors for the people who commit terrible acts in real life. for example, the 'Pale Man' is a representation of Captain Vidal, whose choice to send Ofelia to bed without dinner in order to punish her, mimics the feast that the Pale Man doesn't want children to eat, and if so, he eats them. Also the fact that the 'Pale Man' is a 'man' makes the comparison all the more clear. The metaphor of Captain Vidal as the 'Pale Man' also links back to the context of Spain and how food and necessities were being saved for people in power - even though others weaker than them, such as children, were starving.
In 'La Haine', one of the main characters Vinz, has delusions that things will get better in the community if he stands up to make that change. Vinz tries to show his masculinity by adhering himself as the alpha male. For example, our first impression of Vinz shows him mirroring the famous scene from 'Taxi Driver' starring Robert De Niro, who is known for his masculine roles. The scene paints him as a lead character, but also one that would be acting stronger than he, who would be putting on a performance. The scene paints a more realistic portrayal of the life inside the community as the men who fought in the riots were not born fighters, their lack of belief in their government drove them to fight/rebel.
POINT 2:
Femininity in 'Pan's Labyrinth' is a contrast with the masculinity that runs throughout the film. The dominant male characters are questioned by the female characters who see wrong in how they are demanding authority. However, in 'La Haine', the ghetto community that struggles to overcome racism in France, is widely dominated by men, or more precisely, young men. However, there are traces of femininity that come across in the male characters. For example, Vinz develops compassion when he can't shoot the skinhead that started a fight with him to begin with because the skinhead was abandoned and vulnerable. And even though their is a lack of dominant female characters in 'La Haine', the dominant male characters such as Saïd and Hubert, carry feminine traits that feature in 'Pan's Labyrinth' such as intuition, empathy and patience.
One way in which femininity overpowers masculinity in 'Pan's Labyrinth' would be that Ofelia, a main character, and also a young girl, is shown as the heroine willing to do almost anything to escape the totalitarianism that is ruling Spain in 1944. And although there are characters such as Carmen, who didn't survive giving birth to the baby of vidal, the sadistic army officer. There is also characters such as Mercedes, who risks her life to help the rebels win the war. When Mercedes is discovered, The Captain ties her up in the storeroom, preparing to torture her. He insists all his guards leave him to the task, sneering, “For God’s sake, she’s just a woman.” Subtly, Mercedes warns him of his grave underestimation of her, “That’s what you always thought. That’s why I was able to get away with it. I was invisible to you.” The Captain continues to disregard her, and before he realizes it, she’s escaped using her dull kitchen knife to cut the ropes and to stab him repeatedly. When he is at her mercy, she says, “I'm not some old man! I’m not some wounded prisoner! Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch! Don't you dare touch the girl! You won’t be the first pig I've gutted!” She fish hooks him, permanently disfiguring his face. This scene shows Mercedes as full of strength, compassion, and unshakable resolve. She asserts her power as a woman, defying not only the gender binary that overpowers women, but defying her class and the military state as well. She tells The Captain that women aren't weak like old men or wounded prisoners, and she even uses the power her trade as a kitchen maid has given her before actually showing him that power by disfiguring him. Even in the height of her rage, Mercedes is still thinking of the welfare of Ofelia, who is her friend, surrogate child, and ally. The women in 'Pan's Labyrinth' face the choice of do evil to gain a reward or do good and lose everything. The women are a stark contrast to the men who opt for gaining a reward. The idea that Ofelia is willing to do anything to keep her brother safe, is a contrast to the way siblings treated each other in the Spanish Civil War, as often brothers would be fighting against each other and destroying the home they once lived in.
POINT 3:
Psycho-sexuality is more present in 'Pan Labyrinth' than 'La Haine'. In fact, I would go so far to say that 'La Haine' has almost none at all. This may be because 'La Haine' is a more realistic and documented portrayal of living in the suburbs where phallic and yonic imagery are not purposefully placed to create meaning. However, in 'La Haine' characters such as Vinz are often seen trying to prove their heterosexuality, such as carrying a gun around to intimidate those who question them.
In 'Pan's Labyrinth', yonic imagery is placed in the background and often Ofelia is seen walking through the imagery. For example, when Ofelia first enters the Labyrinth through a yonic shaped hole as the entrance, this could symbolise Ofelia being reborn as she enters a new world in which she can escape to. Another time when Ofelia enters something with yonic imagery would be when Ofelia enters the tree that holds the giant frog. The tree she enters looks like a woman's fallopian tube, which is another example of birth imagery. Also another birth imagery is seen in the Faun's book where it shows Ofelia what she must do in order to gain immortality. The constant stream of birth imagery is ironic as Ofelia wishes for immortality; to live as 'Princess of the Underworld'. Death, the opposite to birth, is scary to most, which is maybe why birth imagery is so present in the film as it is a scapegoat for the terrible things that happened in the Spanish Civil War. A good example of death meets birth is when Ofelia's mother Carmen dies after giving birth to Vidal's son. The scene shows what happens when bad (Vidal) meets good (Carmen), and leads to the good sacrificing her life for another. However, what still remains to be known is whether the son turns out to be bad like his father, or good like his mother. This could show national cinema because families in the Spanish Civil War were destroyed like Ofelia's family which leaves her brother an orphan.
'La Haine' doesn't include psycho-sexual imagery to the extent that 'Pan's Labyrinth' does, however there are scenes that do show some. For example, our first impression of Vinz shows him recreating the scene from 'Taxi Driver' as he practises threatening someone with his gun. The scene shows him averting his dominance over someone using the phallic gun. The act shows Vinz as someone who is pretending to be masculine, and maybe carrying a phallic gun, could be a way of distracting people from his possible suppressed homosexuality. This could show national cinema because besides racial discrimination in France, there is also discrimination against those who are homosexual to a point where they feel they don't fit in any community. If Vinz was homosexual, he might have been kicked out of the community, a sense of brotherhood is lost.
Psycho-sexual yonic phallic
Point - comparatively what extent?
Examples (analysis of scene)
Analysis (gendered meaning)
Synthesis (purpose - how they show national cinema and context)
Point 4:
National identity
Point - comparatively what extent?
Examples (analysis of scene)
Analysis (gendered meaning)
Synthesis (how they show national cinema and context)
Conclusion
Summarise
1. Extent significance of rep in communicating national cinema (contexts and alternative ideology/critical)
