Today we had a lecture from Dr. Deveny about the movie “Pan’s Labyrinth” and it was much different from other lectures we have had. Other lectures were about fairy tales from other countries and cultures, but this lecture was about a movie which displayed fairy tale themes. It showed various things such as the use of the number three in fairy tales. The main protagonist, Ofelia, had to accomplish three tasks in order to gain entrance into her home world. Even within the three tasks there was use of the number three. For example, Ofelia had to retrieve a golden key from a toad’s stomach by making him shallow three rocks.
We also went through Valdimir Propp’s thirty-one functions of fairy tales, and saw how they related to the movie. We not only saw some functions relate to the fairy tale aspect of the movie, but these functions were also used with the historic aspect as well. For example, Valdimir’s fourth function mentions how the villain tries to gain information, which is what the captain did when trying to find the guerrillas hiding in the forest. Another function seen in the historic aspect of the movie was when the captain is shot, which is Propp’s thirtieth function where the villain is punished.
Deveny, Thomas. “Once Upon a Time in Spain in 194: The Morphology of El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth).” Westminster. 26 Apr. 2012. Lecture
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