Similarities and Differences between Pans Labyrinth and The Devils Backbone

Created by: Kitschwitch
Created on: 30-03-16 13:04


	Similarities and Differences between Pans Labyrinth and The Devils Backbone
	Similarities Both have a supernatural theme Both feature children as the protagonist Both play heavily on the theme of death of an innocent. In PL, Ofelia ends up sacrificing her own life, rather than that of her young brother, proving that she is worthy of returning to her rightful place. Throughout TDB, the audience learns that Santi is vengeful because he was murdered, cruelly, by Jacinto. Both feature death at the hands of adults - in TDB, Jacinto kills Santi and is portrayed as a threat to the other boys at the orphanage. In PL, Ofelia is killed by her step father, the Captain. Both films have the idea of a 'red herring' villain. At the start of TDB, the audience believes that Santi is the antagonist. Similarly in PL, the audience is led to believe that Pan, the fawn, will be responsible for Ofelia's downfall.	Differences While in Pans Labyrinth, Ofelia regularly enters into a world of mythical creatures, tying it closely with the 'fantasy' genre, TDB is more of a horror film, with Santi originally being portrayed as a villain. TDB is set in the final years of the Spanish Civil War, focusing on the terror and horror that gripped those years, whereas Pans Labyrinth is set in the first years of Fransisco Franco's reign as dictator. The theme of death and violence vary heavily between the two. PL is inundated with violence, for example the scene where the captain shoots the doctor. Shortly before that, the audience is shown the after effects of the Captains torturing of a rebel. This heavy theme of violence is not as prevalent in TDB, but the theme of death is more prominent, with Santi being a ghost. In PL, it can be argued that Ofelia's mother is present, however much she fails to protect her daughter. however, then Mercedes steps in as a mother figure to Ofelia, protecting her and trying to take her back to the rebels with her, but she is unable, ultimately to save her. In the same way, Concita acts as a mother figure to the parent less boys, going to the village to fetch help.
	Overall comparison Overall, there are many similarities in the basic structure of the plot of each of these two films. Pans Labyrinth plays more into the fantasy genre, while The Devils Backbone can be classified as more of a horror film. Once the different settings are bypassed, they have similarities of visual style - the woody green of the northern forests featuring heavily in Pans Labyrinth, and the shimmering amber of the dry, almost dessert like setting of The Devils Backbone. Both can be categorized as being parables to represent separate but equally troubled parts of Spanish History. Personally, I preferred Pans Labyrinth, as I believe it was stronger not only visually, with excellent use of mise-en-scene and cinematography, but also the plot line and time of setting was much more emotionally evocative.

Similarities and Differences between Pans Labyrinth and The Devils Backbone

Similarities

Both have a supernatural theme
Both feature children as the protagonist
Both play heavily on the theme of death of an innocent. In PL, Ofelia ends up sacrificing her own life, rather than that of her young brother, proving that she is worthy of returning to her rightful place. Throughout TDB, the audience learns that Santi is vengeful because he was murdered, cruelly, by Jacinto.
Both feature death at the hands of adults - in TDB, Jacinto kills Santi and is portrayed as a threat to the other boys at the orphanage. In PL, Ofelia is killed by her step father, the Captain.
Both films have the idea of a 'red herring' villain. At the start of TDB, the audience believes that Santi is the antagonist. Similarly in PL, the audience is led to believe that Pan, the fawn, will be responsible for Ofelia's downfall.

Differences

While in Pans Labyrinth, Ofelia regularly enters into a world of mythical creatures, tying it closely with the 'fantasy' genre, TDB is more of a horror film, with Santi originally being portrayed as a villain.
TDB is set in the final years of the Spanish Civil War, focusing on the terror and horror that gripped those years, whereas Pans Labyrinth is set in the first years of Fransisco Franco's reign as dictator.
The theme of death and violence vary heavily between the two. PL is inundated with violence, for example the scene where the captain shoots the doctor. Shortly before that, the audience is shown the after effects of the Captains torturing of a rebel. This heavy theme of violence is not as prevalent in TDB, but the theme of death is more prominent, with Santi being a ghost.
In PL, it can be argued that Ofelia's mother is present, however much she fails to protect her daughter. however, then Mercedes steps in as a mother figure to Ofelia, protecting her and trying to take her back to the rebels with her, but she is unable, ultimately to save her. In the same way, Concita acts as a mother figure to the parent less boys, going to the village to fetch help.

Overall comparison

Overall, there are many similarities in the basic structure of the plot of each of these two films. Pans Labyrinth plays more into the fantasy genre, while The Devils Backbone can be classified as more of a horror film. Once the different settings are bypassed, they have similarities of visual style - the woody green of the northern forests featuring heavily in Pans Labyrinth, and the shimmering amber of the dry, almost dessert like setting of The Devils Backbone. Both can be categorized as being parables to represent separate but equally troubled parts of Spanish History. Personally, I preferred Pans Labyrinth, as I believe it was stronger not only visually, with excellent use of mise-en-scene and cinematography, but also the plot line and time of setting was much more emotionally evocative.

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Similarities and Differences between Pans Labyrinth and The Devils Backbone