Guillermo del Toro: Pan's Labyrinth

Director - Guillermo del Toro
Writer - Guillermo del Toro

Plot:

In the falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world. - IMDB.com

Cast:

Ivana Baquero - Ofelia
Sergi Lopez - Vidal
Maribel Verdu - Mercedes
Doug Jones - Fauno/Pale Man
Ariadna Gil - Carmen
Alex Angulo - Doctor Ferreiro
Manolo Solo - Garces
Cesar Vea - Serrano
Roger Casamajor - Pedro
Ivan Massague - El Tarta
Gonzalo Uriarte - Frances
Eusebio Lazaro - Padre
Francisco Vidal - Sacerdote
Juanjo Cucalon - Alcalde
Lina Mira - Esposa del alcalde

Plot/Analysis:

The film begins with Ofelia and her mom, Carmen driving to the country and it is established Ofelia is a bookworm. She like reading fairy tales. She finds the rock of an eye and places it in a statue with a missing right eye and it is supposed to be a reference to Horus eye - associated with the perception of concrete and  factual information (male side of the brain) according to the Vigilant Citizen website. An insect emerges.

Vidal who represents Spanish Fascism looks at his watch and says, "15 minutes late." He is quickly established as an asshole. Carmen is pregnant. Vidal calls for Mercedes who represents socialism to help Carmen. Ofelia almost goes into a labyrinth lead by an insect/fairy. Dr. Ferreiro hands something to Mercedes. Dr. Ferreiro tells Vidal Carmen is very weak. Vidal finds two guerrillas and kills one by smashing a wine bottle on his face and shooting him them he shoots and kills his father.

The fairy leads Ofelia to the labyrinth. A faun greets her which looks like a baphomet/Satan. She asks him, "Who are you?" The faun replies, "Me, I've had so many names... Old names that only the wind and the trees can pronounce." He tells her she is Princess Moanna, daughter of the king of the underworld. He tells her she must complete three tasks before the moon is full. "In ancient mythology, fauns, satyrs and the Greek god Pan were somewhat similar as they all bear the hindquarters, legs and horns of a goat. Pan is a prototype of natural energy and is undoubtedly a phallic deity, representing the impregnating power of the sun." (Vigilant Citizen)

The faun gives Ofelia The Book of Crossroads which will show her future. She opens the book in private and the blank pages come to life as they form words and pictures. "The first task given by the Faun to Ofelia is to retrieve a key from a giant toad who is sucking the life out of an ancient fig tree. There starts the quest of 'returning to the womb' and rekindling the oppressed feminine. The interior of the tree is damp and moist, symbolizing once again the womb-giver of life. The tree itself looks like a uterus." (Vigilant Citizen) She must put 3 magic stones in the toad's mouth and get a key from its stomach. The Book of Crossroads tells her the tree will prosper again.

She climbs inside the tree. She tricks the toad into eating the 3 magic stones by making it think it's bugs. She gets the key. She goes to the labyrinth and meets the faun who is happy that she succeeded with her task. The Book of Crossroads predicts Carmen's vaginal bleeding. The faun tells Ofelia to put a mandrake root under her mother's bed in a bowl of fresh milk. "Each morning give it two drops of blood." says the faun. He gives her an hourglass and tells her not to drink or eat anything from the feast.

Ofelia uses the chalk to draw and form a door. She cannot drink or eat anything from the other side. She sees pictures of the Pale Man eating and stabbing children on the ceiling. The fairies direct her to the middle box but she chooses the left one and finds a knife inside. The fairies try to stop her from eating a grape but she does it anyways. The Pale Man eats two of the fairies. She uses the chalk to draw and form another door to escape.

Ofelia puts a mandrake in milk under the mother's bed and the mandrake comes to life. Vidal and his army fight the rebels in the woods. They capture Mercedes's brother. The faun is angry that Ofelia broke the rules and ate two grapes. He says she will never return to the underworld.

Carmen dies during childbirth. Mercedes escapes torture. She stabs Vidal and the rebels kill a portion of Vidal's army. For the third task the faun tells Ofelia to bring her brother to the labyrinth. Ofelia drugs him and takes her newborn brother with her. Vidal follows Ofelia into the labyrinth. The faun wants to take a pinprick of the baby for a drop of blood of an innocent. Ofelia refuses. Vidal finds her and shoots her. When he leaves the labyrinth he gives Mercedes the baby and one of the guerrillas shoots him dead.

She awakens in another realm (hell/underworld) and sees her true parents in thrones exalted high in the air. They congratulate her on sacrificing herself than that of an innocent newborn.


Works Cited:

https://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/the-esoteric-interpretation-of-pans-labyrinth/
http://www.traditioninaction.org/movies/011mrPansLabryinth.htm

Martin Scorsese: Silence

Director - Martin Scorsese
Writers - Jay Cocks, Martin Scorsese (screenplay) and Shusaku Endo (novel)

Cast:

Andrew Garfield - Rodrigues
Adam Driver - Garupe
Liam Neeson - Ferreira
Tadanobu Asano - interpreter
Ciaran Hinds - Father Valignano
Issei Ogata - Old Samurai/Inoue
Shin'ya Tsukamoto - Mokichi
Yoshi Oida - Ichizo
Yosuke Kubozuka - Kichijiro

Is it ever okay to disrespect the image of God to save lives?

Silence begins with decapitated heads of Christians guarded by a samurai. The film takes place in the year of 1633 in Japan. The Tokugawa Shogunate outlawed Christianity and uses ladles filled with holes so the scolding hot water would prolong the pain of the Christians it was poured on. The Catholic priests being tortured not only refused to apostatize, they asked to be tortured so they could demonstrate the strength of their faith and the presence of God within them.

News comes to Garupe and Rodrigues that Ferreira apostatized and surrendured the faith. They decide to find Father Ferreira. They want to save his soul if he is damned. May 25th, 1640. Rodrigues writes to Father Valignano. They find a Japanese guide who will be a Judas character in the film. His name is Kichijiro. He denies being Christian because they are killed in Nagasaki. In his diary Rodrigues writes that he will spread the gospel - there is an inter-cut of a painting by El Greco called The Veil. They reach Japan's shore. Ichizo genuflects to show he is a a Catholic gaining Rodrigues and Garupe's trust. The inquisitor will pay silver to capture Christians and more silver for a priest.

Rodrigues gives Mokichi a crucifix. They offer salvation to the Japanese villagers, hear their confessed sins and hold mass for them. They do mass in Latin. They baptize babies. Rodrigues says the child is safe in the grace of God now. People from another village knock on the door because Kichijiro told them. Kichijiro apostatized but his whole family is killed anyways. He goes to another village. Rodrigues consecrates the Holy Eucharist in mass. He gives them communion. A villager reveals Ferreira was in Nagasaki. In a flashback Kichijiro watches his family being burned alive.

Inoue's men took Ichizo as revealed by Mokichi. A samurai comes to the village and says he's aware that some of them are Christians. He wants to find out where they are hiding. Inoue arrives and he is sadistic behind his smile. Rodrigues says to trample on the fumi-e if pressured. They pray. Rodrigues tells Mokichi his faith gives him strength. They put a plate of Mary and Jesus to step on for Ichizo. Mokichi's breathing is heavy and he is nervous and one of the guards notice that so they want Ichizo to spit on a crucifix but he refuses. Mokichi doesn't spit on the cross either but Kichijiro does.

They bind them in a crucifix and let the water's waves crash against them until they are exhausted and drown. Ichizo dies and says Paradise. Mokichi calls on Jesus to receive Ichizo's soul. He dies as well. Rodrigues says in his letter to Father Valignano, "How can I explain His silence to these people who have endured so much?" Garupe and Rodrigues separate and go to different towns to avoid detection by Inoue's guards. Rodrigues arrives in Goto. Rodrigues tells God, "The weight of your silence is terrible." Kichijiro says there is a price of 300 pieces of silver for Rodrigues. As Rodrigues looks into the water he is drinking from he sees a reflection of himself turn into one of Christ. The image is that of El Greco's Veil of Veronica.

Rodrigues is joyous out of ego as many religious leaders are. Samurai surround him and they find religious artifacts. The guards throw silver at Kichijiro as they did to Judas. Kichijiro betrayed Rodrigues. Inoue says of the captured villagers, "They are fools, those peasants." he also says, "The price for your glory is their suffering." A translator comes to speak to Rodrigues. He tells him, "We have our own religion, Padre. You believe our Buddhists are only men. Just human beings." Rodrigues says, "Even a Buddha dies. Like all men He is not the Creator." This is the ignorance in religion as one thinks it is better than the other. The Translator asks him to apostatize. Rodrigues cannot look at him when he says this - this is his hypocrisy asking Ichizo and Mokichi to step on the fumi-e but not doing it himself. He tells Rodrigues Ferreira has a Japanese name and a Japanese wife now.

Rodrigues enters the prison fortress and his real suffering is about to begin - one where he battles his pride and ego. Rodrigues feels the words he thinks God would say to him, "I will not abandon you." The doctrine according to Inoue's underling might be true in Spain and Portugal but they studied it and found it is of no use and no value in Japan. The translator tells Rodrigues, "Everyone knows a tree which flourishes in one kind of earth may decay and die in another." He is speaking of Christianity in Japan decaying. Rodrigues stupidly says, "You want to test my faith, give me a real challenge." Kichijiro confesses his sins to Rodrigues. He fears, he feels he may not be worthy of Jesus because he feels hatred toward Kichijiro. None of the prisoners step on the fume. One of the prisoners is beheaded by a samurai. Inoue compares Rodrigues's religion to the persistent love of an ugly woman and how a barren woman should never be a wife.

Rodrigues sees Garupe and sees the Japanese Christians wrapped in mats. The inquisitor Inoue promises if Garupe apostatizes the four will be free. They drown the four Japanese Christians and Garupe drowns trying to save the life of the bound Christians. Garupe never apostatizes.

They torture and hang a Japanese Christian upside down as he says the Lord's prayer. Ferreira finally comes. Rodrigues cries thinking of his moral dilemma, ego and knowing he will have to decide to step on a fume says, "If you have any pity for me, say something." Father Ferreira is now known as Sawano - his Japanese name. He writes about astronomy.  The translator reveals the other book Ferreira is writing is called Kengiroku which shows the errors of Christianity. Ferreira looks down and is ashamed.


Torture is made by making an incision cut in the back of your neck so it doesn't run to your head and you won't die to soon while being tied upside down. Ferreira says he's been in Japan for 15 years. He says, "Our religion does not take root in this country." Ferreira says about the burnt martyrs to Rodrigues, "They 're dying for you Rodrigues." The movie hints that the scriptures were misinterpreted by Japanese where they thought Son of God was sun of God. Later Ferreira visits him in his prison cell and says to him, "Those five in the pit are suffering in the pit like Jesus, but they don't have your pride. They would never compare themselves to Jesus. Do you have the right to make them suffer? I heard the cries of suffering in the same cell. And I acted." Ferreira urges Rodrigues to apostatize to save those in the pit. Rodrigues hears  Jesus/God's voice," Come ahead, now. It's all right. Step on me. I understand your pain. I was born in this world to share men's pain. I carried this cross for your pain. Your life is with me now. Step." Rodrigues steps on the image of God, the fume, and saves the villagers' lives.

The villagers' children call Rodrigues "Apostate Paul." Rodrigues and Ferreira spend the rest of their days inspecting artifacts coming into Japan and determine whether they are Christian or non-Christian. Rodrigues inherits a wife and son when a man dies. He gets the Japanese name of the man who died. Inoue tells Rodrigues he was not defeated by him he was defeated by this swamp of Japan. To protect themselves they deny God. Rodrigues wife helps prepare the body for his funeral. The narrator says, "The body was treated in the Buddhist manner. He was given a posthumous Buddhist name." Inside his hand is a small crucifix his wife put in his hands as he is cremated.

David Fincher: The Game

Director - David Fincher
Writers - John Brancato & Michael Ferris

Cast/Characters

Michael Douglas - Nicholas Van Orton
Sean Penn - Conrad
Deborah Kara Unger - Christine
James Rebhorn - Jim Feingold

The film starts out with a birthday party montage of Nicholas Van Orton's father and friends. He lives in a mansion, drives a BMW and is wealthy. His brother Conrad and he have lunch and Conrad funnily says he got a free jacket to which Nicholas says, "I'm sure they'll want it back." For Nicholas's birthday Conrad gives him an envelope. In it is a card for Consumer Recreation Services. Conrad says it will make Nicholas's life fun. Nicholas watches the financial news on TV. He is an investment banker. He is curt and insensitive to a woman who calls him. Michael Douglas is always great at playing the asshole. Nicholas is 48 - the same age his father committed suicide.

He goes to CRS. He meets Jim Feingold. They are newly constructed. Jim tells Nicholas it's a game specifically tailored for each participant. Jim tells him he'll either love it or hate it. We find out later he hates it. Nicholas overhears people at his country club talking about CRS. A guy asks him if he wants to know what the game is. He says John Chapter 9 Verse 25. Whereas once I was blind, now I can see. Everyone gives him vague answer to what the game is. A woman tells him over the phone his application from CRS has been rejected. He finds a huge mannequin like doll on his front driveway. In its mouth is a key from CRS. A guy from the TV starts talking to him. He gives a number to call for emergencies. He tells him don't call asking what the object of the game is. Figuring that out is the object of the game. The pranks start innocent enough but later on they are more sinister.

A guy needs toilet paper in the stall and Nicholas ignores him showing what an asshole he is. A lady named Christine spills wine on him and he is pissed. She loses her job and he apologizes. He comes across a man who faints and an ambulance takes him to a "hospital." Hundreds of people leave after lights go out and Nicholas explains to Christine its a prank by CRS. They use an elevator escape hatch to enter the building of CRS. The alarm goes off and they are chased by a dog. He climbs a ladder says he lost a thousand dollars. She asks if his shoes cost that much. He says, "that one did." Hotel Nikko says he left his American Express card.

He checks into the hotel. It's trashed. There is cocaine and Polaroids of naked people in a briefcase. A car follows him. A private investigator is paid to keep tabs on him. A great shot is of Nicholas's lawyer walking into focus which according to IMDB is one of David Fincher's trademarks. He comes home to his house trashed He calls a cab after leaving the house and finds out it is a CRS cab because it is California Regal Services. The initials of CRS. The cab driver drives the cab into the water after jumping out of the cab. He escapes and hires a detective and police.

He goes to Christine's house and he sees burning from a light bulb and a ticket for $8.99 on the bulb - probably bought from a thrift store. He goes to the sink to rinse his hands but there is no water. There is no food in the fridge. He realizes she is part of CRS.

After trying to warn Nicholas that a camera in the smoke detector is watching them, he breaks it and the CRS guys start shooting at them. The two drive away. at a cabin Christine drugs him and tells him those passwords he gave over the phone  to his Swiss bank were really given to CRS. He awakes in a cemetery coffin in Mexico. He sells his watch and catches a ride by bus into America. He goes to a diner and gives his remaining money ($18)  to someone who gives him a ride to San Francisco.

He goes to his ex-wife Elizabeth and borrows her car. He finds out Jim Feingold is an actor on television and contacts his agent to find out where he is which is at the zoo. Lionel Fisher is Jim's real name. He finds him and takes him to the building CRS is in. CRS owns the whole building and just moves from floor to floor. He goes to floor 25 and sees everyone (the actors) at tables eating and drinking . Security chases him to the roof. Christine tells him he saw special effects, squibs, like in the movies. He shoots his brother on accident and jumps off the building trying to commit suicide but is saved by an inflatable thing that breaks his fall. He finds out his friends were in on it and the lesson learned was to  appreciate life more and the people around him.

Peter Weir: The Truman Show

Director - Peter Weir
Writer - Andrew Niccol

Cast:

Jim Carrey - Truman Burbank
Laura Linney - Meryl Burbank/Hannah Gill
Noah Emmerich - Marlon
Natascha McElhone - Lauren/Sylvia
Ed Harris - Christof

Trivia:

In an early scene, a bottle of Vitamin D is on Truman and Meryl's kitchen table, needed for those without exposure to the (real) sun.

The events in the movie take place over a four to five day time span, Day 10,909 to Day 10,913 of the show, as shown by the ticker over the TV in the Truman Bar. Truman would have been six to seven weeks from his 30th birthday.

Based on and filmed in Seaside, Florida.

Psalm 139

 - imdb.com

Plot Analysis:

The Truman Show is a movie about surveillance on one man's life with him unknowingly a star of his own TV show. He slowly realizes things out of the ordinary and pieces together he is part of some grand event. He deals with the loss of his father, settling and marrying a woman he truly doesn't love, having a phony best friend, and being trapped in an artificial city he can't escape. There are also themes of consumerism in the movie used to comfort Truman.

The movie starts out with Christof saying nothing is fake about Truman. Cast members Meryl and Marlon give their positive experiences n being on The Truman Show. Marlon says nothing is fake it's merely controlled. It starts on Day 10,909. A light falls from the set that says Sirius (9 Canis Majoris). Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and represents Satan. Maybe Satan is trying to wake him up from his false reality. Truman finds it odd but he isn't at healthy paranoia yet. At work he is interested in two things - going to Fiji and Lauren Garland. To add drama to the show they say he has a prospect on Harbor Island because he is afraid of the water because of his father's "death."

When the awful Meryl is introduced she is like an infomercial actress telling him of a knife she got free at the checkout. His "friend" Marlon and he hit golf balls and Truman says he wants to go to Fiji. He says, "You can't get any further away before you start coming back." Marlon thought it was in Florida. He tells Meryl he wants to bum around the world for a year traveling. She says why don't they try for a baby. Truman says that can wait like any healthy minded man maybe he doesn't want one. His paranoia increases when he sees his "dad" and recognizes him. His "dad" is forced on a bus and driven away. Truman looks at pictures of his father and in a little box you can see some herbs possibly marijuana. He pulls out some clothes that belonged to Lauren. At a flashback memory Truman is at a dance party and he notices Lauren's bracelet beads which probably have some significance because of the closeup on them. Lauren and Truman are attracted to one another. Mark Shea from mark-shea.com thinks the beads she wears are an allusion to the Virgin Mary and the Rosary. Some security guards make Lauren leave.

In the library, studying for exams, Truman notices a hand with beads sitting in front of him. It is Lauren's. They introduce themselves. She says she is not allowed to talk to him. Maybe she is the Devil as she is always wearing red and she is trying to break him out of the garden of eden and into the real world. Lauren wears a pin that says, "How's it going to end?" The The hidden cameras follow them everywhere. Lauren tells him her real name is Sylvia. She tells him,"Everybody knows about you, everybody knows everything you do." Her "father" comes to get her by car on the beach and tells Truman she has Schizophrenia. The "father" tells  Truman they're going to Fiji. That is why Truman has a fascination with Fiji later in the film.

An alternative view of Meryl and Lauren is that Lauren is the pure Madonna and Meryl is the whore as she is married to Truman and has sex with him basically for a salary as an actress.

Truman develops a healthy paranoia when he hears over the car radio people following his movements. At Omnicom he notices an elevator with an entrance to a stage set which shows Truman Lauren was right - that something is going on. Looking at family photos with two people he doesn't like - his mother and his wife Meryl. He rolls his eyes when his mother suggests Meryl and him should have kids. Like any rational man he believes children are a burden. Truman follows Meryl to work to find out she doesn't know anything about surgery. He spontaneously wants to go to New Orleans. He tries to leave Seaside, Florida but there are fire warnings and a nuclear power plant leak that is fake but orchestrated to make Truman go back home.

Meryl suggests Truman to get some psychiatric help and tells him he is not well. Sounds like a bitch I personally know.  He tells her she can't stand him and she says that's not true. Then the awful Meryl tries to offer him some Mococoa at the same time advertising to the people watching the The Truman Show. Of course he loses it and before a real fight breaks loose Marlon comes with beer for Truman. Christof feeds the lines to him in a secret earpiece Marlon wears. He also orchestrates to music and is the director of the show choosing camera angles on Truman. Lauren/Sylvia watches and there is a red blanket behind her as she is always wearing or around something red.

An interviewer asks Christof, "Why do you think that Truman has never come close to discovering the true nature of his world until now?" Christof tells him, "We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented." A new romantic interest is introduced and her name is Vivien. She wears red like Lauren. Maybe there is some symbolism the devil takes the form of a woman or maybe it is coincidence. Truman escapes the cameras by blocking out the cameras he must suspect are there.

Christof says "Cue the sun!" and out it rises as they search for him. They find he is on his boat, the Santa Maria, and they access the weather program. The storm almost kills him. The 139 on the sail is a reference from Psalm 139. He finally crashes into a fake wall and he is pissed to be in a fake world. He finds steps to the outside world. Christof tells him he is the star of a television show. He gives his catchphrase, bows and goes through the door leaving this world (the garden of eden) and into a more dangerous and real world.



Works Cited 

imdb.com
mark-shea.com