How do the 2 films differ in their use of Style to express the culture's ideas, myths and history?
The two films express the aspects of their culture very differently through their use of style. I feel that they differ as one uses style to create an accurate representation of the country whilst the other does its best to romanticise its country and present it in a positive somewhat untruthful way. Pans Labrinth gives a gritty, truthful representation of 1940s Spain through the dark lighting and sombre themes of death and facism within the film. The film follows Spanish beliefs closely as through Ofelias sacrifice led to her being reunited with her father once she was dead, therefore strongly reinforcing the countries catholic and christian beliefs. 3,3Amelie however does not give such an accurate representation of its country, all areas shot in the film are clean and look as if they would be pleasant to visit. This as well as the happy almost cartoon colour grading gives a surreal and overly positive feel to the film. (2)This follows with what the condition of france actually was in the time surrounding the films production as Paris had recently had many issues such as the riots and frequent problems with racism. None of these issues are addressed in the film especially the racial aspect as not a single black character is included within the film. This shows that one of the films uses style to try and get across a truthful dark view of the country at the time and accurately represent its history and struggles whilst one uses it simply as an "auteurs touch" or to market Paris as an attractive, clean and friendly place.
Martin Stewart
The setting in Amelie is not portrayed in a truthful way, which adds to the message that the country didn't feel comfortable with their true identity and wanted people to believe it was a positive place to visit in order to gain a good reputation. The film director of Amelie is misleading the viewers into believing an untrue representation of France. On the other hand, in Pans Labyrinth the audience is seeing a young child being psychologically beaten by the Spanish Civil war, which is truthfully sticking to the history of Spain, reinforcing the idea that war shouldn't exist.
New Points
Myths - City of Love (Paris)
Pans Labrinth relies heavily on narrative rather than simply style to present ideas, myths and history
Pans Labrinth shows war ruins lives, war is bad, consequences of facism
Amelie shows the importance of helping each other, the joys of innocence, the importance of love and not being alone/isolated
Synthesised Answer
The two films express the aspects of their culture very differently through their use of style. I feel that they differ as one uses style to create an accurate representation of the country whilst the other does its best to romanticise its country and present it in a positive somewhat untruthful way. Pans Labrinth gives a gritty, truthful representation of 1940s Spain through the dark lighting and sombre themes of death and facism within the film. The film follows Spanish beliefs closely as Ofelias sacrifice led to her being reunited with her father once she was dead, therefore strongly reinforcing the countries catholic and christian beliefs. the film also shows the impact of war on young children, and reinforces the idea that children cannot deal with adult themes. Amelie however does not give such an accurate representation of its country, all areas shot in the film are clean and look as if they would be pleasant to visit. This as well as the happy almost cartoon colour grading gives a surreal and overly positive feel to the film. This overly happy representation of france ties in perfectly with the idea that Paris is the city of love, this is reinforced also through the narrative as the film has Amelie playing cupid. Through this an untrue representation of France is given to the audience of the film. During the time surrounding the films production Paris had recently had many issues such as the riots and frequent problems with racism. None of these issues are addressed in the film especially the racial aspect as not a single black character is included within the film. I feel that this unrealistic view is given as the country didn't feel comfortable with their true identity and therefore didn't want the whole world to see the true issues that they face. This shows that one of the films uses style to try and get across a truthful dark view of the country at the time and accurately represent its history and struggles whilst one uses it simply as an "auteurs touch" or to market Paris as an attractive, clean and friendly place to the rest of the world.
