Research Catalogue

An Exploration into alternate realities in cinema

Primary Sources

Two key texts

Pan’s LabyrinthPan's Labyrinth: del Toro, Guillermo, 2006. Pan's Labyrinth, Estudios Picasso.Pan’s labyrinth is the epitome of films in an alternative reality and also the epitome of a fantasy. It is a key primary text for my area of research. It is useful because it displays all the conventions, iconography and ideas behind a film in an alternate reality. It makes the audience question whether or not the world Ofelia is living in is real or not. Pan’s labyrinth makes a clear distinction between the real world and an alternate one, but it does so in a way that we can believe that the alternate world can be real. One way in which is does this is by the use of believable characters, i.e. the evil villain in the film is actually in the real world.

Donnie DarkoDonnie Darko: Kelly, Richard, 2001. Donnie Darko, Pandora CinemaDonnie Darko shares many characteristics that are similar to Pan’s Labyrinth. Like Pan’s it displays many useful characteristics and conventional ideas. However, it not display the fantastical elements that Pan’s does. This is because Donnie Darko is set in the real world and a world very similar to the real one. This makes it harder to recognise the difference between worlds.

Secondary Sources

Interview with Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo Interview: Unknown Author, 2010. Guillermo del Toro Interview on BBC Film 2010 on YouTube. Accessed on 08/12/14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD4kspP5hRsIn this interview Del Toro talks about his lucid dreaming and how that was key to Pan’s Labyrinth. However when watching pans labyrinth, it is not clear that lucid dreaming is the reason behind the world Ofelia seems to be living in. It could perhaps be visions or hallucinations, or perhaps not even imaginary of any sort. This shows that the director’s intention is not always put across to the audience and explanations are not black and white. This therefore means that the film is open to interpretation.

Pan’s Labyrinth Book

Diestro-Dopido, Mar, 2013. Pan’s Labyrinth Book, London: British Film Institute. The book explores the historical content of the film with the ancient myth and fairy-tale aspect. The book talks about how the film juxtaposes the horrors of fascism with folklore. Diestro-Dopido states that “real monsters are not fantastic creatures but all too human.”The book reinforces my point that villains in this film are not in the alternate reality, but in the real world. This point however could mean that the alternate reality is a form of escapism from the harsh real world. However, that would contradict my next source.

Pan’s Labyrinth DVD Extras

Soto, Javier, 2007. Director’s Notebook: Pan’s Labyrinth, Unknown Publisher, Extra on Pan’s Labyrinth, Estudio Picasso.In this source, Guillermo Del Toro states that the moon represents Ofelia’s stage in being her full feminine self, the moon is waxing crescent when she first enters the Labyrinth and is full when she dies in the Labyrinth. Del Toro also talks about the progression of the pale man.This source will help me understand Del Toro’s intention behind

Alternative Worlds in Hollywood Cinema: Resonance Between

RealmsWalters, James, 2008. Alternative Worlds In Hollywood Cinema: Resonance Between Realms, Bristol, Intellect Books.This book analyses imagined world’s in cinema and looks at genre, history and construction and development across periods. The book looks at The Wizard Of Oz, which is remarkably similar to Pan’s Labyrinth, as well as other films with alternate realities such as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Vanilla SkyThe book also states that unconventional worlds are crucial to the films narrative. This is a point I agree with as my key primary texts have worlds which are anything but conventionalhttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jumhNWN8BxUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=alternative+worlds&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jdWFVIeRHMG9UeJV&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=alternative%20worlds&f=false

The Freud ReaderGay, Peter, 1989. “The Freud Reader”. London; Vintagehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Freud-Reader-Peter-Gay/dp/0099577119/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417443005&sr=1-16&keywords=freudThis book on Freud provides some useful information about dreaming. Freud, who is known for his observations on dreaming, says some interesting points relevant to my area of study. Freud talks about lucid dreaming among other aspects of dreaming and their interpretation, which give explanations and theories as to why these alternate realities exist within dreams. .

The Interpretation Of Dreams

Freud, Sigmund, 1997. The Interpretation Of Dreams, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited.This, like the previous title, gives an insight into how dreams are put together and why. This book is specifically on dreaming rather than a general book on Freud. In this book Freud talks about dream interpretation. Dream interpretation is a concept whereby meaning is assigned to dreams. This is useful to my research because psychological explanations can give a reason to why these worlds are being created. Psychological illness is touched upon in Donnie Darko, we know Donnie is suffering from schizophrenia and is taking various treatments. Psychological reasons could also maybe give a reason to why Ofelia puts herself in an alternate worldhttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-pB1UoFnjZcC&dq=freud&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Un Chien AndalouBuñuel, Louis, 1929. Un Chien Andalou, Unknown Production CompanyThis by Buñuel had input from Salvador Dali and was controversial when released. It made the audience question what art was. The reason it is relevant to my investigation is because it also touches on the idea of alternate reality(ies). It is believe the film is the subject of a lucid dream. The film has essentially no plot, which is the reason for this theory.

Donnie Darko ScriptKelly, Richard, 2003. The Donnie Darko Book, London: Faber and Faber. This book by the writer and director of Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly, will give me an insight into the film. It will help me understand Kelly’s intention or intentions in regards to how the film makes the audience think in terms of the alternative reality aspects of his film.With the knowledge that I will learn from this source, I can compare Kelly’s intentions with my interpretation of what happened .

Interview With Richard Kelly

Murray, Rebecca, Unknown Date. ‘Inside Donnie Darko with writer/director Richard Kelly’ on Moviesabout.com. Accessed on 8/12/14: http://movies.about.com/cs/donniedarko/a/donniedarkork.htm

“I think that the image of Frank that you see prior to that is a different entity altogether, right?”This quote shows that even Kelly doesn’t really know if Frank is real or not. Even the writer of the film cannot tell the difference between the real world and the world he created. The way he asks a question also suggests that he wants the film to be open to interpretation. This source overall is useful as Kelly never gives a black and white explanation as to what happened, leaving me room to analyse his work.

Donnie Darko Explanation

Smith, Dan, Unknown Date. Donnie Darko Tangent Universe on Donniedarko.org. Accessed on 9/12/14: http://www.donniedarko.org.uk/explanation/. This website provides multiple theories as to what actually happened to Donnie. All the theories revolve around alternate realities things such as multiverse theories, dreams etc. Although the theories are useful, this website is not official. The information is purely

Fantasy: The Literature Of Subversion

Jackson, Rosemary, 1981. Fantasy: The Literature Of Subversion, London: Menthuen.This book argues that fantasy is an expression of unconscious drives rather than an expression of escapism, looking into the idea that fantasy is essentially a dream world. Jackson also talks about the writings of Freud and how important they are when talking about recurrent dreams in films. Although strictly a book on literary texts, this book is still relevant to my area of research because it talks about ideas my other sources have touched upon.

The Wizard Of OzFleming, Victor, 1939. The Wizard Of Oz, Warner Bros.

One of the first films to feature an alternative reality was The Wizard Of Oz. The film shares many characteristics with Pan’s Labyrinth, for example the young girl who meets several unlikely characters in an unconventional world. However, whereas in Pan’s Labyrinth Ofelia looks to escape the harsh reality of fascist Spain, Dorothy in Oz encounters new problems which aren’t explained as to why they exist in the film.The film follows the conventional narrative device of waking up and it all being a dream. The fact it was all a dream makes Freud’s writings and theories applicable. Freud’s work will help me come up to a conclusion as to why Dorothy imagines this shiny, yet problematic new world.