Pan's Labyrinth

“Pan’s Labyrinth” resembles a fairy tale in many ways. Ofelia, or princess Moanna, loved reading fairy tales, which her step-father thought were corrupting her. Everything she imagines is that of a fairy tale. A fairy shows her to the faun where she is said to be a princess, another aspect of fairy tales. She was asked to accomplish three tasks so she is does not have to remain a mortal and die all the other humans. At first when she obeys the faun things go well. For example, when she placed the milk with that infant-like person in it under her mother’s bed, her mother was getting better. When Ofelia ate some grapes after being told not to her mother ending up getting very sick from the baby and dies. This shows an aspect of realism. Again, life is not a fairy tale. Things like war and death are unavoidable. The roles of women during this time period are also shown in this movie. It seems that Captain Vidal was not so proud of where his wife came from and was only worried about getting his baby boy to continue on in his footsteps when he dies. The women are constantly cleaning and taking care of everyone. It is clear that he men are in charge. In the end of the movie, after she, Captain Vidal, and her mother are dead Ofelia ends up with her parents in her fantasy world. The story is happy in that sense. She never stopped imagining and believing, which allowed her to return to her fantasy family.

Run Lola Run

“Run Lola Run” was like a fairy tale/fantasy in the sense that the story repeated three times and in the last time telling the story there was a happy ending. The first two times the story did not have a good outcome. The first time Lola gets shot, the second time Manni gets run over by the ambulance, and the third time, of course, is the happy ending. Manni got the bag of money from the “Cyclops” which is a mythical creature. As Lola is running to get the money to Manni, the people she runs into also get hurt, or receive a good fortune. The third time the story repeated it seemed as if the good people received a good fortune and something unfortunate happened to the people who acted immoral. For example: the bike the boy was riding was actually stolen, so the third time around he was not so lucky. Reality plays a role in this movie by showing that you get what you deserve in life. In reality, there are no second chances, unlike this movie. There is also a play on time. The first two times she arrives to Manni a minute too late. The final time the story was told, Lola was able to get the money and make it to Manni to find out he got the money back from the homeless guy. In the end Manni and Lola had a happy ending.