Ending Scene:
As Ofelia runs away from her step-father, the centre shot of the trees parting hints at the fantastical elements, the fast pace emphasising that this is the finale of the quest and the film. The camera shifts to the right to show the step-father chasing her, his aggressiveness depicted when he grips the sides of the branches he's ran through, yet does not show the pathway opening for him. When reaching Fauno, Ofelia refuses to harm her brother to finish the quest. Whilst Fauno is confused at her refusal, calling the baby a 'brat', he says 'as you wish' just as the step-father ascends from around the corner, the over-the-shoulder shot behind Ofelia shows her unaware. He finishes his speech with 'Your Highness', showing that even though she has not yet finished the quests, he still believes her to be the Princess. The camera slides around at a 90 degree angle, leaving the presence of the Fauno unknown as the step-father comes towards Ofelia. The close proximity of her step-father, him just taking the baby forcefully away gives her no time to react. Whilst he moves out of shot, stepping back, the camera pulls away from Ofelia as she frantically looks behind her, as if everything is drifting away from her.
Whilst the atmosphere of the night causes a cold blue tonality, we see the shine of the step-father's gun as he raises it nonchalantly to show his lack of care, yet with the intensity and determination on his face. Focusing the camera on Ofelia in a close-up, we miss the shot, yet the audio of gunshot and the flinch of her reaction, her expression being stunned, reveals the action. Her head tilts towards the light, as she walks away from her step-father (who has also turned away from her and the attention is on the baby). Ofelia raises her hand to reveal the amount of blood, the red, which could be linked to the Underworld (like in the Pale Man scene), contrasting to the blueness of reality. She collapses into the position of the first shot of the film, her hand towards the camera and hovering above the portal.
The shot changes to show the step-father concentrating on the baby when leaving, yet the camera zooms into a close up when he looks up, the look of realisation albeit horror. He knows how his fate will end, the shot showing the resistance who are close compacted to show their dominance. When handing over the baby, he says he wants the baby to remember how his father died, but Mercedes, the leader of the resistance group simply replies ‘no’ before the man behind her shots him in the face. Throughout the film the woman’s role has been belittled as a maiden or a worker yet now she stands against him.
Once again it shows Ofelia, still lying near the portal, as Mercedes runs to find her. The misery on her face depicts just how unfair the murder of a child is, lifting her slowly to rest her on her lap whilst humming the lullaby- which is heard at the beginning of the film and is a parallel to the scene after her mother has been seriously ill. The blood from Ofelia’s fingers drip down into the portal, splashing along in a line until it hits the statue of the princess and her family. From this, a white transition shows Ofelia in a gold setting, her clothes red and gold, and a close up of her shoes linking to Dorothy’s in The Wizard Of Oz - she’s come home. The colouring of the piece, now warm, shows the difference of the Underworld to the Overworld. Her mother and father sit on high stone chairs showing their authority. The actress who played her mother in the Overworld is also the Underworld mother and having died in the Overworld could show that it was inevitable she was going to die at that time as it was part of a quest. To spill her own blood has been shown more worthy than spilling her brother’s and therefore she is greeted with much delight.
However the transition of white back to the Overworld, showing the light fading from Ofelia’s eyes could either present that the Underworld is merely a facade of Ofelia’s imagination or that whilst she is in the Underworld, her body in the Overworld is still present - her soul being transitioned to the Underworld. To conclude the narrative, Guillermo Del Toro uses the circler narrative of the ambiguous voiceover to give to the fantastical elements. Through the use of symbolism of the white flower, Ofelia is presented as an all-being entity.
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