In terms of masculinity Pan's seems to represent masculinity as being presented through fascism and power. An example of this is during Ofelia's death scene. It represents male dominance and power in the form of Vidal who is a tyrannical fascist officer. When Vidal kills Ofelia it represents the oppressive nature of man, dominating one of the very few female characters of the film. This could have been done to represent all men as oppressive to women during the time period of the Spanish civil war. Women seem to be nothing more than pests in men's way in Pan's and when they interfere with their plans or lives they are punished, which is why one may argue Ofelia is killed by Vidal. In terms of national cinema this ties in to the fact that Spain was stuck in an oppressive fascist society during that time period and seem to just ignore the atrocities that occurred then. Del Toro attempts to appeal to the Spanish audience by basically saying this is something which should be dealt with and talked about, rather than just pretending that it never happened.
La Haine attempts to represent masculinity through having power through believing in traditional french values, which are known as liberty, fraternity and equality through the French immigrants. An example of this is the scene where the police attempt to move the 'french' minorities from the roof of an estate building. The police seem to be unable to do so due to the unity that their brotherhood share to have masculine power over the police. Kassovitz may have done this to represent the power that the minorities may not realise they have in French society, possibly supporting the riots occurring in 1990's France, attempting to make a statement that the minorities need to make a stand since they are the ones with real French values and ideas, not the oppressive middle class government.
In Pan's The power of men is destroying nature, nature is represented as female. This may explain why there are not many female characters in the film but lots of yonic imagery through out to represent the oppressed femininity. For example the two scenes featuring the tree, it's beauty increases as the film progresses. This could be an analogy for men e.g. fascism destroying nature. Also, perhaps Del toro was suggesting that life can only thrive in a woman. For example Ofelia's death representing the destruction of nature. However the uprising during the Spanish Civil War is featured at the end of the film, featuring a strong woman at the lead of the charge, defeating Vidal. Showing a woman defeating fascism could suggest a rebirth of nature and a rebirth in Spanish society since, nationally, the ground in Spain is supposed to be broken and dead. Del Toro may be suggesting that finally talking about the Spanish Civil War may cause a rebirth in society, or a rebirth for the destroyed nature in Spain.
La Haine does not explore the ideas of yonic and phallic imagery. Instead, they explore ideas of class and ethnicity. La Haine is critical of France during the 1990's as it subverts cultural expectations. It breaks stereotypes of French people and French culture and expresses the feelings of marginalisation that the French immigrants were experiencing in the 1990s. For example when the three boys visit the capital, the lights turn on when Vinz snaps his fingers. They leave thinking nothing will happen representing their mindset that nothing that they do will make a difference to society, when actually, the lights turn on. This could represent that their fraternity, one of the traditional French values. Kassovitz may have done this due to believing that fraternity may indeed be enough to bring equality and liberty back to modern French society and make a change. This is further reinforced due to the context of France during the 1990's since students rebelled to make change in society and eventually did through the death of a young black French student killed 'accidentally' by the police.
In terms of national identity in Pan's seems to be represented by the church and the military. People in Spanish society were very religious due to the effects of the Spanish civil war. The military are presented as fascist at evil, perhaps even demonic. For example the room which the pale man who is supposed to be a child eating demon is almost identical to Vidal's room where he meets with his associates. This could mean that Del Toro is attempting to portray the Spanish military during that time as demons due to the fact that later in the film Vidal kills Ofelia. Which, is similar to the demon who kills children. Del Toro seems to represent the military as destroying youth and the church as Ofelia's saviour, due to her descent in to the fantasy realm with the 'king and queen' and herself who could represent 'the holy trinity'. This is fitting due to the negative outlook of the military during the spanish civil war in Spanish society and the positive outlook of the church in Spanish society during that time period. This also makes sense due to Del Toro also originally being of Catholic descent.
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