Transcript for Duo’s Film Club - El laberinto del fauno

Hola, listeners. I'm Martin at Gactro and I'm so happy to welcome you to the newest season of the Duolingo Spanish podcast, Duos Film Club. This season, we have hand picked our favorite movies to help boost your language learning. With film critics as our guides, we're going to dive into some of the most treasured films from the Spanish-speaking world. And whether you've seen the movie or not, by the end of each episode, you're going to get a sense of what makes each movie so special. Of course, we'll have our signature bilingual format so you can enjoy the episode all while practicing your Spanish listening skills. Here's how it's gonna go. First, we'll review the basic part of the thumb, then we'll share one of our favorite scenes. And to wrap up, we'll get into some fun facts that might surprise you. And for those of you who've already seen the film, we're gonna reveal an extra bonus fun fact, except it's a spoiler. Don't worry, we'll give you fair warning if you want to skip it. Okay, let's get started.

Our first movie pick is Pan's Labyrinth. It's known across Latin America and Spain as elabidinto del Fauno, and it's a masterpiece. By the Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Dodo, he's from Mexico, but the movie is set in Spain back in the 1940s. It was released in 2006, and it didn't take long for it to become a cult classic. Mostly because of its stunning visual effects, and it's fantastical storyline.

Alright, grab some popcorn, or your favorite snack, and get comfy. The show is about to begin. Okay, for everyone who hasn't seen the movie, let's start with a quick review of the plot. The movie tells the story of Ophelia, a very imaginative and curious girl who loves fairy tales. At the start of the film, Ophelia's mother is pregnant, and she is recently married Gapitán Vidal, a ruthless captain in the Spanish army, or Ehercito. So, Ophelia and her mother are on their way to move into his country estate, and it's clear pretty quickly that the captain is the antagonist, or Andagoneesta, in the movie.

To escape her difficult new home, Ophalia starts to explore the grounds of the estate. And during one of her explorations, she meets a creature that looks like it's half human, half goat. I didn't know this before, but this creature is actually called a fawn. And it tells Ophalia that she's the long lost princess of the underworld. This mysterious creature declares that if she wants to reclaim her place there, Ophalia must complete three tasks.

OK, let's hit pause real quick, maybe some of you already know this, but there's some important historical context to this movie. The Civil War that Analara mentioned was started by Hiner al Francisco Franco in 1936. Franco let a group of fascists and other conservatives against the Spanish Republicans who wanted to keep an elected government. Franco ended up winning and ruled Spain as a dictator for four decades.

So, to recap, a young girl in Franco's Spain cooks with her brutal stepfather by escaping into an eerie fantasy world. Now, let's get into why Elabredinto del Fauno is on our must-watch list. To start, it showcases the sheer artistry and creativity of the director, the one and only Guillermo del Toro.

and like Frankenstein, he'll have it into the foundo explores monsters and the complexities of human nature. What's amazing about the doro is how he combines fantasy and horror to tell the story. It's what keeps fans like Analara delighted and spooked sometimes all at once. Here she tells us about the first time she watched the film.

The movie was a huge hit in Mexico and Spain, and when prestigious awards in both countries, but what makes it essential to Spanish language cinema? Here's an allowed again.

As you can imagine, Elombre Palido looks terrifying on screen, but even when the movie gets scary, every frame feels like a work of art. The autoguses rich and vibrant colors to create a sense of wonder and magic. It's like he's using every tool he has as a director, makeup, costumes, visual effects to completely transport us to his fantasy world. It's because of all these reasons that elabedinto del fauno is one of our favorite movies.

Now we'd like to bring you a learning moment from the film. Where you're going to hear the characters' Spanish accent is a segment we're calling only play. Press play. Today, we're going to feature a clip from one of the opening scenes of the film. When our heroine, the young in the sense of failure, meets the font for the first time. We chose this clip because you'll hear that the font doesn't use DOOP or USTED to address a failure. He uses the pronoun VOS, which is rooted in a much older and more formal use of Spanish. Nowadays, you'll hear a version of this Voseo in Argentina, Uruguay, and parts of Central America. Okay, here we go.

In this clip, the font introduces himself and he goes on to declare that Ophelia is a princess from this underground realm. But she's not so convinced. She says her dad was a tailor, un-sastri. The actor who played the fun worked so hard to bring him to life. He not only wore fake horns and fake teeth, but also heavy makeup and prosthetics. He even learned a whole new language. Analada has more details that might inspire your own language journey.

Now that you've listened to a clip, I'm sure you'll want to watch the whole movie. But before we let you know, we asked our film critic and allowed it to offer us three fun facts about the film. For a segment we're calling that those kudiosos. These are fascinating trivia for behind the scenes that will surely intrigue your friends and family when you bring up this movie. Number one, it turns out that the Toro got his inspiration to make Elabirinto del Fauno from a dream that he had when he was a kid.

Fun fact number two, when the doro grew up and started developing the concept into a film, he almost lost it in a taxi.

Number 3. The Toro almost didn't get to make this movie in Spanish. He was offered a major deal to make it in English, but he insisted on creating it in his mother tongue.

And for those who've seen the movie, we have one more takeaway. But it's a spoiler. So if you don't want to hear this part skip ahead to the end or come back when you've watched the movie. Are you ready? Okay, so the movie wraps up with a scene that leaves audiences hanging. Ophelia finds herself in the long lost kingdom where she's reunited with her mother and father dressed in royal robes. And the fun is still by her side. Many people wonder was this all real? Or was it all in her head?

And that's a wrap for today's episode. Thank you to our special guests and a loud-up that is Florida's. She is written about movies for some of the top magazines in Mexico. You can follow her work at AY Under Score, Anna, Under Score, Lauda, on social media. This episode was written by Thali Goldman, a journalist and writer based in Buenos Aires. And if you want to get a head start for our next episode of Doos Film Club and watch the movie before it's released, we'll be exploring Relatos Salvachis, a thrilling dark comedy from Argentina. As always, we would love to know what you thought of this episode. Let us know by email at podcast at duolingo.com or you can send us an audio message on WhatsApp at plus one 703 9539369. Don't forget to say your name and where you're from. If you liked this story, we would love it if you share it. You can find the audio and a transcript of each episode at podcast.doolingo.com. You can also follow us on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite listening app so you never miss an episode. With over 500 million users, Doolingo is the world's leading language learning platform and the most downloaded education app in the world. Doolingo believes in making education free, fun, and available to everyone. To join, download the app today or find out more at Doolingo.com. The Duolingo Spanish podcast is produced by Duolingo, and other than the media, I'm the executive producer and your host, Martína Castro. Gracias por escuchado.