by Garry Keown

Created on: August 10, 2009

The Devil's Backbone - Guillermo Del Toro.

I first got into Guillermo's work having watched Pan's Labyrinth. How ironic it was that that was his most recent work, and I worked from it, backwards to his humbler beginnings. Guillermo is possibly better known for his work on Blade 2, and also cult classic, Hellboy. His passion is definitely for fantasy, and having watched Pan I simply adored his style, so immediately went to my local HMV and got them to look up other work of his. They had to order it for me but within a week I received a copy of the Devil's Backbone for only seven pounds.

What the critics said -
"Magnificent performances all round. An intimate and captivating ghost story" - Hot Dogs Mark Wyatt.

"Breathtaking. Contains more substance and style than a dozen Hollywood movies" - Empire's Colin Kennedy

"A gutsy, first-rate, full blooded ghost story, as elegant as it is brilliantly realised" - Total film's Simon Crook.

Praise indeed, but is it worthy of such acclaim? We will see, by taking a look at the film, and the style.

Born on October 9th 1964, Del Toro was brought up by a strict catholic grandmother in Guadalajara Mexico. He realised his love of film in his teens, and learned about make-up and effects working alongside Dick Smith on the Exorcist in 1973. He worked in make-up for many years, but finally got the break he yearned for in 1993, directing Cronos. This won him 9 academy awards in Mexico, and launched him on his way. His background links him to his work. He often uses religious imagery and always mentions Catholicism in his films. Also he quite often uses insects or insect imagery. Belief in eternal life after death is realised in several films, and is important in The Devil's Backbone.

The Setting -
The time is the end of the Spanish civil war. A remote orphanage in the middle of nowhere, kids are left here to be away from the terrors of the time. The building is old, worn, and has a distinct lack of comfort. The relationships between the orphans are tight knit, and when a new boy arrives he struggles for acceptance

The plot (no spoilers) -
The children are distant. There but not there. What is it that has them in this surreal state? One child was killed years previous, and it is long believed he was killed by the falling of an unexploded bomb in the orphanage grounds. The shock of this, however is not the reason for their distance. Rather the fact that their waking dreams have become terrorised by the decaying spirit of the

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