When directors reach certain level of success, it can be easy to forget some of their early, lesser-known works. Casual movie watchers probably don’t remember that James Cameron directed Piranha II: The Spawning or that David Fincher directed Alien 3. With the more recent successes of Guillermo del Toro’s films, like Best Picture winner The Shape of Water or summer blockbuster Pacific Rim, his early films get pushed further and further from the public eye. Twenty years ago, del Toro helmed a gorgeous political-supernatural film that was inspired by his personal experiences and memories, and still remains one of his best. Let’s go back and celebrate two decades of The Devil’s Backbone.
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For those that haven’t seen it, The Devil’s Backbone follows 12-year-old Carlos (Fernando Tielve), as he’s dropped off at an orphanage following the death of his father during the Spanish Civil War. Though he’s not initially well-received, Carlos befriends several of the other boys at the orphanage and even starts to bond with a few of the caretakers. At night, Carlos starts to have supernatural experiences with the ghostly form of Santi (Junio Valverde), a boy that went missing before Carlos arrived. In doing his investigation, he makes enemies with Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), a now-grown longtime resident of the orphanage whose hatred of it runs deep. Carlos, with the help of his new friends, must bravely uncover the dark past of the orphanage, while maneuvering around Jacinto’s sketchy antics.
Guillermo del Toro is an absolute masterful filmmaker. His storytelling often weaves what normally would be unbelievable gothic tales throughout real events in human history, creating a narrative in historical fiction that feels amazingly credible. The Devil’s Backbone is no exception, putting the audience smack-down in the middle of the Spanish Civil War. All of the fear and unknowns of war put pressure on all angles of this extremely isolated ghost story. Not only can a stray bullet or bomb completely change a character arc at any time, but the actors play their parts perfectly, representing the mental anguish and worry that comes with the random destruction that came come with war. This story just feels real, which isn’t surprising as it was inspired by del Toro’s uncle, who supposedly came to him as a ghost when he was a child.
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The Devil’s Backbone accomplished two extremely important things that Guillermo del Toro would bring with him in his filmmaking throughout the rest of his career. The first being his incredible talent for impeccable monster and setting creation. Santi’s ghost is truly haunting, especially for 2001 visuals. Inspirations from earlier Japanese horror films were used in his practical design, and the ghostly blood effects flowing from Santi’s head would live on 14 years later in del Toro’s Crimson Peak. Del Toro also has a knack for bringing out an incredible amount of personality from old, decrepit settings. The environments tell us so much of the story, that things barely need to be explained to us. The orphanage in this film was a lonely, starving, forgotten place for lonely, starving, forgotten children. To be able to make the setting a complete story building device takes a lot of talent, and was even done in earlier films of his, like Cronos and Mimic.
The other important standout from this film is del Toro’s ability to direct a villain. Jacinto is such a detestable character, and contrasts so well with all the other likeable characters of the film. Villains tend to really get in their hits throughout his films. By the end of The Devil’s Backbone, the audience is more than ready to see Jacinto’s demise, much like Michael Shannon in The Shape of Water or Sergi Lopez in Pan’s Labyrinth.
It’s truly amazing to go back to early films in acclaimed director’s filmographies. Much like seeing pieces of Jaws or Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg’s Duel, I loved revisiting The Devil’s Backbone and seeing pieces of his newer, more successful films. If you’re a fan of Guillermo del Toro’s films, and you haven’t seen this one, please do yourself a favor and go watch it. I promise that it holds up wonderfully, and still remains among his best, even 20 years later.
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