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The video to the left offers an insightful review of 'The Devil's Backbone' by Mark Kermode which aligns us with the knowledge surrounding Del Toro's manipulation of the relationship between the real and fantasy. |
Guillermo del Toro's eclectic filmography includes a lesser popularised work: 'The Devil's Backbone' (2001). The film follows his signature pattern of including a "thematic interest in domestic and social unrest and the relationship between the dead and the living" (Janicker, 2014, p. 47) as is seen in his more well-known films such as 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006). Here, the unrest is brought from the film's setting near the end of the Spanish Civil War.
Intriguingly, the film is positioned almost exclusively at an orphanage in the middle of a desert which serves as a physical reflection of the shared mental isolation and apprehension of the characters during these troubling times. Del Toro's writing takes this idea of imminent danger to a heightened level by incorporating a bomb (Fig. 1) that has been dropped onto the orphanage but not detonated as if solidified in the centre of the children's lives. Alongside these realistic images, the film includes a supernatural element, (the ghost of Santi in Fig. 2), to transport the film into the realm of the gothic and fantastical in order to transmit fear, trauma and dread to the audience.
The inclusion of Santi's ghost holds classical gothic iconography due to his mysterious and horrifying appearance and can be read as a visual outlet for "recuperating the traumatic memories of the Spanish Civil War and Francoism" (Davies, 2014, para 1). The 'ghost' in gothic literature holds tragic memories and typically haunts the living around it; therefore the ghost figure as well as the bomb "voice the silenced horrors of the Spanish Civil War" (Ibarra, 2012, p. 57) which plagued Spaniards throughout the 20th century.
However, it is important to note that the ghost of Santi is not the film's sole driving narrative device nor is it a particularly malicious portrayal of the 'Undead'. Instead, this spectre is sympathetic and nonantagonistic as well as an allegorical link to the tragedies of the contextual war. Labanyi points out that this fantasy element is further grounded in fact due to the "excavation of mass graves ... of victims of Francoist repression" (2007, p. 95, cited in Tierney, 2014, p. 171) which took place around the film's release; Santi is an allegory for these victims.
The film contains a power struggle between the orphange owners (Carmen & Dr. Casares) and the caretaker (Jacinto). As the film progresses, Jacinto's greedy desire for gold is revealed to have killed Santi as well as violently interrupted and even ended the lives of the children. As put by Lázaro-Reboll, it is clear that "Jacinto’s violence and eagerness ... convey the conduct of a new emerging fascist Spain" (2007, p. 42) whilst the efforts of Carmen and Dr. Casares reflect the Republican-left who opposed the violent Nationalist regime throughout the combat.
To conclude, Del Toro chose to create a film that in his words "[was] a ghost story where the war was a background but eventually crept into the foreground" (2002, p. 29). The first act of the film sets up the context of the Spanish Civil War as well as the involvement of a fantastical ghost before the final two acts of the film progress a very factual metaphor for Fascist political greed and violence towards Republicans (a reflection of Franco's regime following his work as 'Generalissimo' of the Nationalist forces 1936-1939). The final product is a film that utilises a Gothic-inspired fantasy element in order to embody the real-life tragedies of the Spanish Civil War as well as a narrative which serves as a metaphor for the struggle between the people of Spain and Franco's dictatorship.
In evaluating Guillermo's use of fantasy, the decision to have Santi vengeful for his death at the hands of Jacinto effectively ties the supernatural with fact: Santi's ghost serves as a message of remembrance and hatred towards the Franco regime which consumed Spain for over 3 decades. This concoction plays a part of Spain's wider reflection on the Civil War and subsequent Franco period in recent cinema, with notable accompanying films including Butterfly's Tongue (Cuerda, 1999) and Land and Freedom (Loach, 1995).
However, it is important to note that the ghost of Santi is not the film's sole driving narrative device nor is it a particularly malicious portrayal of the 'Undead'. Instead, this spectre is sympathetic and nonantagonistic as well as an allegorical link to the tragedies of the contextual war. Labanyi points out that this fantasy element is further grounded in fact due to the "excavation of mass graves ... of victims of Francoist repression" (2007, p. 95, cited in Tierney, 2014, p. 171) which took place around the film's release; Santi is an allegory for these victims.
The film contains a power struggle between the orphange owners (Carmen & Dr. Casares) and the caretaker (Jacinto). As the film progresses, Jacinto's greedy desire for gold is revealed to have killed Santi as well as violently interrupted and even ended the lives of the children. As put by Lázaro-Reboll, it is clear that "Jacinto’s violence and eagerness ... convey the conduct of a new emerging fascist Spain" (2007, p. 42) whilst the efforts of Carmen and Dr. Casares reflect the Republican-left who opposed the violent Nationalist regime throughout the combat.
To conclude, Del Toro chose to create a film that in his words "[was] a ghost story where the war was a background but eventually crept into the foreground" (2002, p. 29). The first act of the film sets up the context of the Spanish Civil War as well as the involvement of a fantastical ghost before the final two acts of the film progress a very factual metaphor for Fascist political greed and violence towards Republicans (a reflection of Franco's regime following his work as 'Generalissimo' of the Nationalist forces 1936-1939). The final product is a film that utilises a Gothic-inspired fantasy element in order to embody the real-life tragedies of the Spanish Civil War as well as a narrative which serves as a metaphor for the struggle between the people of Spain and Franco's dictatorship.
In evaluating Guillermo's use of fantasy, the decision to have Santi vengeful for his death at the hands of Jacinto effectively ties the supernatural with fact: Santi's ghost serves as a message of remembrance and hatred towards the Franco regime which consumed Spain for over 3 decades. This concoction plays a part of Spain's wider reflection on the Civil War and subsequent Franco period in recent cinema, with notable accompanying films including Butterfly's Tongue (Cuerda, 1999) and Land and Freedom (Loach, 1995).
Bibliography
BFI. (2018). Mark Kermode reviews Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone [Video Recording].
Chun, K. (2002). What is a Ghost?: An Interview with Guillermo del Toro. Cinéaste, 27(2), 28-31. Retrieved from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=f31a0ecd-f080-4272-a6f2-b05230fc4f04%40sdc-v-sessmgr01
Cuerda, J. L. (Director). (1999). La Lengua de las Mariposas [Motion Picture]. Spain: Canal+ España.
Davies, A. (2014, February 17). Ghostbusting: Pursuing the spectres of Spanish cinema. University of Sussex: Mediático. Retrieved from: https://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/mediatico/2014/02/17/ghostbusting-pursuing-the-spectres-of-spanish-cinema/
Del Toro, G. (Director). (2001). El Espinazo del Diablo [Motion Picture]. Spain: El Deseo.
Del Toro, G. (Director). (2006). El Laberinto del Fauno [Motion Picture]. Spain: Estudios Picasso.
Ibarra, E. A. (2012). Permanent hauntings: spectral fantasies and national trauma in Guillermo del Toro’s El espinazo del diablo [The Devil’s Backbone]. Journal of Romance Studies, 12(1), 56-71. https://doi.org/10.3167/jrs.2012.120105
Janicker, R. (2014). Myth and Monstrosity: The Dark Realms of H. P. Lovecraft and Guillermo del Toro. In A. Davies, D. Shaw & D. Tierney (Eds.), The Transnational Fantasies of Guillermo del Toro (pp. 45-60). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Labanyi, J. (2007). “Memory and Modernity in Democratic Spain: The Difficulty of Coming to Terms with the Spanish Civil War,” Poetics Today, 28(1), 89–115. Cited in Tierney, D. (2014). Transnational Political Horror in CRONOS (1993), EL ESPINAZO DEL DIABLO (2001), and EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO (2006). In A. Davies, D. Shaw & D. Tierney (Eds.), The Transnational Fantasies of Guillermo del Toro (pp. 161-182). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lázaro-Reboll, A. (2007). The Transnational Reception of El espinazo del diablo (Guillermo del Toro 2001). Hispanic Research Journal, 8(1), 39-51. https:doi.org/10.1179/174582007X164320
Loach, K. (Director). (1995). Land and Freedom [Motion Picture]. United Kingdom: BIM Distribuzione.
BFI. (2018). Mark Kermode reviews Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone [Video Recording].
Chun, K. (2002). What is a Ghost?: An Interview with Guillermo del Toro. Cinéaste, 27(2), 28-31. Retrieved from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=f31a0ecd-f080-4272-a6f2-b05230fc4f04%40sdc-v-sessmgr01
Cuerda, J. L. (Director). (1999). La Lengua de las Mariposas [Motion Picture]. Spain: Canal+ España.
Davies, A. (2014, February 17). Ghostbusting: Pursuing the spectres of Spanish cinema. University of Sussex: Mediático. Retrieved from: https://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/mediatico/2014/02/17/ghostbusting-pursuing-the-spectres-of-spanish-cinema/
Del Toro, G. (Director). (2001). El Espinazo del Diablo [Motion Picture]. Spain: El Deseo.
Del Toro, G. (Director). (2006). El Laberinto del Fauno [Motion Picture]. Spain: Estudios Picasso.
Ibarra, E. A. (2012). Permanent hauntings: spectral fantasies and national trauma in Guillermo del Toro’s El espinazo del diablo [The Devil’s Backbone]. Journal of Romance Studies, 12(1), 56-71. https://doi.org/10.3167/jrs.2012.120105
Janicker, R. (2014). Myth and Monstrosity: The Dark Realms of H. P. Lovecraft and Guillermo del Toro. In A. Davies, D. Shaw & D. Tierney (Eds.), The Transnational Fantasies of Guillermo del Toro (pp. 45-60). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Labanyi, J. (2007). “Memory and Modernity in Democratic Spain: The Difficulty of Coming to Terms with the Spanish Civil War,” Poetics Today, 28(1), 89–115. Cited in Tierney, D. (2014). Transnational Political Horror in CRONOS (1993), EL ESPINAZO DEL DIABLO (2001), and EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO (2006). In A. Davies, D. Shaw & D. Tierney (Eds.), The Transnational Fantasies of Guillermo del Toro (pp. 161-182). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lázaro-Reboll, A. (2007). The Transnational Reception of El espinazo del diablo (Guillermo del Toro 2001). Hispanic Research Journal, 8(1), 39-51. https:doi.org/10.1179/174582007X164320
Loach, K. (Director). (1995). Land and Freedom [Motion Picture]. United Kingdom: BIM Distribuzione.