Best known for
films that blend horror and fantasy, such as Cronos and Mimic,
Guillermo del Toro now adds historical background to his trademark
mix in The Devil's Backbone(El Espinazo del Diablo).
It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and
General Franco's right-wing Nationalists are poised to defeat the
left-wing Republican forces. A ten-year-old boy named Carlos
(Fernando Tielve), the son of a fallen Republican war hero, is left
by his tutor in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. The orphanage
is run by a curt but considerate headmistress named Carmen (Marisa
Paredes) and a kindly Professor Casares (Eduardo Noriega), both of
whom are sympathetic to the doomed Republican cause. Despite their
concern for him, and his gradual triumph over the usual schoolhouse
bully, Carlos never feels completely comfortable in his new
environment. First of all, there was that initial encounter with the
orphanage's nasty caretaker, Jacinto (Federico Luppi), who reacts
even more violently when anyone is caught looking around a
particular storage room -- the one with the deep well. Second, and
more inexplicable, is the presence of a ghost, one of the former
occupants of the orphanage named Sante. Not long after Carlos'
arrival, Sante latches onto Carlos, badgering him incessantly at
night and gloomily intoning, "Many of you will die." As if
that wasn't enough to keep the orphanage's occupants in an
unrelenting state of terror, there's the unexploded bomb that
dominates the orphanage's courtyard, still ticking away; With the
orphanage left defenseless by its isolation, and the swift
progression of Franco's troops, the ghost's prediction seems
depressingly accurate. Nevertheless, with every step of the plot, it
becomes apparent that the ghost's predictions as to who (or what)
will die, the real source of danger and even the definition of death
itself may be more ambiguous than first thought.
Directed by:
Guillermo del Toro
Starring:
Marisa Paredes
Eduardo Noriega
Federico Luppi
Fernando Tielve
Íñigo Garcés
Irene Visedo
Francisco Maestre
José Manuel Lorenzo
Junio Valverde
Written
by:
Guillermo del Toro
Antonio Trashorras
David Muñoz
Rated:
R - Restricted
Under 17
require
accompanying
parent
or adult
guardian.