The Devil's Backbone

Infobox Film
name = The Devil's Backbone
(El espinazo del diablo)


caption = Original Spanish-language poster
director = Guillermo del Toro
producer = Guillermo del Toro
Pedro Almodóvar
writer = Guillermo del Toro
Antonio Trashorras
David Muñoz
narrator = Federico Luppi
starring = Eduardo Noriega
Marisa Paredes
Federico Luppi
Íñigo Garcés
Fernando Tielve
Irene Visedo
Berta Ojea
music = Javier Navarrete
cinematography = Guillermo Navarro
editing = Luis De La Madrid
distributor =
released = Spain:
April 20, 2001
United States:
November 21, 2001
runtime = 106 min.
country = Spain
Mexico
awards =
language = Spanish
budget = $4,500,000 (est.)
gross = $755,249
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:244107
imdb_id = 0256009

"The Devil's Backbone" (Spanish: "El espinazo del diablo", literally "The Backbone of the Devil") is a 2001 Mexican/Spanish gothic horror film written by Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras and David Muñoz, and directed by Guillermo del Toro. It was independently produced by Pedro Almodóvar.

It is set in Spain, 1939 during the Spanish Civil War. During the director's commentary in the DVD, del Toro stated that, along with "Hellboy", this was his most personal project. He has called "Pan's Labyrinth" a spiritual sequel to "The Devil's Backbone". The filming location was shot in Madrid.

Plot

A boy named Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at an orphanage, thinking that he will be staying there for a while, until his father returns from the Spanish Civil War. In the center of its courtyard, there is a bomb which was defused. Carlos sees a face in the window of the kitchen. When he goes in to investigate, he is distracted by two orphans, Galvez and Owl, whom he befriends. He shows them his toys and comics, until Jaime (Íñigo Garcés), an older orphan, steals one of them. Carlos start to fight with him but is distracted by the sight of his tutor and his bodyguard driving away without him.

Although he doesn't know it, his father is dead, and he will be staying in the orphanage indefinitely. Dr. Casares (Federico Luppi), the assistant administrator, sympathizes with him. In his bed, Carlos is distracted by noises, suggested to be a ghost. Finally the alleged ghost knocks over a pitcher of water, which awakes the rest of the orphans. Carlos and Jaime (who has been pressured into coming) go into the kitchen. Carlos wanders down a spiral staircase, where he hears the ghost, who tells him cryptically that many will die. He runs away, but Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), a former orphan who now works at the orphanage, catches him.

The next day, Carlos doesn't reveal why he was out, which earns him Jaime’s respect. Jaime offers him valuables to keep the stolen comic book, to which Carlos refuses. When a long sigh is heard, an orphan mentions a ghost, and it is explained to Carlos that a boy named Santi (Junio Valverde) disappeared when the bomb was dropped. Ever since then, there has been a ghost haunting the orphanage. Jaime doesn’t believe in the ghost. Another night, Carlos sneaks out to the courtyard. He approaches the bomb and asks it to show him the ghost. In response, a streamer on the bomb is caught by the wind and leads him to the ghost, but when the ghost touches him, he becomes scared, so he runs away. The ghost follows him into the main building, and Carlos locks himself in a closet, where he sleeps. When Carlos looks at Jaime’s sketchbook, he finds a picture of Santi, the ghost.

Jacinto has been in the orphanage for a long time, and despises the place. His girlfriend Conchita (Irene Visedo), (whom Jaime loves) has plans with him to get married. He is aware of the existence of a stash of gold, and he uses his sexual prowess to steal keys from Carmen (Marisa Paredes), the head of the orphanage. She loves Dr. Casares, but she is unwilling to acknowledge this. Dr Casares is embarrassed by his impotence and it seems to inhibit his confidence relating to the physical aspect of his love. Jacinto is unsuccessful in stealing the right key to the safe.

Whilst in town, Dr. Casares witnesses Carlos's tutor and his bodyguard being shot dead by the army. Dr. Casares plans to lead the orphans away from the orphanage, because of the rapidly escalating war. Jacinto demands the gold but is forced to leave at gunpoint.

As the orphans and staff prepare to leave Conchita discovers Jacinto preparing blow up the safe. In the ensuing melee Jacinto succeeds in burning much of the orphanage down before leaving. The explosion kills Carmen and many orphans, leaving many of the survivors badly wounded, including Dr. Casares. Dr. Casares promises the boys that he will never leave and takes up guard duty over the remains of the orphanage, waiting at the window with a shotgun for the return of Jacinto.

The night after the explosion, Jaime tells Carlos that he was present when Santi was killed. They had been collecting slugs, when Jacinto caught them and struck Santi a severe blow to the head. To hide his body, Jacinto drowned the dying Santi in a pool in the cellar.

The second day after the explosion, Dr. Casares dies at his post, and Jacinto comes back looking for the gold. Enroute back to orphanage with two co-conspirators he had met Cochinto as she attempted to walk to town for help. After she refuses to apologise to Jacinto, he stabs and kills her.

Jacinto and his friends imprison the orphans and then set about looking for the gold. His friends soon grow impatient and leave him, but he eventually finds it. The orphans, meanwhile have escaped after the ghost of Dr Casares unlocks the door of their prison. The orphans have fashioned pointed sticks with shards of glass and, after luring Jacinto into a basement, they stab him and push him into the same pool of water Santi was drowned in. Weighted down by the gold, and dragged down by the ghost of Santi, Jacinto also drowns. The surviving orphans leave, being watched by the ghost of Dr. Casares.

Cast

*Fernando Tielve as Carlos: The protagonist. He is described by del Toro in the DVD commentary as a force of innocence. Tielve had originally auditioned to be cast as an extra before del Toro decided to cast him as the lead. This was his film debut. Both Fernando and his co-star Íñigo Garcés (Jaime) had cameos as guerrilla soldiers in "Pan's Labyrinth".
*Íñigo Garcés as Jaime: He begins as an antagonist, but later befriends Carlos.
*Eduardo Noriega as Jacinto: The antagonist.
*Junio Valverde as Santi: An orphan who becomes a ghost.
*Federico Luppi as Dr. Casares: The administrator of the orphanage. He narrates in bookends at the end and the beginning. Luppi had previously been cast in del Toro's earlier effort "Cronos".
*Marisa Paredes as Carmen: A co-administrator of the orphanage.
*Irene Visedo as Conchita: Jacinto's fiancée.

Production

ymbolism

Much of the film's imagery owes itself to the films of Luis Bunuel, and Freudian concepts. Del Toro has noted that all the primary protagonistic character's names begin with the letter "c", whilst the major antagonistic characters have the letter "j".

tory

Guillermo del Toro's original script did not have all the elements of the definitive product. After reading a script by Antonio Trashorras and David Muñoz, it was decided that they would combine their ideas. Originally the film was to be produced by Mexico, but the funding was insufficient, so the setting was changed from the Mexican Revolution to the Spanish Civil War to match the nationality of production, after Pedro Almodóvar decided to produce it.

"The Devil's Backbone" is inspired by works of gothic fiction. A reference to Dario Argento's 1975 film "Deep Red", within "The Devil's Backbone", suggests that it draws inspiration from the film.

Reception

The response was generally positive, though it did not receive the critical success that "Pan's Labyrinth" would in 2006. Roger Ebert compared it favorably to "The Others", another ghost story released in the same year. Christopher Varney, of Film Threat, claimed "That 'The Devil's Backbone' makes any sense at all--with its many, swirling plotlines--seems like a little wonder." A.O. Scott, of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, and claimed that "The director, Guillermo del Toro, balances dread with tenderness, and refracts the terror and sadness of the time through the eyes of a young boy, who only half-understands what he is witnessing."

This film was #61 on Bravo's "100 Scariest Movie Moments" for its various scenes in which the ghost is seen. It was rated the #5 horror movie of all time by Rotten Tomatoes, and currently holds a 92% rating there.

Awards

The Devil's Backbone was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. It was also nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Special Effects at the Goya Awards. Fernando Tielve won a Young Artist Award in the category of Best Young Actor in an International Film.

See also

* "Pan's Labyrinth", which del Toro has called an informal sequel in spirit to this film.

External links

* [http://www.sonyclassics.com/devilsbackbone/ Official site]
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* [http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2007/12/30/film-review-the-devils-backbone Film Review]