Spoilers for Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth & Shape Of Water.
Spoilers for Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth & Shape Of Water. Let’s start with the obvious, Guillermo del Toro is an extraordinary filmmaker. Long before the resurgence of horror films, he was carving his own niche in the horror/fantasy genre. Films like Pan's Labyrinth, Hell Boy and his latest, Shape Of Water, have not only been hailed by the critics, but have been immensely popular with the general public as well. What sets him apart from most genre filmmakers is that for him, true horror comes not from the supernatural, but from humans. Yet it’s also humans, who have the power to counter this evil.
In Del Toro’s bizarre and magnificent world, supernatural elements act as catalysts, rather than the driving force. Consider his films like Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, Shape Of Water and Cronos. Even though supernatural is a key element and drives the stories forward, the protagonist and the antagonist are human.
Evil in his films come from politics and power. Men with immense power and an insatiable lust for more, create horrors beyond any that supernatural entities can dream of! The Spanish civil war is a strong representative of that evil for Del Toro, as seen in both Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth.
The other side of the equation is the power of innocence. While Cronos, Pan’s Labyrinth and Devil’s Backbone depicts that innocence quite literally through children, Shape Of Water gives us a protagonist whose innocence is portrayed by her almost childlike acceptance of something bizarre. We are often shown things through the eyes of the child and thus, we are forced to adopt the same pure outlook towards the world. We see things not as cynics but rather with wonder. We believe in the power of good and know that good would triumph in the end, no matter how hopeless it looks. As innocents, we are forced to confront the cynical notions we have built about supernatural and question what we fear. It's not the vampire in Cronos whom we should be afraid of, he is our loveable grandfather! The scary ghost in Devil's Backbone is only a helpless child, crying out to people to help him.
This innocence is challenged and then reaffirmed by the end of the films, which have a tragic yet hopeful note. The vampire in Cronos can rest with his loving granddaughter. The girl in Pan's Labyrinth finds her magic kingdom where she is the princess, even though in this world she is dead. Even after the death of so many innocent characters in Devil's Backbone, the remaining orphans make their way out, while the ghost of the doctor watches them from the orphanage with the gun in his hand, ready to protect the children if need be.
Spoilers for Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth & Shape Of Water. Let’s start with the obvious, Guillermo del Toro is an extraordinary filmmaker. Long before the resurgence of horror films, he was carving his own niche in the horror/fantasy genre. Films like Pan's Labyrinth, Hell Boy and his latest, Shape Of Water, have not only been hailed by the critics, but have been immensely popular with the general public as well. What sets him apart from most genre filmmakers is that for him, true horror comes not from the supernatural, but from humans. Yet it’s also humans, who have the power to counter this evil.
In Del Toro’s bizarre and magnificent world, supernatural elements act as catalysts, rather than the driving force. Consider his films like Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, Shape Of Water and Cronos. Even though supernatural is a key element and drives the stories forward, the protagonist and the antagonist are human.
Evil in his films come from politics and power. Men with immense power and an insatiable lust for more, create horrors beyond any that supernatural entities can dream of! The Spanish civil war is a strong representative of that evil for Del Toro, as seen in both Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth.
The other side of the equation is the power of innocence. While Cronos, Pan’s Labyrinth and Devil’s Backbone depicts that innocence quite literally through children, Shape Of Water gives us a protagonist whose innocence is portrayed by her almost childlike acceptance of something bizarre. We are often shown things through the eyes of the child and thus, we are forced to adopt the same pure outlook towards the world. We see things not as cynics but rather with wonder. We believe in the power of good and know that good would triumph in the end, no matter how hopeless it looks. As innocents, we are forced to confront the cynical notions we have built about supernatural and question what we fear. It's not the vampire in Cronos whom we should be afraid of, he is our loveable grandfather! The scary ghost in Devil's Backbone is only a helpless child, crying out to people to help him.
This innocence is challenged and then reaffirmed by the end of the films, which have a tragic yet hopeful note. The vampire in Cronos can rest with his loving granddaughter. The girl in Pan's Labyrinth finds her magic kingdom where she is the princess, even though in this world she is dead. Even after the death of so many innocent characters in Devil's Backbone, the remaining orphans make their way out, while the ghost of the doctor watches them from the orphanage with the gun in his hand, ready to protect the children if need be.
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