The Devil's Backbone [2001] - DVD (Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega (II), Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés - Dir: Guillermo del Toro)

As Guillermo Del Toro films go The Devil's Backbone is a defining moment in his career, breaching the gap between International Art House and mainstream Hollywood success, it being his last film before Blade 2. Based within an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, the film is driven by its characters and, just like his previous films (Cronos and Mimic), it draws on the supernatural to outline and re-define exactly what it is that drives them.

Although Del Toro insists that this is not a film about the Civil War, by trapping and threatening its inhabitants the orphanage inevitably becomes a mirror for the events outside. These four walls become a place of protection for boys who have been orphaned during the war, a place for them to lead a relatively normal existence full of school life, bullying and adventure. Their main source of the latter being Santi, a young ghost who haunts the halls looking for revenge for his recent murder. Yet the pivotal character who evokes real fear in the children is not the spirit, but the greedy, selfish Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), a former orphan, whose experiences have left him with deep emotional scars. With a strong cast and even stronger imagery (created by cinematographer Guillermo Navarro) Del Toro whips up a hauntingly effective film about love, life and the afterlife.

On the DVD: entering the extras literally through the keyhole, there are several opportunities to obtain a deeper understanding of this disturbing film. A "Behind the Scenes" featurette includes the cast's own character profiles and interpretation of the story, as well as Del Toro explaining his thoughts about the film and how he achieved some shots. Two of the sequences—"Aerial Bombardment" and "The Ghost"--can be seen in further technical detail, with film footage and computer animation combined to make a whole scene. A selection of storyboards can also be viewed which run alongside the soundtrack to the scene, with the option to intercut between storyboard and finished film. A theatrical trailer, a picture gallery and written biographies are standard. The film and additional features are in Spanish with English subtitles and menu. With Dolby 5:1 sound and a widescreen picture, the film not only looks and sounds, but also feels fantastically chilling. --Nikki Disney

Customer Reviews of The Devil's Backbone [2001]

Mike

6th November 2008

Great film, piss poor DVD
This isn't a review of the film, which is excellent, what really annoyed me were the subtitles. They're completely out of sync with the dialogue, sometimes with a delay of a couple of seconds, which was really distracting and means that you often can't tell who's actually speaking. The subtitle even freezes for a couple of minutes half way through at the worst possible moment, completely distracting from what's going on. Such a shame for a film that's so technically perfect.

mccanns23
ireland
5th August 2008

a decent film that drags at times
The devils backbone is a spanish film directed by guillermo del toro who found international success with pans labyrinth,this film was released 5 years prior to that and while its good it doesnt have the unending quality that pans labyrinth does,it is unfair to compare perhaps but i give warning as many have bought this on the strength of the 2006 film.
This film is set in an orphanage for young boys during the spanish civil war of the 1930s,there is good and evil at play here and something not of this world and the film draws out an eerie and uncomfortable feel and does it pretty well,the downside is that the film is slow paced,deliberately so,but while that works for some,here it starts to grate as there is a sense of deja vu at times,we get close to whats going on and then we dont and then we start again but when the film unfolds its hard to fault it.
I enjoyed this but it isnt a masterpiece,i do prefer 'the others' which is like this on some levels although they arent carbon copies of each other,a fine film but not blinding.

N. Angus
england
22nd July 2008

PAIN IN THE DEVILS BACK (BONE)
I WAS DISAPPOINTED. SOME OF IT WAS CHEAP. SOME IF IT DID NOT TALLY. I THINK IT LACKED STORY, AND SO WAS FULL OF CHEAPNESS AND STUFF THAT DID NOT TALLY. COULE BE BETTER. C MINUS.

tracy

24th May 2008

The Devils Backside More Like
After watching Pans Labyrinth which is fantastic we read the reviews about this Del Toro film and decided to buy it. What a complete waste of money, the people who regard this pathetic attempt at a chilling ghost story as five star are definitely delusional. The story plods along at a painfully slow pace it's terribly predictable and honestly it's so boring it's difficult to stay awake. The ghost although well done appears only a handful of times and we guessed who dunnit in the first fifteen minutes. Save your cash don't buy this film you will regret it.

Loki
Hertford
24th March 2008

spineless
although this film does present sound selection of ideas, whilst watching it i found that it never quite realised the potential that i felt it was capable of.

i found the plot to be excellent - the parallels between the events within the orphanage and the war going on outside are excellently portrayed. as a ghost story however, the actual progression of tension throughout the course of the film is completely spoilt very early on, and for a film which is primarily advertised in the 'horror' genre (i use the term loosely in this case) it lacks suspense, and any events based on the supernatural end up muddled with other subplots. this conspires to make a very messy ending to the film, the conclusion gives the feeling that the director ran out of ideas. i am all in favour of ambiguity in film, indeed i hate being spoonfed plotlines, but in this case i just felt that there was a distinct lack of substance to the overall storyline.

i actually thought that a lot of the ideas from the film were slight rip-off's of the type of thrillers coming out of asia at the moment; lots of staring down dark hallways and whispering vengeful spirits, and this is probably why this film left me feeling so numb, i've seen these techniques before and they were far more accomplished.