The Devil's Backbone [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro

Overview

"Guillermo del Toro, who quickly became one of the most talked-about directors in contemporary horror films with his first two features, Chronos and Mimic, takes on a more subtle tale of terror with this psychological suspense piece. Casares (Federico Luppi) and Carmen (Marisa Paredes) operate a small home for orphans in a remote part of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Helping the couple mind the orphanage are Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), the groundskeeper, and Conchita (Irene Visedo), a teacher who is also involved with Jacinto. Casares and Carmen are aligned with the Republican loyalists, and are hiding a large cache of gold that's used to back the Republican treasury; perhaps not coincidentally, the orphanage has also been subject to attacks from Franco's troops, and an unexploded bomb waits to be defused in the home's courtyard. One day, a boy named Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at the home, looking for a place to stay after being left behind by his parents. Casares and Carmen take him in, and the boy soon strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jaime (Inigo Garces), a boy with a reputation for tormenting other kids. But Carlos soon begins having visions of a mysterious apparition he can't identify, and hears strange stories about a child named Santi who went missing the day the bomb appeared near the orphanage."

Product Details

Release Date:	07/30/2013
UPC:	0715515107716
Original Release:	2001
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	8,366

Special Features

Audio Commentary featuring del Toro; Video introduction by del Toro from 2010; New and archival interviews with del Toro about the creation of his film; ¿Que es un fantasma?, a 2004 making-of documentary; Interactive Director's Notebook; Four deleted scenes, with commentary by del Toro; New interview with scholar Sebastian Faber about the film's depiction of the Spanish Civil War; Program comparing del Toro's thumbnail sketches and Carlos Giménez's storyboards with the final film; Selected on-screen presentation of del Toro's thumbnail sketches; Trailer; New English subtitle translation by del Toro; ; Plus: An essay by critic Mark Kermode

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Eduardo Noriega	Jacinto
Marisa Paredes	Carmen
Fernando Tielve	Carlos
Federico Luppi	Casares,Actor
Irene Visedo	Conchita
Berta Ojea	Alma
Francisco Maestre	El Puerco
Junio Valverde	Santi
Íñigo Garcés	Jaime
José Manuel Lorenzo	Marcelo
Adrián Lamana	Gálvez
Miguel Ortiz	Actor
Juan Carlos Vellido	Actor
Víctor Elías	Actor
José Luis Torrijo	Actor
Andreas Muñoz	Santi
Inigo Garces	Actor
Javier Navarrete	Composer

Technical Credits

Guillermo del Toro

Antonio Trashorras

David Muñoz

Guillermo del Toro	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Antonio Trashorras	Screenwriter
Reyes Abades	Special Effects
Agustin Almodovar	Executive Producer,Producer
Telson	Special Effects
Agustín Almodóvar	Producer,Executive Producer
Bertha Navarro	Producer,Executive Producer
David Muñoz	Screenwriter
Salva Mayolas	Sound/Sound Designer
Miguel Rejas	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

With the ambitious and ominous The Devil's Backbone, Del Toro rises to a new level of accomplishment, adding history and politics to his distinctive blend.