"What is a ghost?" asks a disembodied voice at the beginning of "The Devil's Backbone." A tragedy “condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive." With such a meditation, it's clear this film is no ordinary fright-fest. It's a smart and stylish ghost story, a tale of doomed love, a murder mystery, a political allegory and an atmospheric polemic against the futility and waste of war.
The film, which screens Oct. 22 at Woodmere Art Museum, opens during the waning days of the Spanish Civil War as the Republican Loyalists are losing badly to Gen. Francisco Franco's Nationalists. Ten-year-old Carlos (Fernando Tielve) – unaware that his father has been killed – is left by his tutor at a remote orphanage that shelters children of fallen Loyalist patriots. While the widowed headmistress, Carmen (Marisa Paredes), and Dr. Casares (Federico Luppi) do the best they can to care for their charges – and guard some hidden gold meant for the Republican cause – they struggle with diminishing supplies and the knowledge of their side's impending defeat.
Distraught at his abandonment, Carlos nevertheless begins to navigate his new life at the orphanage, meet the other boys and form wary friendships. He soon realizes, however, that something is very wrong. For one thing, there's an undetonated bomb in the courtyard. The boy in whose bed Carlos now sleeps has been murdered. And, oh yes, his ghost has unfinished business.
"The Devil's Backbone" shares some of its DNA with another 2001 ghost story, "The Others." Both films engender a creeping sense of trepidation born from being isolated during wartime and both play out as locked-room mysteries. Here the mystery is not only who killed the boy, Santi (Junio Valverde), but what his ghost wants to find peace. For, like the best movie ghosts, Santi isn't here just for shock value. He wants justice.
As the story slowly unfolds and the orphans get closer to solving both mysteries, they are in increasing danger from both a killer within the orphanage and the encroaching war beyond its walls.
Though only his third feature film, "The Devil's Backbone" bears writer-director Guillermo del Toro's ("Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Shape of Water") distinctive style. His trademarks – a ghostly yellow-blue-green color palette, unexpected macabre touches and religious symbolism – are all present and hint at the auteur he will become. Del Toro is known for creating set pieces that are characters in their own right, and the cut-off and claustrophobic orphanage in "The Devil's Backbone" – with its creepy subterranean cistern and a laboratory full of disturbing specimen jars – is a prime example.
Del Toro is also interested in plumbing the depths of the human condition and subverting his audience's expectations for the horror genre. His monsters (or in this case a ghost) aren't evil. It's the living people who are the real monsters.
And then there's the ever-present bomb. A tangible reminder of the war-torn world and a metaphor for humans' potential for violence, it adds to the mounting feeling of dread as the film progresses toward its inevitable conclusion.
For a director with a scant dozen feature-length films to his name, Del Toro has made an astonishing mark on cinema in the years since "The Devil's Backbone." Not only has he helmed big-budget franchise pictures like "Hellboy," but he's won three Oscars – most recently Best Animated Feature for "Pinocchio" – and a slew of Golden Globes, BAFTAs and other prestigious awards. Of all his films, though, "The Devil's Backbone" features some of Del Toro's most assured and restrained direction. The film also boasts a haunting score by Javier Navarrete and a superlative cast – many of whom have worked with Del Toro repeatedly over the years. Eduardo Noriega makes an especially menacing caretaker and Íñigo Garcés, Adrián Lamana, Javier González Sánchez and Daniel Esparza as Carlos' fellow orphans give wonderfully naturalistic performances.
Rich with a gothic atmosphere, "The Devil's Backbone" is an evocative film that's both suspenseful and surprisingly moving.
Tuesday Nights at the Movies is a partnership between The Chestnut Hill Film Group and Woodmere Art Museum. For the full fall season schedule, visit https://woodmereartmuseum.org/experience/happenings/movies-at-woodmere. To join the CHFG mailing list, email lwilliams@woodmereartmuseum.org.
"The Devil's Backbone" (2001, 106 minutes, in Spanish with English subtitles) will be presented on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30) at Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118. Light refreshments are served. Films are free to attend, but contributions are gratefully accepted.
Lily Williams is president of The Chestnut Hill Film Group and director of development of Woodmere Art Museum.
