THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (us dvd)
Spanish horror

plot
In the midst of the last days of the Spanish Civil War, in the middle of the desert sits the Santa Lucia School, an orphanage full of the offspring of Republican militia and politicians. Its there that twelve-year old Carlos arrives, and finds himself abandoned.
He finds himself awkwardly placed, and scared - confronting bullies and what appears to be the ghost of a murdered student. Quickly the web of intrigue reveals itself to him, full of hidden treasure, sex, political instability and a murder...

dvd review

story
Constraints alone have prevented me from watching all the extras on this dvd in their entirety, but the film is so enchanting and the supplemental material so inviting and informative that it shouldn't be long before I get round to it.

There is a habit amongst critics for who English is their first language, to look at foreign language films in admiration even before the opening scene plays - they look at the films as masterpieces without comprehending the merits or otherwise. Is it because of the lack of English language? Are they knocked off sense a little, paying attention more to the visual elements of a film (which after all is what cinema should primarily be about anyway), than to the often trite dialogue? Look at the adulation that is frequently placed upon Spanish, Italian and French filmmakers by English and American critics - as a result even Jess Franco has his fans.

The Devil's Backbone falls into that category of Spanish language film, the dvd presentation keeps that in all its glory, providing subtitles in English but no dubbing. The film as a result is rich and evocative, haunting and thrilling. An English-language version would work simply because the script is so sparse on dialogue. This is a mood film.

The senses are played with, and above all, vision is the key to understanding what is going on. We see things lurking in background, deception, intrigue. The blind eyes that are turned to events unfurling see, but block it out.

There is little that I want to say about The Devil's Backbone without giving away too much of the story. Needless to say it is one of the finest films of recent years, and by far one of the finest horror movies. It relies not on gore, but perception and good story-telling. The cast are unanimously superb - the children all work well together and with the adults. Talent and chemistry ooze off the screen. The CGI-based effects are carefully crafted in fantastically composited and designed sets, with sinister lighting (even in the daylight scenes).

Opening on a poetic question about the nature of a ghost, and the falling of a bomb, we are shown material in the opening minutes which only came clear to me towards the end of the film. There is a rythmn and a cyclical purpose in the construction of the narrative. As the boy is forced into the orphanage to protect him from the civil war, he is tested by the boys in the orphanage before standing his own, and admitting and facing up to the ghost of a murdered student. The unresting body, and the deception being carried out by certain other characters puts us in distrust of the real world and of the adults. The children are the heroes of the story, and yet it is an adult tale. Not quite coming-of-age drama but pushing towards it.

Add to this historical tale with a gothic horror bite, a tale of politics and a healthy dose of sexual betrayal and frustration (the film's 'R' rating is for violence, language and some sexuality), and we are presented with a fine film. The structure, its silent nature, and cyclical, broken narration (sometimes confusing - presumably due to the fact I don't speak Spanish, for although subtitles are fine, it gives you a different perspective on events onscreen) echo some of Jean-Luc Goddard's material. Imagery is all important - and sumptuous.

Guillermo Del Toro's direction is faultless, building up the suspence (based on the script he wrote with Antonio Trashorras and David Muñoz) and action through until the thrilling climax. Giving it a knock around the half-way point, and a second and satisfying life.

transfer
The transfer is totally flawless as one would expect from this 2001 film. The cinematography which is so beautiful and evocative, shows up very well. Very fine and clear detail, with excellent contrast. The aspect ratio is a 1.85:1 anamorphic.

Sound is first class, with a beautiful score by Javier Navarrete, and excellent use of space and sound effects. The dvd gives us no choice - its Spanish Dolby 5.1 surround or nothing (for nothing, press MUTE on your dvd controller ;).

Design
The dvd package adopts the silvery blue colour of the crucial scenes of the film - and looks decidedly spooky. The ghost is there at the front, but looks nothing like as creepy as he does in the film. He looks a little like the Somnambulist in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari too.

The menus aren't spectacular. Easy to navigate and functional - but no little moving images or sound to accompany.

extras
Naturally we get scene selection and interactive menus. Its hardly a special feature, as I've often stated before. On top of that though, this film gets the special edition treatment with a nice selection of extras which should keep everyone pleased and playing with their dvd for hours to come.

Commentary Track The essential aspect to any special edition release, is a very good commentary with director Del Toro and his cinematographer Guillermo Navarro. As the two have been friends for many years and have worked together before, their comaradery is obvious when you listen to them talk.
Whilst the film may be in Spanish, they talk in very fluent English with a wonderful accent. The discussion is not just limited to the techniques that went into the making of the film, or the actual production, but of their own friendship and working past. One quickly learns why the film was made the way it was, and it is gratifying to hear some of my own thoughts on the film and its style voiced by the director, as he explains his methods and influences.

Storyboard Comparisons Five scenes are selected for the storyboard treatment. One can select either the straight storyboard - in which the storyboarded images fill the screen and are played and cycled through in time with the corresponding soundtrack - or in a comparison, where in two boxes (slightly overlapping) on the screen one can watch the storyboard playing on the left whilst the actual filmed material plays on the right.
For aspiring filmmakers and anyone at all who is interested in the visuals and development of the film, these are essential viewing. The cartoon storyboards catch the imagination too, and the boy's face is full of character. The segments run to around ten minutes or so in total.

Making-Of Featurette Running to 12mins 56 seconds. This short behind-the-scenes feature is presented in Spanish with removable English subtitles. It twists between footage from the film, stuff shot on location and on set, and features the crew and some of the cast talking about each other, their working relationships, the usual back-slapping, and what the film is about. Its presented in fullscreen. Quality is satisfactory for a video transfer (I'm not convinced the behind the scenes bit was shot on digital video though), though a little blocky in places. Rather like the usual promotional pieces which end up as supplemental pieces (aka space fillers) on dvds. The commentary is more interesting, but there is at least location filming and faces behind names and voices here.

Theatrical Trailers Four trailers are here on the dvd - one for the film, two for other foreign language films, and one rather oddly for a William Castle picture. The mind boggles...
The Devil's Backbone (duration 2mins 10 - R rated)- Fullscreen. Utilising a very spooky score, and onscreen headings about the nature of a ghost, and not a word of dialogue, this is a fantastic trailer and gets one in the mood for the film immediately. Its only at the end that you realise that the whole piece is done with sound effects and music.
13 Ghosts (1960) (duration 2mins 27) - 1.85 anamorphic widescreen. A little dirty, but nonetheless we are introduced to William Castle at his desk as he gives a Hitchcock-like (eg. The Birds trailer) introduction. The lack of illusion-o glasses etc make it very cheesy, but hey, its William Castle - you aren't meant to take it too seriously. The switch to colour though works well.
All About My Mother (1min 55) - non-anamorphic scoped. A little grainy - another muted trailer for a Spanish film concerning mothers and transvestites by the look of it. Penelope Cruz is in there too.
Not One Less (1min 30) - Fullscreen. Transferred from video, picture is a little soft. However looks like an enchanting Asian film about a young school teacher's search across China for a rogue boy from her class who has ended up on the streets. As usual, no actual words, just evocative music.

SUMMARY
Whilst it seems a little proposterous for these films to go straight onto the Sony Classics label (cynical I here), this is a stunning presentation, of a film which will enchant, grip and scare you. The soundbite on the case states that it is better than The Others. Whilst I can't say that (having not yet seen The Others), it is very very good. Well performed, beautifully shot, splendidly directed, and economic with dialogue. The dvd package is splendid, with its supplemental material being very worth-while. Go on, buy it.

RJES

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