The Devil’s Backbone (2001) Review

Ghost stories can fall apart when the ghost is the most interesting thing in them. One of the reasons The Devil’s Backbone still feels so distinctive more than twenty years after it was released is that Guillermo del Toro understands exactly this, and knows how to fix it. The ghost matters, of course. But, in the case of this film, he’s only one piece of a much sadder story about abandoned children, failed adults, greed, war and the damage people carry with them.

Coming back to the film through StudioCanal’s new 4K Collector’s Edition, I was surprised by how little I thought about Santi.

That sounds ridiculous given that he’s the film’s most famous image. The pale face with the drifting blood. The mournful appearances in corridors and cellars. But this time, every time he appeared, my attention seemed to shift elsewhere. Towards Carlos. Towards Jacinto. Towards the unexploded bomb sitting in the orphanage courtyard like some inevitable bad omen.

Del Toro introduces that bomb right at the start of the film, then largely leaves it alone. The residents of the orphanage can’t help but see it, but nobody can do anything about it either. And as it sits there waiting, one can’t help but feel that it is the film’s true ghost.

The story takes place during the final months of the Spanish Civil War, as young Carlos arrives at an isolated orphanage and gradually uncovers the truth about a boy who died under mysterious circumstances. On the surface it’s a supernatural whodunnit, but it never really feels like a mystery in the traditional sense. Del Toro seems less interested in who did what than in why people do terrible things, and become bad people.

Jacinto is a great example as he’s far more unsettling than anything supernatural. Eduardo Noriega plays him with restless anger that makes you nervous before he’s even done anything wrong. And Del Toro never turns him into a straightforward monster. He is cruel, selfish and dangerous. But you can see the frightened child still buried somewhere underneath all that resentment. He’s a victim of circumstance – albeit a nasty example of one.

The same goes for most of the adults. Federico Luppi’s Casares spends much of the film looking like a man who knows more than he says. Marisa Paredes brings warmth and sadness to Carmen. Even the relationships that exist around the edges of the story feel bruised by history. Nobody seems entirely free of regret.

Much like Del Toro’s film Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone has endured while so many other supernatural dramas from the same period have faded from memory. This is probably because Del Toro isn’t really making a film about ghosts or elves… he’s making a film about consequences.

That probably sounds more serious than the experience of watching it actually is. There are moments of genuine unease throughout, ranging from the midnight errand for water and the frequent appearance of the spectre at the worst possible time. Santi himself still works because Del Toro shows restraint. You glimpse him, hear him and expect him but never becomes the sort of overexposed apparition that modern horror films often mistake for a payoff.

The 4K restoration of the film is excellent.The dusty ochres, deep shadows and candlelit interiors all look beautiful, and Guillermo Navarro’s cinematography benefits enormously from the added detail. More than once I found myself noticing textures I’d never really paid attention to before.

As for the extras, there’s enough here to keep Del Toro fans occupied for hours. The various commentary tracks inevitably overlap in places, but the director remains such an enthusiastic guide to his own work that repetition hardly matters. I particularly enjoyed dipping back into Of Ghosts and Fauns, which explores the historical context behind the film and feels even more relevant now than when it was first produced.

The strange thing about The Devil’s Backbone is that every revisit seems to shift the focus. Years ago I remembered the ghost. This time I remembered the bomb. Maybe next time it’ll be something else.

Much like Pan’s Labyrinth, it’s a multi-faceted masterpiece that leaves you with plenty to think about.

Movie Rating:

The Devil’s Backbone trailer