The Devil's Backbone (2001)
"El espinazo del diablo" (original title)

After Carlos, a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War, arrives at an ominous boy's orphanage he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writers:

Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras,

Stars:

Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi

6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marisa Paredes	...	Carmen
Eduardo Noriega	...	Jacinto
Federico Luppi	...	Dr. Casares
Fernando Tielve	...	Carlos
Íñigo Garcés	...	Jaime
Irene Visedo	...	Conchita
José Manuel Lorenzo	...	Marcelo
Francisco Maestre	...	El Puerco (as Paco Maestre)
Junio Valverde	...	Santi
Berta Ojea	...	Alma
Adrián Lamana	...	Gálvez
Daniel Esparza	...	Marcos
Miguel Ortiz
Juan Carlos Vellido
Javier Bódalo	...	Búho (as Javier González Madrigal)

Storyline

It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and General Franco's right-wing Nationalists are poised to defeat the left-wing Republican forces. A ten-year-old boy named Carlos, the son of a fallen Republican war hero, is left by his tutor in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. The orphanage is run by a curt but considerate headmistress named Carmen and a kindly Professor Casares, both of whom are sympathetic to the doomed Republican cause. Despite their concern for him, and his gradual triumph over the usual schoolhouse bully, Carlos never feels completely comfortable in his new environment. First of all, there was that initial encounter with the orphanage's nasty caretaker, Jacinto, who reacts even more violently when anyone is caught looking around a particular storage room the one with the deep well. Second, and more inexplicable, is the presence of a ghost, one of the former occupants of the orphanage named Santi. Not long after Carlos' arrival, Santi ...

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Plot Keywords:

orphanage | ghost | boy | bomb | death | 

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Taglines:

The living will always be more dangerous than the dead.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

Spain Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

20 April 2001 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Devil's Backbone

Filming Locations:

Cubillo de Uceda, Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$16,290 (Hong Kong) (25 October 2002)

Gross:

$16,290 (Hong Kong) (25 October 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Deseo S.A., Tequila Gang, Sogepaq

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was strongly inspired by the director's personal memories, especially his relationship with his uncle, who supposedly came back as a ghost.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[voice over narration]
Casares: What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber.

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Crazy Credits

El 11 de agosto de 2000, durante el rodaje de esta película, nació Luna, hija de Toni y Elisabeth y niña de todos (On the 11th of August, 2002, while this movie was being filmed, Luna was born, a daughter for Toni and Elisabeth, and a child for all of us).

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Connections

Featured in Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Besos fríos"
Written by R. Romero and R. Lhoba
Performed by Raquel Meller
Courtesy Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas

User Reviews

among the best work I've seen

Great care has been taken with the art direction. You are immediately transported to 1939, with Franco's army about to descend on the Spanish countryside. Even the crumbling buildings of the boys' school the characters inhabit play a role. The actors are superb, and the child actors give award-worthy performances.

This story is only incidentally a ghost story. It's a story about love and betrayal and the miseries of war visited on a people. It has a lot to teach about the depths of human cruelty, and the grace of sacrifice. It left me weeping. I don't want to label it Del Toro's masterpiece so early in his career, but it will stand through the years with his best work.