Guillermo del Toro

At a glance

He is a Mexican director, producer and screenwriter extraordinaire. He has been in the industry since he was 8. Interestingly, he worked as a make-up designer before he produced his first film in 1986, when he was 21 years old

Guillermo Del Toro
Courtesy of latefilm.com, http://latefilm.com/images/Guillermo_del_Toro.jpg

His Style

He has directed many films from fantasy to horror. He likes his settings to be during or after a war. His two famous films are The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth. Both has similar settings, a struggle to live under the dictatorial rule during the war. His central characters are always children, and then he bridges the themes of fantasy and horror in a fascinating manner.

His style was inspired by the Art Nouveau era. He admitted in the interview with IdN magazine that "nature elements were fascinating". It is obvious that his inspirations are greatly influenced by nature. All his monsters have some sort of nature element to them. Take the fairy from Pan's Labyrinth for example, the texture of the wings were a mixture of an insect and a dead leaf.

Insect fairy, courtesy of IdN magazine. I took the picture from the magazine.

The faun also had a very curvy body and curvy horns. His body was covered with moss and roots.

Faun from the movie Pan's Labyrinth
Courtesy of moviecritic.com, http://www.moviecritic.com.au/userimages/user624_1168818540a.jpg

Also, according to wikipedia, he did admit that he had a fascination for insects in one of his interviews. But his main interest was monsters. And very often it was evident that that he combined those freaky elements of the creepy crawlies into the realistic details of his monsters.

Why choose him?

Because I love his style. His fascination for dark fantasy and monsters helped me to enter a creative fantasy land. He has inspired me to bring to life the part of my brain that finds mystical wonder in life and nature. Pan's Labyrinth was my favourite movie this year. It was depicted with adult grotesqueness meshed with a childlike charisma. The fusion of that resulted in some sort of fantasy tale for adults, with a very deep meaning to it. It was a very tough movie, but very full of hope.

The monsters in that movie, I have learnt, are all done with make-up. Its amazing just how talented this guy is. The monsters in the movie were so frightening, it was brilliant. They were original and haunting, leaving an impression in most of our minds. Even for people who have not seen the movie but only the trailer, would remember the monsters that were featured.

An example of someone being influenced.

Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/witemike1015/367500518/

It is a no wonder that the movie won 3 Academy Awards and a few Golden Globes awards. They also won numerous international awards and its hard to keep track of just how many awards they won. It also received a 21-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.

But whatever it is, the point is clear that people loved the film. It has, I believed, touched them deep inside in a spiritual or magical place.

Philosophy

He would always try his best to push the limits of what he can do without relying on digital effects. As quoted from the interview in IdN magazine, "You push the physical, you push the make up. you push animatronics, and when they cannot get there, then you go digital, and you shouldn't think of it twice. But the ideal solution actually is to take a physical effect and enhance it digitally, or clean it up digitally. But only when you cannot push the physical effects - not as a substitute, not as a lazy solution. Then you are doing things the right way."

He also tries to be as flexible as he can when it comes to content. Also quoted from the interview in IdN magazine, "It is much better to write the material without preconceptions or restriction, and that's very Mexican. And I also think that, as much of a cliche as it is, I am pretty free about death and violence. I don't see them as negative morally. I see them as part of the life energy and the life cycle. I hate violence but am not shy about portraying it, and I personally don't give a damn about dying. Never have."

Wallpaper, courtesy of www.panslabyrinth.com

Bibliography

Guillermo del Toro. (2007, August 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:49, August 13, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guillermo_del_Toro&oldid=149804838

Pan's Labyrinth. (2007, August 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:51, August 13, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pan%27s_Labyrinth&oldid=150860795

References

http://www.media.icograda.net/web/idmn.shtml?m=idn

www.panslabyrinth.com

www.youtube.com