The Devil's Backbone Review

A Dark Horror from Pan’s Labyrinth Director Guillermo Del Toro

Sep 1, 2008

2001's The Devil's Backbone (a.k.a El espinazo del diablo) tells the story of an orphanage haunted by the living as much as it is by the dead.

In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young son of a dead Republican soldier is delivered to a remote orphanage. Carlos (Fernando Tielve) is taken in by the Republican sympathisizers – Head administrator Carmen and Dr. Casares (Marisa Paredes and Federico Luppi) - who run the orphanage.

They are joined by the antagonistic caretaker and ex-orphan, Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega) who is sleeping with Carmen in a bid to steal several bars of Republican gold being stored on the premises. Dr. Casares resents Jacinto and more so the impotence which has kept him from his own relationship with Carmen.

Meanwhile, one of the eldest orphans, Jaime (Íñigo Garcés), takes issue with the new boy, but that is the least of Carlos’ worries, when he discovers that the corridors are sometimes walked by Santi (Junio Valverde) – a murdered orphan whose spirit promises that many will die.

The Devil’s Backbone Crew

Many of the people who worked on this film in 2001 were used again by Del Toro in it’s ‘sequel in spirit’ Pan’s Labyrinth. One of those is Javier Navarrete who provides the music score. Though this is much more understated, not being quite as thematic as in the latter film, it combines moments of tenderness and drama, but is used prevalently in building tension.

Also employed are the masterful talents of cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, who ensures that the visuals are superbly composed. The film falls slightly short of the quality of Pan’s Labyrinth, but when considering it’s miniscule, independently financed, budget (an estimated $5 million) it still looks far better than a majority of other, wealthier, productions.

Fernando Tielve as Carlos

Fernando Tielve auditioned for a role in the supporting cast and wound up as the lead character of the film. It’s easy to see why, as he’s incredibly convincing and a natural talent.

Although it’s fair to say that he doesn’t have to carry as much of the film as Ivana Baquero’s Ofelia (with there being other children around him most of the time) there’s no question that Tielve puts in as praiseworthy a performance. And that’s saying a lot.

With the casting of Tielve, Del Toro’s track record of working with young actors is perhaps second to none and that must reflect well on Del Toro himself and the atmosphere he inspires during filming.

The Devil’s Backbone Cast

Of course, not all of the cast can be as able as Tielve and several of the younger orphans are a little less than convincing (but still amusing and in no way detrimental to the film). Tielve is matched, however, by Íñigo Garcés as Jaime, who puts in a mature and highly commiserable performance.

At the other end of the age scale Federico Luppi (who topped the bill in Del Toro’s first spanish film Cronos) is eminent as the elderly Dr. Casares, bringing a distinguished nobility and kindness to the role.

Also lending his considerable presence to the film is Eduardo Noriega, whose job it is to play the truly loathsome and despicable character of Jacinto. This he does extremely well, because you will loathe and despise his character every bit as much as you're meant to.

With Marisa Paredes as the stern Carmen and Irene Visedo as the beautiful Conchita, Del Toro once again fills out an ensemble with telling insight into the actors abilities.

The Devil’s Backbone Concepts, Criticisms and Box Office

For an ostensibly simple film, The Devil’s Backbone has a lot of layers to reinforce it’s premise. In the opening narration, it is wondered if a spirit is just a ‘moment caught in time’, whose example can be seen in several aspects of the film.

For instance, a dominant feature of the orphanage is that there’s an unexploded bomb in the courtyard, dropped from above on the night of Santi’s death. The bomb, like Santi, is a moment caught in time. It is also like Jacinto who, as an ex-orphan, is sick of having spent his entire life at the orphanage and is ready to explode.

There’s plenty besides to get your cerebral teeth into with this film and the teaching of neanderthals hunting mammoths is a particularly ingenious touch.

Some might say that the film is too slow for their liking (do they ever consider that they themselves are too hyper?) or that there is very little delivery after the suspense. So it should be noted here that The Devil’s Backbone is all about suspense. Almost every other moment of the film is used to promote supernatural apprehension, but as the tag says – ‘the living will always be more dangerous than the dead’. That’s more than hinting that the real threats lie elsewhere.

While this may not be to everybody’s tastes, it is nonetheless a high-quality piece of work that is far superior to The Others (take the plot of Sixth Sense and turn it inside-out) with which it’s been compared.

Despite taking a worldwide haul of less than a million dollars in theaters, you will be hard-pressed to find a poor review of The Devil’s Backbone and you certainly won’t here.

The copyright of the article The Devil's Backbone Review in European Films is owned by Michael Pantazi. Permission to republish The Devil's Backbone Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.