The Devil's Backbone is a Mexican produced, Spanish foreign language film set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
The film ties together real political tensions with the world of horror and fantasy.
The Devil's Backbone is directed, produced and written by the great Guillermo del Toro (what a legend). It remains to be one of his greatest films not to receive popular attention due to the tremendous success his other films like Pan's Labyrinth and Cronos.
The film touches on a hotbed of themes surrounding the Franco dictatorship and details the strife many lived under during the civil war.
Synopsis
The Devil's Backbone follows the story of its main character named Carlos who's father, a declared war hero, dies in battle.
With no remaining family members to care for him, Carlos is sent to a destitute, rural orphanage. The orphanage like the country at the time is broken, in tatters and is run by a few individuals sympathetic to the Franco regime.
After some time at the orphanage Carlos begins to accept that this is his new home, but all is not what it seems.
Soon enough, he uncovers some hellish secrets about the orphanage and begins to see some inexplicable things.
After learning about the mysteries of the place he comes into contact with an angry supernatural force who turns out to be a boy - named Santi - who is even younger than him. The small boy divulges horrors and warns of a coming massacre.
The remainder of the film follows Carlos as he tries to escape from the orphanage, his adult captors and his promised fate.
Important Themes
The Spanish Civil War saw a huge clash between leftist revolutionaries and rightist counter-revolutionaries.
The mid to late 1930's saw a huge rise in both fascism and communism around Europe, with Nazi Germany and the Soviets implementing radical and severe policies around their spheres of control.
As a result of the changing political climate, conflicts ensued around the continent. With Spain seeing republican forces seizing control of the country under Francisco Franco, who ruled the regime for 36 years up to his death in 1975.
The war saw huge divides made throughout the country with tensions still apparent today.
Estimates hold that over 500,000 people died as a result of the war. With 75,000 people being executed by the Nationalist Army and an economic blockade responsible for killing over 25,000 civilians from malnutrition (including many children like Santi who is portrayed in the film as a victim).
Moreover, it is believed that the Franco government arranged the mass execution of 100,000 prisoners with 35,000 more dying in concentration camps after the war.
(All statistics & estimates from The Spanish Civil War - by John Simkin).
Conclusion
Altogether, The Devil's Backbone remains to be one of the most legendary supernatural films of the last 20 years.
It set the bar for horror and fantasy genre films at the time and is it still is quite a good watch. Which is a rare feat for a film in today's day and age of revolutionary technology.
It is an impressive film that balances the supernatural with the historical context of the region at the time. So go ahead add it to your "to watch list", you'll be happy you did.
