Historical Poetics in The Devils Backbone - Essay Example

Historical Poetics in The Devil’s Backbone Inserts His/Her Inserts Inserts Introduction Since the development of cinematography, films have been used to portray aspects of life to the audience. The Devil’s Backbone is a poetic film that presents the social and political situation that was present during the end of the Spanish Civil War. The director Guillermo del Toro brings forth a gothic horror film telling a tale of greed, revenge and the thin veil between the natural and supernatural. In order to bring out the story in a way that captures the audience, del Toro utilizes recurring symbols and images throughout the film. Historical poetics According to Bordwell (1988, p.391), the poetics of a film reviews the completed project as the product of a method of production. The method of production itself includes the principles that determine how the project was composed, the effects, functions and uses of the project and the basic rules that govern cinematography and how they have been applied in the film. The historical poetics of a film mainly seeks to answer two main questions: a) What particular principles has the film been constructed against and how have these principles achieve specific effects? b) In what way and manner have these principles surfaced and evolved in certain empirical circumstances? Horror films are a multifaceted construct whose development and poetics are shaped by a wide array of artistic and historical factors, such that they can only be completely appreciated by considering influences and its predecessors. Apart from this, it is also important to assess the aesthetic distinction employed in these films in the historical and cultural setting that shape them (Gomez-Castellano, 2013). According to Lázaro-Reboll (2007, pp.39), Horror is a literary prose described by three important factors, artistic intent (triggering suspense, terror or fear), specific themes (the discord between natural and supernatural), and sufficient motifs (involving presentation of otherness as compared to the norm). The Devil’s Backbone Historical poetics is regarded as the outcome of assimilating the director’s poetics with particular artistic and literary influences that affect the fears prevailing in particular periods as well as the form in which they are represented. In the devil’s backbone, various constructional principles have been utilized to make it a truly poetic film. The opening sequence of the film presents a good understanding of historical poetics through symbolism and imagery. In this sequence, a voice over narration plays over the death of Santi and the falling bomb. The narration brings on an argument of what a ghost is. The film then presents a disturbing image of a deformed baby inside a jar suspended in fluid. In the voice over narration, the director uses a rhetoric that strives to gain the audience’s agreement to the interpretation’s conclusion. The story is about ghosts both current and those of the past. The voice over first presents a ghost as a tragedy that is doomed to repeat itself. This mainly alludes to the various wars and conflicts that have been fought throughout the ages and seem to repeatedly occur time after time. The director uses the dropping of the bomb to show how symbolism has been utilized in this case. The voice over narration then asks if a ghost is an instant of pain. Throughout the film, we are presented with various challenges faced by the children as well as Santi’s brutal death that acts as an important aspect of the events that unfolds. The narration then asks if a ghost is something that is dead yet seems to be living such as the bomb that land in the orphanage but does not explode yet seems to be ticking, counting down the seconds. Finally, the voice over narration presents the notion that a ghost is an emotion suspended in time just like an insect that has been suspended in amber. This argument is portrayed by the deformed babies suspended in jars and Santi’s ghost stopped in time inside the orphanage. The voice over narration acts as an allegorical device that delicately presents the story of the orphanage to a national realm; that of the civil war, beliefs and the origins of various believes within the Spanish population (Chun, 2002). In the opening sequence, symbolism and imagery have been extensively utilized to bring out the story and acquaint the audience to the problem in question. The Bomb, The jars with deformed children and the pool in which Santi’s body was dumped can be considered as the most important images in the film. The ticking bomb reminds the audience that events in the film takes place during the Spanish civil war. During this time, many children and women were left alone while there fathers went to war. The period also saw a rise in orphans as many people died due to injuries resulting from fighting, poor nutrition and illnesses. The director, del Toro, also uses the bomb as a type of ghost, one that is dead but seems alive. The bomb is continually ticking as if it is counting down to something. In one scene, Carlos asks the bomb to show him to Santi and the bomb releases a ribbon which Carlos follows to Santi. The bomb also acts as a form of warning not only of the on-going war but of the troubles within the orphanage. The next important image is the jars containing the deformed babies. When Carlos asks Casares if he believes in ghost, Casares takes him to view the jars and tells him that the deformation is called the Devil’s Backbone and that those born with this condition are those who were never meant to be born thus are referred to as “nobody’s children”. The jars act as an important rhetorical tactic that brings forth the story as intended by the director. The main theme of the story is about these nobody’s children. The orphanage itself is in the middle of a desert, Santi is presented as a ghost who is only perceived by the children but yet seems apart from these same children, the orphans themselves have no parents and are in fact nobody’s children. Colour Symbolism The sequence the chronicles Carlos arrival to the orphanage; the director uses colour imagery to present the audience with the aspect of violence and death. In this sequence, red and grey dominate the scenes from the car that brings Carlos to the orphanage, his hair, the jacket he wears, the bomb, and even the viewing room in which Casares and Carmen are watching him from. Throughout the film, red is very dominant especially in those scenes that are violent. The director utilizes the contrast between colours to portray particularly shocking scenes throughout the film. One of the most important scenes in the film is when Carlos seeks Dr. Casares to tend to a cut on his finger. In this scene, the director sets up a drama of semantic transformation. This involves a process through which the subject discovers who he is in the symbolic. Carlos asks Dr. Casares if he beliefs in ghost which the doctor replies no. He however tries to explain to Carlos the basis of supernatural belief within the population and his belief on what is really true (the natural). When Casares shows the jars to Carlos and explains to him that they are referred to as nobody’s children, he goes on to explain that the beliefs of the people are wrong and that the deformation present within the deformed bodies are due to poverty and disease. He explains to Carlos that the fluid in which the deformed foetuses are suspended in is termed as limbo water. This introduces the concept of limbo to the audience that can be interpreted in different ways. Limbo is usually considered as the place where unbaptized children go after they die. It can however be described as a state of oblivion or a transitional state that is suspended in time. The country is in a state of limbo as the fight is at its end and people are unsure whether to expect more fighting or peace at last. The orphanage is also at limbo as it stands alone in a deserted area and is being faced with change and the greed of one man that may destroy them all. The bomb is also hanging in a state of limbo waiting for something that has not been defined. Conclusion Historical poetics views any given genre not only according to its artistic category but also through the influences that determine how various aspect of the film have been represented such as scientific innovations, dominant views in the society, historical events and the cultural climate. In the devil’s Backbone, symbolism and imagery have been utilized to chronicle the historical events of the Spanish civil war and the dominant supernatural beliefs that prevailed during this period. Through the use of imagery, symbolism and content presentation, del Toro was able to bring out a horror story that is not only captivating but also one that brings out various aspects of the Spanish history and beliefs. The story of Carlos and Santi also brings forth the demarcation between normal and other, the natural and supernatural. The central theme that constructs this film, “what is a ghost”, is also deeply rooted in the Spanish culture and belief system. The film utilizes this to bring out a sense of terror and fear without extreme costumes. References Bordwell, D., 1988. Historical Poetics of Cinema. In: R. Barton, ed. 1989. The Cinematic Text: Methods and Approaches.New York: Ams Press Inc Chun, K., 2002. What is a Ghost: An Interview with Guillermo del Toro. Cineaste. 27(2), pp.28-32 Gomez-Castellano, I., 2013. Lullabies and postmemory: hearing the ghosts of Spanish history in Guillermo del Toros Pans Labyrinth. Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, [Online] 11 Oct , Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14636204.2013.841046 [Accessed 24 Feb 2014] Lázaro-Reboll, A., 2007. The Transnational Reception of El espinazo del diablo (Guillermo del Toro, 2001). Hispanic Research Journal, 8(1), pp.39–51. Read More