Guillermo Del Toro: Film Analysis

Guillermo del Toro is widely known as a director that primarily directs fantastical and horrific films layered with commentary of the morals of society in which his characters live, and steeped in a revolutionary historical European setting. His fascination with this dreamlike fantasy is more often than not portrayed in a nightmarish way. The over the top gothic design elements paired with the intense color choices like those seen in Crimson Peak are often in stark contrast to the lighthearted and innocent children or childlike main characters that have made his style iconic to the film industry. Often inspired by mythology and latin lore, his films always have an element of fantasy or the paranormal which can lead some critics to dismiss his

If he were to omit the fantastical it would limit what the viewers are able to access in ways similar to a book, these are “clearly marked; the book’s binding encases the story, and the print begins and ends where the reader should start and stop.” This only allows the external effects of an internal struggle, idea, or thought to be shown and not the concept itself. While this may not seem like a big deal now, when big themes like the past, corruption, innocence, and justice start showing up without fantastical elements, they become stale and shallow as they force the viewer to try to conceptualize them without any visual aid. However, if fantastical and paranormal elements are included then the internal state can be shown reflected with these realms. For example in Pan’s Labyrinth, “the fascist political context that Vidal enforces parallels Ofelia’s experience of her oppressive familial context, the ways that these also parallel her magical experiences reveal the potential in fairy tales for political and social

The worlds on the screen are familiar yet fantastical and they capture ghosts of moments past, “The magical experience made possible by the animation and special effects is only an illusion; both films’ protagonists wake up from “the dream” that they, and the audience, have experienced" Similarly to how movies can seem real and leave us with questions, for example in Pan’s Labyrinth;

“Del Toro destabilizes the “The End” trope by offering multiple links for the audience to follow at the film’s conclusion. Ofelia’s faun appears to be only a dream when Vidal does not see it, and her death signals an ultimate crushing by patriarchy similar to her mother’s, but both of these endings are followed by two alternative endings: the fantastical victory of the Republican fighters in the political world and Ofelia’s coronation (back) into princesshood in the magical