Dir. Guillermo del Toro
It took me longer than I'd care to admit before I realized that Cronos is a vampire film. The beauty of the film lies in del Toro's spin on the classic archetypes of vampirism, which are so unique that, at least in my case, the very nature of the film unfolds slowly. By going in a new direction, the old creature is seen in a completely new light.
I do also have to admit that I did pick up on the vampire theme, albeit subtextually. See, to plug my past work, I've always loved how vampires are inextricably linked with death via coffins, dating back to Nosferatu which I discussed. In Cronos, the coffin plays an important role in a scene mid-way through the film where we see Jesus Gris' (Federico Luppi) rebirth. He is the elderly antiquarian who has become addicted to the painful, blood-draining device which reinvigorates his body - giving him longer life. He is killed earlier in the film accidentally by Angel de la Guardia (Ron Perlman), the son of industrialist Dieter de la Guadria (Claudio Brook), the villain of the film who desires the device to elongate his own half-life.
The scene has the coroner, Tito (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) go about his task of cremating Gris' body. The machines keep failing, a fact that could be interpreted as an act of god, and so Tito goes to the other room to fix the issue. As he returns, the coffin is open, and Tito absentmindedly shuts it, and sends it on its way into the fire. Angel returns on the orders of his father, posing as a friend of family to double-check that Gris' heart has not been pierced (Seriously, how the hell did I not notice the vampire elements!), otherwise the device's effect on the father will not work. Gris then has come back to life, and indeed the parallel to Jesus Christ is highlighted by Jesus himself as later he laughs at the aptness of his name. It is in this coffin scene that I thought back to Nosferatu and the use of coffins by vampires, and yet I never made the connection! I saw this man, now re-born as a wholly unique creature of del Toro's making, and that is not only a testament to a great story-teller, but also in the ability for me to see vampirism, with old cliches intact, in a wholly new way.
There's a great moment where Gris, in a weakened state, telephones his wife (Margarita Isabel), who believes him dead. He whispers her name, before she hangs up suddenly in fear. I thought that this was a fantastic 'explanation' for the paranormal visits of 'ghosts' in popular myth, sometimes over the phone. Perhaps these visits are people who have used the device, and following death, wish to return to their past loves and past lives, but of course they cannot - as we see later, with Gris' thirst for blood growing stronger.
The vision del Toro has of vampirism is one of addiction. There's an earlier scene as Gris allows the device to feed off him in a bathroom, where the device, insect-like, digs metal claws into his flesh, with finally a needle extending from the main body of the device, penetrating the chest and feeding the ancient creature inside (which we see surrounded by clockwork, a motif which would return for del Toro in Hellboy II). Mercedes, his wife, and Aurora (Tamara Shanath), his granddaughter knock at the door, asking if he is ok. He mutters that yes, he will be right out. This is imagery that we've seen before with addicts, who hide their drug-taking in secret, weakened by their use of drugs, coupled with pleasure.
The most famous scene of the film, and rightly so, sees Gris completely overcome by his thirst for blood, as a party-guest's blood (from a nosebleed) draws to him from the nearby bathroom sink. Another guest complains about the mess, and washes it away, much to Gris' pain. However, a small patch of blood lies on the tiled floor, and Gris, completely overcome, bends to the floor and licks the blood up slowly.
This a man at the lowest of the low, and we see the cost of his rejuvenation in revolting detail. At the end of the film, there is a fantastic image where Aurora holds her cut hand to her grandfather in offering, and we see the hunger in Jesus as he craves her blood. What I love about the image is that Aurora holds her hand in a V shape, and the blood runs down the gap of her fingers directly down. It seems to be a visualization of a vagina, one whose virginity has been taken and bleeds. What this does then so brilliantly is again tie back to the sexual nature of vampires, which is otherwise completely ignored in the film, beyond Gris' horniness increasing a little after his rejuvenation (but in a natural human way, rather than a vampiric way). It is even more taboo as it is a dearly loved member of his family, and it would be an abuse of power, not only of body to murder and take her young blood. Gris sees this, and of course refuses her offer, destroying the device.
His body has been transformed by the device, his skin a white, vampiric one under the old flesh of his human body; his soul however remains pure, despite his nature as a kindly old man taking a hammering along the way - with murder (of Angel), licking of the blood from the floor, and the feeding (in a traditional vampiric way, from the neck - this is where it all came home for me thematically) of Dieter. His soul passes the test of family connections, rape (metaphorically), and addiction with the final destruction of this device. He breaks the chain for future sufferers, and denies himself this unnatural longer life as he realises the final cost it would take from him - his future, in the form of Aurora; a theft of her future and his bloodline, recycled into his own body directly via blood. It is the addict choosing cold turkey, and destroying his stash, indeed, destroying the production factory of the stash!
The device then is pure del Toro - in physical design with clockwork and unnatural creatures dwelling within, and in soul, as we see his vision of the vampire, and the classic movie monster. Shades of Frankenstein echo in Gris and Aurora, hearkening back to del Toro's own childhood viewing of the Universal monster films. This is a great director interpreting and remixing the mythology of monsters off-screen and on, creating something entirely new, but refreshingly classic in nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment