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Guillermo del Toro – Interview re “The Orphanage” and Female Creativity by Jennifer Merin

Jennifer Merin
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In producing “The Orphanage,” director Guillermo del Toro is giving to Jose Antonio Bayona, the Spanish first-time director the kind of opportunity that was several years ago given to him by Pedro Almodovar, the Spanish master filmmaker. Del Toro talks with Jennifer Merin about a belief the three men have in common–that the female force is that of creativity and transformation.

In “The Orphanage,“ Laura (Belen Rueda), a desperately concerned mother, brings her ailing son, Simon (Roger Princep), to her childhood home, in hope that the place will help to heal him. This first feature by Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona and screenwriter Sergio Sanchez resonates with cinematic overtones of films directed by its producer, Guillermo del Toro.< “That comes from similar thematic concerns,” says del Toro. “These guys and I use Gothic motifs to explore fundamental human emotions, the idea that the strength of internal reality can affect external reality, and that childhood is painful and plagued with disease. “The Orphanage,” like “Pan’s Labyrinth,“ is a child’s narrative--like Peter Pan--played out with the trappings and aesthetic of the horror genre.”< MERIN: I understand you’d agreed in pre-production to unconditionally “present” the film. That’s an enormous expression of faith in these first-feature filmmakers. What gave you that level of confidence in the project?< DEL TORO: Actually, this has the feeling of fate about it. I’ve known Juan Antonio since 1983. He was a kid pretending to be a journalist to get into the movies, but he asked smart questions about technique, so we went for a coffee and talked. He was tiny and endearing, and said he was a filmmaker, and we stayed in touch. Later--well, it’s bizarre, convoluted: another guy showed me his short films and I hired him to storyboard Blade II. Based on that gig, he got a gig directing a movie in Canada. That movie’s producer was in Cannes and saw Juan Antonio’s shorts--but they were the films this other guy used to get the Blade II gig. The producer called the other guy, who confessed. Juan Antonio’s shorts were terrific--I knew he could make this film. I loved the idea and Sergio‘s script.< MERIN: How much guidance did you give?< DEL TORO: We talked. I offered maybe ten ideas--they rejected six of them. I tweaked some of the scares. But it‘s completely their film, and actually very different from the movie I would have made.< MERIN: How so?< DEL TORO: Well, I’d make the husband a stronger presence--but not to make the film male-dominated. This must be a female-centric film because, ultimately--well, I believe that the female gender transforms the world, gives it a different spin, is the creative force. In “The Orphanage,” the mother wants her son back, and she wills the world to bend to her perceptions--like the girl bends the world to her perceptions in “Pan‘s Labyrinth.” That wouldn’t change. But I think a stronger husband creates an interesting triangle, a dynamic balance between the mother, son and husband in this creepy house, which is also a character.< And I would treat Simon differently. I didn’t imagine him as Juan Antonio cast him--full of zest and temper tantrums. The kid who plays Simon is perfect in this movie, but I would have gone another way--with a pale, withdrawn kid. And, he has AIDS--I‘d explore where it came from, how it resonates with the history of the parents, feelings of survivor’s guilt, and the legacy of the orphanage, where the mother grew up.< Mainstream cinema discriminates against children as characters--they’re either spunky skateboarding kids or sweet-loving chocolate covered faces, but I say make them as complex, imperfect--mortal--as any other character. I‘m interested in exploring that. If this movie had taken the mainstream route, the mother would have arrived at the cellar in time to give the kid mouth to mouth and he would happily cling to her and they’d run into the forest as the house explodes in a ball of flames. What moves me about the ending of this film is that it’s very different--even from what you’d expect in this genre. That‘s what I‘m interested in exploring: the child has equal possibility of danger as any adult character. And I’d treat the supernatural elements a little differently--expand them. Actually, this script, this story, fascinates me so much, I’m gonna do this film again--my way. That’s a first for me because I don’t like remakes. But this is different.< MERIN: Will you direct?< DEL TORO: No. I have someone great in mind, but I won’t say who because if I do, it will never happen.< MERIN: Will Belen Rueda star again? She’s so strong in this version. Were you instrumental in casting her? DEL TORO: I’d be delighted to work with her again. She was Juan Antonio’s first choice, and if he‘d wanted to cast a Spanish scream queen, I wouldn’t have been interested in the project. But Belen’s a really solid actor, and audiences empathize with her. Some actors have that quality. Others, you say, “that’s a fabulous actor, and I don’t give a fuck what happens to her.” But Belen has brutal empathy with the audience, from the moment she enters, you want her to do well, prosper, be happy. In horror, if a character’s walking down a corridor, and there’s a presence at the end of the corridor--if there’s no empathy, it’s a horrible scene. If there’s empathy it’s a great scene. Belen has empathy in spades.< MERIN: This film, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and the upcoming “3993“ (the project del Toro’s developing with Sergio Sanchez), are all set in, made in Spain. Why is your connection to Spanish cinema so strong?< DEL TORO: Well, I’m Mexican, and we have Spanish roots. But the actual connection is because of Almodovar--he’s my mentor, my inspiration and he gave me the possibility to make “Devil’s Backbone.” Now, I’m passing that on to Juan Antonio and Sergio. There’s such talent and vitality in Spanish cinema now. It‘s exciting to see where it’s going, to be part of making it happen.< Juan Antonio and Sergio were half way into pre-production and completely out of money when they came to me, having the problems I’d had when Almodovar backed me--their funding sources doubted the effective interplay of the horror genre and emotion-based drama, they were finding that good actors they wanted to cast didn’t want to make horror movies. I knew I could bump open some doors for Juan Antonio and Sergio, and that felt right. The freshness they bring to the genre excites me. Sure, it’s great to watch the masters--the new Cronenberg or Romero--but I love seeing the new guys come in and say, “I’m here, and I’m gonna stay.” MERIN: Getting back to your connection with Almodovar, you both have such strong commitment to the female as the creative force…< DEL TORO: Yes, it’s very strong and that commitment, that mutual belief, really connects us strongly. But female isn’t always gender specific--I mean, it’s possible for the female creative force to be more present in men sometimes than it is in women. But that female creative force is what transforms the world and female characters in Almodovar’s films and mine--and in “The Orphanage”--do have the power to bend reality to their will.< MERIN: I think you have some of that, too. What’s next for you?< DEL TORO: I’m going back to London to finish editing Hellboy II, which will be released in July, 2008. But, that’s a male-centric film.< ###30###

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Jennifer Merin

Jennifer Merin is the Film Critic for Womens eNews and contributes the CINEMA CITIZEN blog for and is managing editor for Women on Film, the online magazine of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, of which she is President. She has served as a regular critic and film-related interviewer for The New York Press and About.com. She has written about entertainment for USA Today, The L.A. Times, US Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Endless Vacation Magazine, Daily News, New York Post, SoHo News and other publications. After receiving her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts (Grad Acting), Jennifer performed at the O'Neill Theater Center's Playwrights Conference, Long Wharf Theater, American Place Theatre and LaMamma, where she worked with renown Japanese director, Shuji Terayama. She subsequently joined Terayama's theater company in Tokyo, where she also acted in films. Her journalism career began when she was asked to write about Terayama for The Drama Review. She became a regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor after writing an article about Marketta Kimbrell's Theater For The Forgotten, with which she was performing at the time. She was an O'Neill Theater Center National Critics' Institute Fellow, and then became the institute's Coordinator. While teaching at the Universities of Wisconsin and Rhode Island, she wrote "A Directory of Festivals of Theater, Dance and Folklore Around the World," published by the International Theater Institute. Denmark's Odin Teatret's director, Eugenio Barba, wrote his manifesto in the form of a letter to "Dear Jennifer Merin," which has been published around the world, in languages as diverse as Farsi and Romanian. Jennifer's culturally-oriented travel column began in the LA Times in 1984, then moved to The Associated Press, LA Times Syndicate, Tribune Media, Creators Syndicate and (currently) Arcamax Publishing. She's been news writer/editor for ABC Radio Networks, on-air reporter for NBC, CBS Radio and, currently, for Westwood One's America In the Morning. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association in the Film, Documentary and TV branches and a voting member of the Black Reel Awards. For her AWFJ archive, type "Jennifer Merin" in the Search Box (upper right corner of screen).