Date of Award

6-2023

Document Type

Union College Only

Department

Spanish and Hispanic Studies

First Advisor

Silvina Yi

Language

English

Keywords

Guillermo del Toro, The Fantastic, El espinazo del diablo, El laberinto del fauno, Spanish Civil War, Monsters, Ghosts, Fairytales

Abstract

Monsters, dictators, ghosts, and fairies; this is the world that Guillermo del Toro creates in his films, El espinazo del diablo (2001) and El laberinto del fauno (2006). This thesis delves deep into the fantastic worlds that del Toro creates in these films and how, by doing so, he transports his audience, allowing them to take away a new perspective on the Spanish Civil War and the long-standing impact it had on the Spanish people. Del Toro creates these fantastic worlds by surrounding his audiences in clouds of doubt. It is never confirmed if the ghosts in El espinzao del diablo and the monsters and underworld in El laberinto del fauno are real or if they are just parts of the children's imaginations-coping mechanisms to help them get through the Spanish Civil War and Franco's fascist dictatorship. Although the audience does not know whether or not they are real, del Toro's grotesque monsters provide the audience with unclouded, morally black-and-white depictions of the true monsters behind the war and subsequent dictatorship. It is this symbolism that makes del Toro's films such powerful communicators of the violence behind the Spanish Civil War.

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Rights Statement

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.