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Socialist Review Index (1993–1996) | Socialist Review 182 Contents
From Socialist Review, No. 182, January 1995.
Copyright © Socialist Review.
Copied with thanks from the Socialist Review Archive.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
Cronos
Dir: Guillermo del Toro
I imagine that to many readers of Socialist Review the words ‘vampire’ and ‘film’ would have the same effect as a crucifix had on Christopher Lee in so many Dracula films, or at best send them into a stifling stupor of boredom.
Occasionally, however, films are made which show that form does not necessarily dictate content. Cronos, a film by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, is such a film. There are no fangs or garlic and just a few buckets full of blood.
The story revolves around a curious and intricate piece of jewellery, a fabulous half clockwork, half insect creation from which the film takes its name. The cronos device was made by a 16th century alchemist who, fleeing from the inquisition, discovered the secret of eternal life.
After 300 years the cronos falls into the hands of an amiable old antiques dealer, superbly played by Frederico Luppi. He is bitten, develops a raging thirst for blood and after a quick bout of cold turkey becomes a vampire.
He does not understand what is happening to him, but he begins to make sense of things when the dying boss of a multinational company, obsessed with gaining eternal life, tries ruthlessly to take the device from him. A struggle unfolds between the two old men which casts the traditional fight between good and evil in an interesting new light.
The antiques dealer is involved in a fight not only against the ‘evil capitalist vampire’ but also for his own humanity. He is helped in this by his young granddaughter, who is played convincingly by Tamara Ahaneth without ever approaching Macaulay Caulkin type cuteness.
The film works on many levels – it is visually spectacular without being overblown and elegant without being glamorous.
There are also some very funny moments, such as when his granddaughter builds him a makeshift coffin out of an old clothes trunk in the attic to sleep in during daylight hours.
This is an entertaining and imaginative alternative to current Hollywood fashion for blockbuster horror, which transcends the limits of its genre – beautifully.
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