De la Guardia (
Claudio Brook), the villain of
Guillermo Del Toros first movie
Cronos, sits in his room like a spider in a web. When he walks, it is with two sticks. Around him hang statues of archangels; part of his obsessive quest. He is Sidney Greenstreet, and they are his Maltese Falcons, and he still hasnt found the right one. Meanwhile an elderly shopkeeper called Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) finds hidden in just such a statue a gold, oval, meticulously designed artefact. A prologue has already hinted at its purpose; hundreds of years ago an alchemist designed it as a means of eternal life. We are not sure how it works, exactly, until metallic legs shoot out and bury their way into Jesuss hand. Of course: its an insect. The eternal life comes at a cost, as Jesus soon discovers. In one of the best scenes Del Toro has filmed, he stares at some blood on a bathroom sink. He touches it, unable to comprehend his own desire. He lines it up as an addict might do with some spilled cocaine. He is interrupted, but spots a few more drops on the tile floor, and kneels down to take a closer look.
There is an overlay of influences going on here, particularly old crime pictures and vampire myths, and the movie serves as an excellent example of the way genres can be cross-bred and reinterpreted. Certainly it is unlike other vampire movies of recent years, addressing as it does the need for blood in a more direct, less alluring fashion than the Victorian-gothic style prevalent since Stoker. It belongs more in the Nosferatu school of vampirism than with the more alluring, sensual representations of Dracula. Jesus only seems to feel good for about a day before he realises the sad truth of his condition. He has become a parasite. De la Guardia, too, lives off other people, in different ways. He seeks the Cronos device for so it is named because he is close to death himself, and must do his business through his nephew, Angel (Ron Perlman). If La Guardia is like Greenstreet crossed with an insect, Angel is like Bogart crossed with a gorilla; all charm and fists. Even though hes ultimately an antagonist, the character is oddly endearing, and brings some humour to the mix (as does a wonderfully irreverent embalmer).
Cronos doesnt dazzle the way that Pans Labyrinth, which worked on all levels, does; its a little less bold and effective, but then I can think of few movies as bold or effective as that one. What it does is take a very interesting approach to archetypal material. The quest for eternal life has popped up in literature and myth for millennia; its an interesting addition in this movie that the creator of the device was a watchmaker, and the shots we see of its inner workings remind us of clockwork, as do the mechanical, ticking noises that build over the pictures opening credits. The juxtaposition of the mechanical and the metallic with the human body and blood and flesh is an important one; by submitting to the Cronos device you are giving yourself all the time in the world, at the price of becoming a clockwork person. This is not a typical vampire movie, in any sense, and the cover of the UK DVD and original poster deliberately misrepresented it, appearing to show the device attached to the body of a young woman. Aside from the fact this doesnt happen in the movie, and indeed there are no characters she could even be seen to represent, it suggests the kind of sexuality prevalent in many vampire flicks that is simply not here. It takes a more melancholy view. People like La Guardia dont need to be seduced into vampirism; they already actively seek it. Meanwhile Jesus, looking like Frankensteins monster after several attempts to kill him, sighs Its so painful to be alive. The last thing the alchemist/watchmaker says before he dies is Sua tempore, Latin for in his own time. Better to die in your own time than to live on time that is stolen from others. Better to well spend the time you have than bitterly try to extend it. Cronos: Special Edition blu-ray
was released today.