IMDb > El espinazo del diablo (2001)
El espinazo del diablo
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El espinazo del diablo (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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El espinazo del diablo (2001) -- Open-ended Trailer from Sony Pictures Classics
El espinazo del diablo (2001) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   14,909 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Guillermo del Toro (written by) and
Antonio Trashorras (written by) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for The Devil's Backbone on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 April 2001 (Spain) more
Tagline:
The living will always be more dangerous than the dead. more
Plot:
It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and General Franco's right-wing Nationalists... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
6 wins & 7 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(23 articles)
Decade in Review: 2001 Top Ten
 (From FilmExperience. 17 November 2009, 8:41 PM, PST)

Updated: Eugenio Mira shooting baroque retro-futuristic thriller Agnosia
 (From QuietEarth. 5 November 2009, 2:26 PM, PST)

User Comments:
among the best work I've seen more (140 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Marisa Paredes ... Carmen

Eduardo Noriega ... Jacinto

Federico Luppi ... Dr. Casares
Fernando Tielve ... Carlos
Íñigo Garcés ... Jaime

Irene Visedo ... Conchita
José Manuel Lorenzo ... Marcelo
Francisco Maestre ... El Puerco (as Paco Maestre)
Junio Valverde ... Santi
Berta Ojea ... Alma
Adrián Lamana ... Gálvez
Daniel Esparza ... Marcos
Miguel Ortiz

Juan Carlos Vellido
Javier Bódalo ... Búho (as Javier González Madrigal)
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Devil's Backbone (Europe: English title) (UK) (USA)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality.
Runtime:
106 min | Australia:108 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Guillermo del Toro has said that this is his favorite movie of his own (2003). more
Quotes:
Casares: What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in 'Hellboy': The Seeds of Creation (2004) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Yo no sé que me han hecho tus ojos more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
29 out of 37 people found the following comment useful.
among the best work I've seen, 2 May 2005
10/10
Author: aktaylor from Austin, Texas

Great care has been taken with the art direction. You are immediately transported to 1939, with Franco's army about to descend on the Spanish countryside. Even the crumbling buildings of the boys' school the characters inhabit play a role. The actors are superb, and the child actors give award-worthy performances.

This story is only incidentally a ghost story. It's a story about love and betrayal and the miseries of war visited on a people. It has a lot to teach about the depths of human cruelty, and the grace of sacrifice. It left me weeping. I don't want to label it Del Toro's masterpiece so early in his career, but it will stand through the years with his best work.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (140 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for El espinazo del diablo (2001)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
How accurate are the subtitles? eponine_t
same actors in Pan's Labyrinth ricky_orta
overrated anyone?? shootme243
Guillermo Del Toro supports Roman Polanski aweiss350
Rated R for... erniejblabla
i can't be the only one innocentimmortal
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