Cronos [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro

Overview

This surreal variant on the classic vampire tale is the directorial debut of Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who garnered international acclaim and several awards. The film tells the story of elderly antique dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi, in a role originally written for Max Von Sydow) who, with his eight-year-old granddaughter Aurora (Tamara Shanath), discovers an ancient artifact secreted within a statue obtained from the estate of a 16th-century alchemist. Unbeknownst to Gris, the device -- which resembles an ornate, gilded mechanical beetle -- houses an immortal parasite which will grant eternal life to its host. Naturally, there is a terrible price for this gift, which Gris is doomed to discover after the object anchors itself to his body. He begins to develop an extreme aversion to daylight, as well as an agonizing thirst for human blood. To compound matters, dying millionaire Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) has learned of the device's existence -- thanks to an occult tome obtained from its inventor -- and wishes to obtain it for his own use. To this end he employs his vain, brutish nephew Angel (Ron Perlman) to retrieve it for him. Angel's techniques are less than subtle, and he inevitably winds up killing Gris in his futile search for the artifact... but death is not permanent for the host of the Cronos, and he rises from the mortuary slab to reunite with the long-suffering Aurora. Together they confront de la Guardia and his nephew one last time, hoping to find a way to reverse the horrible process before Gris suffers the same monstrous fate as the device's creator.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/07/2010
UPC:	0715515048712
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	3,826

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Guillermo Del Toro and cinematographer guillermo navarro, with dts-hd master audio soundtrack; Two audio commentaries, one featuring Del Toro, the other producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall; Geometria, an unreleased 1987 short horror film by Del Toro, finished in 2010, with a new video interview with director; Welcome to bleak house, a video tour by Del Toro of his home office, featuring his personal collections; New video interview with actor Frederico Luppi; Stills gallery captioned by Del Toro; Trailer; New and improved english subtitle translation, approved by the director; Plus: a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh and excerpts from Del Toro's notes for the film

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Federico Luppi	Jesús Gris,Actor
Ron Perlman	Angel
Claudio Brook	Dieter de la Guardia
Margarita Isabel	Mercedes Gris
Tamara Shanath	Aurora
Mario Ivan Martinez	Alchemist
Juan Carlos Colombo	Funerary Administrator
Farnesio DeBernal	Manuelito
Jorge Martinez de Hoyos	Narrator (Spanish)
Namir El Kadi	Narrator (English)
Luis Rodriguez	Buyer
Gerardo Moscoso	Drunk
Eugenio Lobo	Hanging Man
Daniel Giménez Cacho	Tito
Javier Álvarez	Bleeding Man
Adriana Olivera	Actor
Daniel Jiménez Cacho	Tito
M. Martinez	Alchemist
Luis de Icaza	Tango Student
Francisco Sánchez	Mimo
Laurencio Cordero	Watchman
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos	Narrator

Technical Credits

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro	Director,Screenwriter
Arthur Gorson	Producer
Bertha Navarro	Producer
Laurencio Cordero	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

The simple, straightforward plot of director Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos is given resonance by a rich, intriguing mythology which emphasizes the grotesque, parasitic aspects of vampirism, stripping away the romantic aspects of the myth to define the vampire as essentially a highly-evolved form of parasitic insect, which the Cronos device itself clearly resembles. Del Toro too often resorts to rather heavy-handed allegory -- the saintly Jesus Gris dies, descends into a "hell" of indignity and base desires (exemplified by a nasty scene where he resorts to lapping blood from a bathroom floor) and rises again to protect his granddaughter from evil -- this wild fantasy is still anchored at a very sensitive, human level, thanks to excellent performances and a low-key, non-exploitative approach.

All Movie Guide - Cavett Binion