Jesus Gris (Luppi), a Mexican antique dealer, discovers a strange mechanical insect in an old statue. We know from the prologue that this is the Cronos Device, invented by a 16th-century alchemist who used it to prolong his life into the 1930's. The device promptly "attacks" Gris, digging its legs into his arm and drawing blood. Over the next few weeks, Gris feels rejuvenated and finds that he feels compelled to make frequent use of the device. Unfortunately, the device has a nasty side effect; it causes Gris to crave blood. Gris soon discovers that a reclusive, dying industrialist, De la Guardia, has the instructions for the device and desperately wants to get his hands on it. De la Guardia sends his nephew Angel (Perlman) to get it from Gris by any means necessary.
Cronos is more a film of ideas and images than plot. The movie avoids horror cliches. Gris, the film's "monster" is easily the most sympathetic character in the movie. He's a loving husband and is especially close to his nearly silent grand-daughter, Aurora. He never resorts to attacking anyone for their blood; in one cringe-inducing scene, he actually licks blood off the floor of a public bathroom after a fellow partygoer suffers a nosebleed. De la Guardia, on the other hand, is cold and unfeeling, insulting and even violent towards Angel, who returns his contempt. Angel (somewhat inexplicably) is perfectly willing to hurt or kill Gris to get the Cronos device. Del Toro does include one cliche that really works in this context: Aurora, the innocent child, seems to be the only one who really knows what's going on.
Cronos is startlingly original and like nothing I had seen before. It might be short on explicit horror content and lacking a conclusive ending, but its fascinating to think about and to look at, and Luppi is great. Del Toro is now a major Hollywood director. This is the film that put him on the map, and rightly so.
No comments:
Post a Comment