A version of this story appears inEntertainment Weekly#1493, availablehere.
For the past 25 years, del Toro has built fantastical worlds of horrible beauty and beautiful horror.
The layers are essential to the filmmaker’s process, even if the audience may never notice them.
Fox Searchlight
“But for me, it is very important that I know why everything is there.”
One look at the scaly creature and it’s likely you’ll identify del Toro’s first influence.
“I didn’t want to mimic anything,” Jones says.
“I didn’t want to have somebody else’s performance in my mind.
RemakingBlack Lagoonwas never del Toro’s intention anyway.
Elisa’s apartment is drenched in cyan, connecting her to the water.
Red enters into the film later, once she’s in love.
And green, of course, is the future, covering every surface of the government lab.
I was not really interested in it, but I knew I needed to appear reasonable.
He’s such a nice guy.
He gave up black and white.'”
Even at that budget, the Toronto-set production had to get creative to believably re-create 1962 Baltimore.
He was able to save some material and repurpose it forShape.
He and his team also scoured the city for era-appropriate locations, often finding them in unexpected places.
(Del Toro is happy to report that he came in $100,000 under budget.)
Ironically, the budget constraints actually helped del Toro relax a bit.
His last two big-budget features,Pacific RimandCrimson Peak, underperformed with audiences.
Not having to deliver a blockbuster this time took the pressure off.
“I finally was able to consider films lyrically.
I wanted you to come out of the [theater] humming the movie.
Not the music of the movie.
Humming the movie.”
And lucky for us, he dreams in color.
