With Guillermo del Toro‘s Crimson Peak arriving next week, marking his return to R-rated, fright-filled fun, there’s been many conversation as to what his finest achievement is. Aside from perhaps The Devil’s Backbone, I’d put my money on his 2006 Oscar-winning fantasy tale Pan’s Labyrinth. Today we have the opportunity to dive deeper into the film’s themes thanks to a new video essay from Evan Puschak.
The eight-minute piece looks at how the director manages to “explode the limitations” perhaps set in place by Walt Disney fairy tales, by pulling in a number of different sources as inspiration for the film’s design and story and never giving too much credence to one. By zeroing on the themes of disobedience in the film, it provides a strong view point if one plans to give it a rewatch before Crimson Peak.
Along with the Pan’s Labyrinth video essay, we also have a guided tour of Guillermo del Toro’s own “man cave,” a collectible-filled place of wonder in Los Angeles, an entirely separate house from his own residence. Check it out below, along with a batch of clips from Crimson Peak and the official B-roll footage.
Crimson Peak opens on Friday, October 16th.