IN CONVERSATION WITH GUILLERMO DEL TORO

interview TIMOTEJ LETONJA

words NATALIE GAL

Guillermo del Toro stands as one of the most defining directors of our generation. His vision of fantasy, art, and the gothic has shaped modern cinema in ways few others have managed. We sat down with del Toro on the occasion of his upcoming film Frankenstein, a long-awaited project. In our conversation, he opened up about the inspirations and themes that drive his work. And if early whispers are any indication, Frankenstein may not just be one of the biggest films of the year, it is one of del Toro’s best.

images courtesy of NETFLIX

At the Frankenstein exhibition in London I noticed a quote – "eye candy is just pretty but eye protein tells a story”. Could you elaborate a bit on this?

As a storyteller, there’s no such thing as external beauty. You don’t decide if something’s pretty — you decide if it’s telling the story you want to tell or not. The choice of colors, shapes, mirrors, language, fabrics — it all has to be telling the same story. I always say there are no separate departments. There’s no wardrobe, hair, or cinematography — it’s all part of one audiovisual language. It’s the director’s duty to ask, “Are you telling the same story, or are you doing this out of some silly pursuit of beauty?”

I’m curious, how did you approach the literature behind Frankenstein? Did you use it as a basis or more as inspiration?

Through Frankenstein, I got to know the Romantics — the Gothic romance, the illustrations, the Napoleonic Wars, the French Revolution, the echoes of Shelley and other filmmakers and writers.

I believe that the more you learn about the people who wrote the book — how they lived, where they lived, the time they lived in, and the art surrounding them — the more curious you become, and the book expands into the universe. You start to discover Turner, Grimshaw, Caspar David Friedrich, the world of alchemy.

I mean, I’m not a guy with a lot of self-control. If I have a box of twelve donuts, I eat all twelve. So I tried to cram all of these aspects into the movie.

images courtesy of NETFLIX

On a more personal level, what drew you to explore this theme in your own work? As a director, is there a certain aspect that makes it especially captivating, a good foundation to build on creatively?

If you talk about trolls and you’re Nordic, you’re talking about them as your neighbors. For me, when I talk about fathers and sons, about Catholic dogma, about sacrifice and pain and crucifixion — those are my neighbors. It’s my relationship with my father, with my children, with belief itself. That’s why it resonates.

All art is a mirror. All art is a self-portrait. At the end of the day, what you create is you. You’re trying to understand one mystery — yourself. And when you decipher even small parts of it, people might say, “oh, that’s me.” It’s a collection of “me’s” having a dialogue with other “me’s,” all trying to reach you. 

And finally, this film features a star-studded cast: Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac, and Christoph Waltz are such remarkable talents. How was it working with them, and can you share anything about the casting process?

I wrote the movie for each of the actors — all of them. I wrote it for them because I knew them. I wrote the part of the creature for Andrew Garfield, but he dropped out nine weeks before we started shooting.

I turned to everyone and said, “Do not fret. There’s a miracle coming.” And the moment I met Jacob, I said, “This is the guy. He was always going to be this guy.” We used Butoh, a Japanese dance form, as a common language — talking about babies and animals and how they react to things immediately and never mutate.

Once he said on the phone, “This creature is more me than me.” I understood it, I knew he couldn’t go wrong.