Most of the time - in 'Pan's Labyrinth' or 'Devil's Backbone' - I'm talking about my childhood.
Interpretation
The quote reflects an exploration of childhood experiences through art and storytelling.
Guillermo Del Toro's quote suggests that his works, such as 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'Devil's Backbone', are deeply influenced by his own childhood memories. This highlights the importance of personal experiences in the creation of art and how they can shape narratives filled with nostalgia, wonder, and sometimes darkness, as seen in his films.
In practice
In a discussion about the impact of personal experiences on creative works.
I don't try to sanction other people's joy in monsters. I mean, I think the fact is, humor, fantasy - you know, like fear, desire or laughter - create genres of their own: comedy, melodrama, or erotic films or horror films... The boundaries cannot be defined. It's to each his own.
As a director, I design every movie to be true to itself, and damn it if they like it, and damn it if they don't.
If you ask me, I alternate between truly bizarre, what you would call 'Hollywood' movies and truly bizarre, what you would call 'arthouse' movies.
But I think we are seeing a resurgence of the graphic ghost story like The Others, Devil's Backbone and The Sixth Sense. It is a return to more gothic atmospheric ghost storytelling.
The saddest journey in the world is the one that follows a precise itinerary. Then you're not a traveler. You're a f@@king tourist.
When you start with Super 8, you are everything. You're the DP, the sound man, the effects guy. And what I started understanding, by working for other people, is that the best type of director is someone who rose through the ranks.
A writer, or any artist, canβt expect to be embraced by the people [but] you just keep doing your work - because you have to, because itβs your calling.
No critic writing about a film could say more than the film itself, although they do their best to make us think the oppposite.
I'm playing deep African music.
We need to bring music to the people, even to those who normally do not listen to classical music.
Hollywood wants to go for the flash, because that's what a lot of them think science fiction is.
Perhaps the mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people - the beauty within themselves.
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