Idiot Savant

Here is a frame that I saw for the movie Pan's Labyrinth. I immediately connected this frame with a film called The Devil's Backbone. In 2001, I badly sprained my back water skiing. I worked throughout the week, but on the weekend's all I could do was lay in bed with ice, heat, muscle relaxers and pain medication.

I ordered lots of movies from Netflix which at least helped me pass the time and forget about the pain. The Devil's Backbone was movie that I fell in love with. It was a beautifully shot movie--and wonderful story. My son and I watched it twice together (and given that he was probably 12/13 at the time, and it was English subtitles that he followed wonderfully, that was a feat). I watched it one more time in regular mode and then a final time listening to the director's (Guillermo del Toro) commentary.

One of the things that he discussed was his deliberate use of lenses to create particular scenes to set the mood. One such lens was a chocolate colored coating to soften the light. I have no idea whether or not the above frame is using that lenses, but it was the distinctive look that I remembered from The Devil's Backbone. Guillermo del Toro is the director (much acclaimed, I must say) of P's L. I was both surprised and delighted (a wee bit frightened too) to see that my brain made that connection. So I've decided that I have some latent idiot savant talents in this area. A useless talent, certainly.

If you've seen the movie, please let me know what you think. I'm on a mission to see it this week, even if I cannot rustle up a companion.