There is an apparent contradiction between the fact that I am a huge fan of director Guillermo del Toro and my utter dislike of the horror genre, whose undisputable fan and representative he is.
In 2006 I went to see Pan’s Labyrinth / El laberinto del fauno (official trailer on YouTube) at the cinema, not knowing what I was getting myself into. And I was both horrified and mesmerised. It was a movie I absolutely loved but didn’t want to see again - probably for many years. The story of Pan’s Labyrinth is something harrowing - a little girl living in Franco’s Spain and witnessing disturbing events turns to the fantastic to try and make sense of the horrors of real life that she cannot understand.
[The eponymous Pan/Faun, as well as the horrible Pale Man character were played by Doug Jones, a great actor and an all-time favourite for ‘costume’ monster roles. I think I will dedicate an entire post to his work, he is amazing].
It was also the start of my love for Guillermo del Toro’s work - especially his dark aesthetics. ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ is characterised by sombre, but warm tones, with different colour palettes for the real world and for the surreal. It also has brilliantly-designed monsters that haunt you just because of who they are and how they look, despite not being full of tentacles, teeth, misshapen limbs etc., and moving rather slowly - so you actually don’t get startled by them, like in a ‘traditional’ horror movie. Instead, they stare at you for quite some time (in the case of the Pale Man, with the eyes in the palms of its hands. I don’t know why this is so horrible, but it is), and you can see them clearly and take in all their terrifying otherworldliness. This is ‘slow horror’, and a masterpiece of the genre, that one reviewer [contains spoilers] described as a „grotesque dream”.
And I loved it.
Wikipedia rightly has it as ‘dark fantasy’ - and if you think that’s a nice fantasy genre with a slightly sombre twist, you’re wrong. A more recent example that you may have seen is „The Magicians” series. On wikipedia it’s described simply as ‘fantasy’ - but no, it’s dark and twisted, more so as it progresses.
Some of GdT’s works that you may have seen (or at least heard of) are Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak (beautiful Gothic horror starring Tom Hiddleston ❤️) and The Shape of Water (which was nominated for thirteen awards at the Oscars and won four, including Best Picture and Best Director).
All this to say that he has another movie coming up. Yay!
Making ‘Frankenstein’ was apparently a long-time dream of GdT. Described by wikipedia as a ‘Gothic science fiction film’, it will hit Netflix in November 2025, after a world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in August. It is a shame that it will go directly to streaming :(( I really want to see it at the cinema and I feel robbed of that option. In any case, I cancelled my Netflix subscription two years ago, as I had no time to keep watching, nor much interest in what they were offering anymore. I haven’t regretted that, but for this movie now… [incidentally, I also cancelled Disney+, and I only regret ‘Only Murders in the Building’. Prime Video went that way as well, and I think the only series I really liked was ‘The Man in the High Castle’. Methinks I should invest in DVDs or Blu Rays of these movies and series that I like, once completed, and that’s that].
British Vogue has a nice little article on GdT’s Frankenstein, where you can see a few stills from the movie - probably taken from the trailer (they say ‘teaser’, but it’s a bit too long for a teaser, don’t you think?).
In any case, those of you who have Netflix are in for a treat, and November is a great time to watch a dark ‘Gothic science-fiction’ movie, as the year progresses into winter (at least in our hemisphere).
I recently turned my attention to Iceland again, after a Facebook post by Icelandair which made me want to pack my bags and move there right away. I am sick and tired of non-inclusive societies and I long to live in a place where everyone feels welcome and safe. My knowledge of Icelandic society is not that extensive, but the fact that their national airline chose to do this, and they even have a Reykjavik Pride week, gives me hope. The do rank high on gender equality and book reading stats, and they have this lovely tradition of giving books for Christmas (and actually reading them). The country also boasts an impressive number of published writers.
Sure, the language is not that easy to learn (here are some resources suggested for interested learners), the climate may be a bit harsh (ahaha) and both the long, dark winter and the long, bright summer* can be a challenge, not to mention the active volcanoes, but hey, no place is perfect. It’s always a give and take.
[ *I spent 10 days in Iceland in June, back in 2008. The sun would ‘set’ at 2am and ‘rise’ at 4am, and there was no real darkness. Many accommodations didn’t even have curtains or blinds - luckily, we had been warned, so we brought along sleeping masks. Despite not getting enough sleep, we felt energised throughout the trip, due to the omnipresent light, I suppose. Once back home, however, we collapsed and slept, and slept, and slept… 😅].
In any case, this renewed interest in Iceland directed me to The Reykjavík Grapevine publication (also on Facebook and Instagram), where I found this short article in which a US-based professor of literature recommends Icelandic literature in translation.
During my 2008 trip, I picked up a book by an Icelandic author (I always do that when traveling, I find books by local authors make for the best souvenirs ever). It was a classic: ‘Under the Glacier’ by Halldór Laxness - a Nobel prize winner. As I read it a long time ago, I don’t remember much, so perhaps a re-read would be in order.
From the article mentioned above, I would also like to read the following:
Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón (long-time collaborator of Björk)
Icelandic Nobility by Thorbergur Thordarson (if I could get my hands on it; it doesn’t seem to be available outside Iceland).
Have you read anything by an Icelandic author? Do you have any favourites/books to recommend? Let me know in the comments. Movie recommendations and travel tips are also accepted ;)
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