Feature film
Cronos
Guillermo del Toro · 1993
Synopsis
In 1536, an alchemist in Veracruz devises a mechanism capable of giving eternal life. Centuries later, in Mexico City, Jesús Gris, a kindly antiques dealer, discovers this gilded scarab-shaped object. It restores his youth and gives him a thirst for blood. Dieter de la Guardia, a dying industrialist, and his nephew Ángel, a violent man, are looking for it in order to seize it, while Aurora, the antiques dealer's granddaughter, watches over him.
Context
The director's first feature film, co-produced by Iguana Producciones, Ventana Films, the University of Guadalajara and the Mexican Film Institute for around two million dollars, photographed by Guillermo Navarro. Federico Luppi plays Jesús Gris, Ron Perlman plays Ángel, and Claudio Brook plays Dieter. Shown at a festival as early as November 1992, it screened on the Croisette the following spring and was released in Mexico on 3 December 1993.
Who it is for
An hour and a half of fantasy, in Spanish, more melancholy than frightening; re-released in cinemas in France.
Prizes and reception
Prize of the Critics' Week at Cannes in 1993; five Ariel Awards in 1994, including director, screenplay and first film.
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