As few times in his long film career, Guillermo del Toro had the opportunity to talk about his present, past and future as a filmmaker.
During the closing of the 75 edition of the Cannes Film Festival 2022, which took place last weekend, the director, who was one of the most besieged by the international press, stunned locals and strangers alike when he revealed the reasons why he left his native country: Mexico.
The Oscar winner for Best Director and Best Film for ‘The Shape of Water’ pointed out that he would have loved to live “all his life in Mexico”, however, the violence in the country and the kidnapping of his father – an event that changed his life – forced him to leave.
“I would have stayed in Mexico all my life, but my father’s kidnapping in 1998 changed my life”
Guillermo del Toro
“I started making movies asses in the United States because I had a lot of money from my first film in Mexico, ‘Cronos’. Later I thought that I would continue making Spanish films, so… it was never planned, it just happened”, the 57-year-old also screenwriter recalled with notorious nostalgia.
Guillermo del Toro, who has been known for creating films about monsters and demons, also mentioned that one of his future plans as a screenwriter is to write a version of the play by playwright Mary Shelley: “My dream would be make my version of ‘Frankenstein’” he declared.
“These two works represent what I dreamed I wanted to do when I was a child, when I was very young”, emphasized del Toro, who was a moderator in a series of debates organized in Cannes with great filmmakers on the future of cinema.