On The Front Lines

Gadflyonline Features Interview with Mexican Rising-Star Director Guillermo Del Toro

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--A director has scored when he can achieve both critical and commercial success, but rarely do directors straddle both poles at the same time. Guillermo Del Toro has achieved just such a feat with his two recent films. "Blade 2 I love just as much as The Devil's Backbone, but they are completely different," the Mexican director, who is still in his 30s, says in an extensive Gadflyonline interview this week not to be missed by film buffs.

The talented rising directorial star talks candidly with Gadflyonline's Grant Rosenberg about how his films are made and what he thinks of the state of cinema today. His two new movies are different indeed. Del Toro's Spanish-language film The Devil's Backbone was released last year and was on many critics' best-of-year-end lists. Set during the Spanish Civil War, it is an historical and according to Del Toro "very political" film whose idea came to him sixteen years ago. Blade 2, on the other hand, is a Hollywood release and a sequel. Starring Wesley Snipes, it debuted last month to even more favorable reviews than The Devil's Backbone. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gives it three and a half stars and calls it a brilliant film.

Also in this week's Gadflyonline:

· IRVING PENN'S PASSIVE NUDES: Gadflyonline's art regular Joan Altabe looks at Irving Penn's current show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and places his famous nudes in a long and interesting history.

· SKIP THE BOOK, SEE THE MOVIE? Gadflyonline interviews Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club and the recently published Choke, about the process of screen adaptation. As a writer, what's the worst (or best) thing a screenwriter, a director, and a herd of producers can do to your book?

For more information on Gadflyonline, visit www.gadflyonline.com or call 1-434-975-1652. To be placed on the Gadflybuzz e-mail list, visit the Web site or call the number above.

Gadflyonline is a nonprofit arts and culture online magazine that offers independent coverage of music, film, literature, and the live arts. Look for new articles daily.

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