In conjunction with the exhibit Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio currently in display, The Museum of Modern Art is presenting the special retrospective series 'Guillermo del Toro: Tales of Mourning and Imagination,' running January 7-29 in in New York City.
Del Toro is a director of myths and fairytales, whose eclectic aesthetic draws on the occult, Victoriana, and the gothic. Titled after Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination, a major influence on the director, this retrospective presents theatrical releases and television series directed by Del Toro, along with others he wrote and produced. A storyteller who has experimented across a wide range of genres, from big-box action, sci-fi, and superhero movies, to horror and crime thrillers, to visionary art films, Del Toro is a filmmaker of distinctive vision.
Using fantastical visuals—makeup and special effects often play a central role in conveying emotion—and dark thematic undertones, he explores the complex relationship between fathers and sons, death and mourning, and the beauty of monsters. His rebellious, generous, expansive films move and terrify, calling viewers to embrace imperfection, find redemption in the grotesque, and dream of a better world.
Some of the titles in the series include Cronos, The Devil's Backbone / El Espinazo del Diablo, and Pan’s Labyrinth / El laberinto del fauno, The Shape of the Water and Nighmare Alley, along with The Orphanage by J.A. Bayona, Mama by Andy Muschietti, and Doña Herlinda and Her Son / Doña Herlinda y su hijo by Jaime Humberto Hermosillo.
