The Modern City in the Latin-American Context Anonymous College

Throughout Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos and Luis Buñuel Los olvidados, it is apparent that the overall sense of unease, horror and despair are ingrained within the ambiences of each of these films, with the backdrop of the city playing a vital role in the development of this idea. However, the extent to which the idea of the city itself acts as a character on its own within these films is a question that requires a consideration of the contextual and formal differences between them, allowing one to think about whether it is Mexico City, an undefined city, or something else entirely that shapes the narratives of these stories.

Beginning with Cronos, and the role of Mexico City in particular as a vehicle for the themes the film deals with, the contextual aspects behind del Toro’s work is paramount to an understanding of the vampirism and the general sense of a moral decay throughout it. With regard to a “contaminating” conception of the modern city, the changes occurring during 1990s Mexico are felt in a striking and unsettling way, with the vampirism serving as a cover for examining the economic or cultural relations between Latin America and its powerful northern neighbor the United States. The link between the alchemy of the...