The Devil's Backbone (El Deseo, 2001), Production Make-up Paint Master for Junio Valverde "Santi's Ghos...

Description

The Devil's Backbone (El Deseo, 2001), Production Make-up Paint Master for Junio Valverde "Santi's Ghost". Original paint guide bust of actor Junio Valverde who played the haunting ghost of murdered orphan Santi. Crafted of resin, the bust is expertly painted in pale, ashen skin tones with dark accents around the eyes and signature gaping mortal wound on his forehead. Santi's ghostly presence drives much of the film's narrative, as his death is the central mystery that Carlos (Fernando Tielve) uncovers. Santi symbolizes the unresolved trauma and violence that haunts the orphanage and, by extension, Spain during the Spanish Civil War. This early sculpture can be seen displayed in del Toro's Bleak House on page 36 of Guillermo del Toro: Cabinet of Curiosities - My Notebooks, Collections and Other Obsessions. Bust measures 13" x 8.5" housed within an acrylic museum display case measuring 23" x 17.5" x 7.5". Exhibits minor production wear. Unexamined out of display case. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.

"DDT SFX generated this paint master to lock and uniform the painting process of all the foam prosthetic pieces made in the entire film. Devil's Backbone is one of my 5 top films I have ever made, and the central piece was Santi. I drew him in graphite many years before (approximately 1998) to show him to [Pedro] Almodovar. And from the start, I knew the crack on the ghost's skull would look like broken porcelain. DDT was mixed on that. They did studies of rot. I refused it, I wanted the ghost to be beautiful and fragile. Like a kid's soul, rather than his body. I knew the paint job should include rust tears for the same non-linear reason - it made him 'not of flesh' and gave him beauty. The palette of this master guide is utterly exquisite - one of the reasons is that there are two uber complex basic colors to do a makeup in: Red is one, White is the other. DDT masterfully solved the sculptural and color puzzle and delivered a most remarkable ghost." From the personal collection of Guillermo del Toro.

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