Macario

Del Toro explicitly states that Roberto Gavaldón’s films, particularly 'Macario,' were foundational in shaping his own cinematic language, including his visual style, thematic preoccupations with death, folklore, and the supernatural, and his unique blend of gothic horror, social realism, and rich visual storytelling. He draws parallels between Gavaldón’s use of chiaroscuro and gothic atmosphere and his own work, such as 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'The Devil's Backbone'.

Pan's Labyrinth in turn shaped 1 film

Keep going forward from Pan's Labyrinth.

Open Pan's Labyrinth's Cinema DNA →

Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina researched the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema to ground Coco not in stereotype but in cultural precedent. Roberto Gavaldón's Macario, the first Mexican film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, showed them how to treat the Day of the Dead with spiritual gravity, how to handle poverty and spirituality without sentimentality. Unkrich cited this explicitly in 2017 interviews. Macario is available on MUBI.