Cronos

Cronos is a remarkable thing, endowed with the magic ability to grant eternal life. This remarkable invention, construed in 1536 by an alchemist in Veracruz, eventually disappeared in one of the many earthquakes of Mexico. Several centuries later
it reappears, this time in an antique shop in today's Mexico. But Jesus Gris, the owner of the shop who is delighted to experiment with the special quality of the object, is not alone in his interest. An unscrupulous industrial tycoon, who is obsessed by the opportunity of eternal life, stops at nothing to get to Cronos.

COMMENTARY
The 28-year-old Guillermo del Toro's debut feature is an original variation within a genre with deep roots within Mexican cinema: the vampire movie. Guillermo del Toro has described his film as a kind of horror melodrama, narrated as a comedy which is stylistically related to a mix of different Mexican genres.
When it comes to c1100sing his actors del Toro is equally eclectics. The Argentinian actor Federico Luppi has been celebrated in numerous ways as the distinguished Jesus Gris (Jesus Gray), and here he tackles the American B-movie actor Ron Perlman, who plays the nephew of the industrial tycoon, the brutal Angel De La Guardia (guardian angel). Angel De La Guardia's uncle, the mad multi-millionaire, has in his possession the book where the alchemist wrote down
Cronos' complicated mechanism. Ever since this book came into his possession his only ambition has been to find Cronos (the god of time within Greek mythology), to make sure he will be granted eternal life. Jesus' grandchild, the young Aurora (dawn), becomes a witness to the absurd struggle between the two men, and she is the only one to suspect that no one who breaks the Law of Nature goes unpunished.
More than anything Cronos is a highly personal account of man's ancient longing for eternal life, to stop the march of time. The magical invention, a kind of mix between a Faberge egg in gold and an antique clock, is reminiscent of a beetle about to dig its claws into naked flesh, to wipe out the traces of years gone by and grant eternal youth. Beetles are also found in the graves of Ancient Egypt. They were frequently placed on top of the corpses to guarantee rebirth. The beetle, which seemed to be resurrected when the new caterpillars crawled out of the soil, was also portrayed as the god of the morning sun ... ':'
Anneli Bojstad