Why critics refer to this as a vampire movie ?
This has nothing to do with vampires.
It's a dark tale on immortality.
Simply ridiculous how reviewers want to put things in boxes.
The one thing I found bad about the film is its tango music.
Del Toro seems to strive so hard to have a "different" score imbued with comic flavors but the use of tango here is simply annoying.
Well, being that Del Toro called it a vampire film and when he wrote it, originally had Vampire in the title, I'm pretty sure it's a vampire film. He shuns daylight, he drinks blood and eternal life is a curse, not a blessing at all. He even had the sidekick, almost a Renfield type character, in Aurora.
I do agree with you that at times the music seemed a little uptempo for the scenes, but felt it only happened once or twice. Hardly a distraction. Then again, I was completely mesmerized by the look of the film, so maybe I shut it out a little more.
You said the "one thing" you didn't like. What was your overall feeling? I just saw it for the first time tonight and absolutely loved it. Gave it 8/10.
You're right, I watched the extras on the Criterion bluray and there was specific mention about the vampire innuendos by Del Toro himself.
It simply didn't translate to me that way.
Overall I was mesmerized as you, by the look and feel of the film, but the upbeat tango tempo destroyed the atmosphere, at least in the scenes where it played out loud.
All in all, I like Del Toro's style and themes but I believe he is overestimated as a director, because he does not have a strong filmic language, but rather more of a design oriented look.
If I were to give it a number, I'd say a 7/10.
In what scenes you find music so bad? It just seemed offbeatly realistic and nice touch in the morgue scenes. Wasn't it just something the "guy who does corpses" listened while working?
(Sorry, I don't know the translation for that particular job.)
I didn't like Del Toro's musical choices in that film as a whole. I don't recall particular scenes. The "tango" score approach was not "my cup of tea". I think he wanted to imbue his film with an "alternative" musical style, which he thought could work in a contradictory way. But I felt it was out of place completely.
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