Guillermo del Toro, like many of us, is stuck at home. The Oscar-winning director was in the middle of filming Nightmare Alley with Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper, when he had to shut down production because of COVID-19. Del Toro has been in isolation a little over a month, and admitted on Twitter that “it’s been an odd exercise: helping friends on the outside or strategizing to assist others while being indoors is in and of itself a strange moment. An important moment.”
As a way to help out in this strange, important moment and as a way to nurture the online cinephile community he so enjoys being a part of, the Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water director took to Twitter to both share what he’s been up during quarantine while encouraging his famous filmmaker friends to do the same. The result was a thrilling thread that may well serve as a “Must-Watch List” for the rest of us, courtesy of some of the best directors working today. Everyone from Ava DuVernay (When They See Us), Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and Rian Johnson (Knives Out) to Issa López (Tigers Are Not Afraid), Jorge Gutiérrez (The Book of Life), and J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage) chimed in, letting del Toro know what kinds of films and books have been helping them cope with their current self-isolation woes.
You should read through the entire thread not only to hear del Toro yet again wax poetic about the beauty of old studio Hollywood films but also to see what he’s learned from reading Juan Rulfo, what movies he’s enjoyed watching with his kids and why he’s pushing The Criterion Channel to put out more Mexican classics like Fernando Méndez’s El suavecito. And honestly, isn’t it comforting to know that a filmmaker so well-known for creating nightmarish films is just trying to cope with all of this by diving into Netflix, iTunes and The Criterion Channel?
Take a look at some selected snippets from the day-long thread below.