Guillermo del Toro emotionally announced the passing of his brother while being honored at the Palm Springs Film Awards on Saturday.
The director, on hand to receive the Visionary Award at the annual star-studded event, was joined on stage by his Frankenstein stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth, as he spoke about how, at 61 years old, “I’ve come to believe that everybody’s born with one or two songs to sing. That’s it, and we keep repeating them and repeating them until we get them sort of right. And Frankenstein was the song I was born to sing.”
Del Toro told the crowd at the Palm Springs Convention Center how he approached the iconic tale by “making it about fatherhood and forgiveness, because I believe that we want to be forgiven and forgive. And now, very recently, something has became very clear to me. Three days ago, I lost my older brother but I’m here, and I’m here because the film speaks about a condition that is purely human; that is proved by the final phase in the film, which says the heart may break and the broken live on. Even a broken heart pumps the blood and keeps you going.”
“My brother and I played Victor and the creature on many moments in our lives,” he said in reference to Frankenstein‘s two main characters, and “many years ago, we granted each other love and granted each other peace. So I’m here for family.”
The filmmaker — who skipped the event’s red carpet — didn’t reveal his brother’s name or any details about his death, but announced “I may be absent at a few functions this [awards] season, but not this one. I’m here because this is family,” as he gestured to his stars. “Life gives you a family on the way.”
