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In the fairy tale, the central conflict turns out to be the physician's pride, his deliberate attempt to defy death so that he can win the beautiful daughter of a King. At the end of "Godfather Death," the King tells the doctor that if he can heal his daughter he can have her hand in marriage. When Death appears at her head and denies her healing, the doctor turns the bed around and angers death with his disobedience. In an act of revenge Death takes his life.
Galvadon makes a radical departure from the Grimm fairy tale and thereby transforms its theme and overall meaning. In the film, the central conflict is not Macario's pride but rather, Church politics. When word gets out that Macario is healing the sick through miraculous powers, the Church sends an inquisition after him and accuses him of sorcery. The council sentences him to death and torture. However, a wealthy Viceroy asks Macario to heal his wife in exchange for sparing his life. When Death appears at the wife's head, denying her healing, Macario tries to turn the bed around, just as the doctor in the fairy tale did. However, the intentions of the two protagonists differ significantly. Both act out of self-interest, but Macario is trying to spare his life whereas the doctor in the fairy tale simply wants to possess the beautiful princess.
Moreover, Death tries to teach Macario a metaphysical lesson about the sacred order of the universe. Death is a part of life, part of the natural order of things. Macario struggles against Death, refusing to understand...
Death also scolds Macario for never having truly understood or appreciated the power he had been given, the power over life and death. Such a lesson is not implicated in the Grimm's fairy tale, which in stead focuses on the concept of loyalty and friendship.
Furthermore, the film turns full circle and has an ambiguous ending. Macario once again encounters the devil and God in the wilderness, and God urges him to repent for his acts. These encounters never occur in the fairy tale. The film also ends as if the entire sequence was a dream: that Macario had indeed shared his turkey with Death but that he had never been offered the healing potion. Rather, his wife finds him dead in the wilderness, having never possessed healing powers or riches.
Both the fairy tale and the film contain similar imagery at the close of the story, including a cavern filled with candles representing the lives of all human beings. Symbols such as these and major structural elements like the three apparitions, or "godfathers," and the theme of poverty are shared between both the Grimm tale and the Galvadon film. However, the film departs from the fairy tale significantly in terms of its overall meaning, impact, and theme.
Works Cited
Grimm, Jakob and Wilhelm. "Godfather Death." Trans. By Dana Gioia.
Macario. Dir. Roberto Galvadon. Screenplay Emilio Carballido and Roberto Galvadon. Perf. Ignacio L. pez Tarso, Pina Pellicer, and Enrique Lucero. Clasa Films Mundiales, 1960.
