There have been multiple adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. Rarely has a filmmaker ever made an accurate translation from book to screen. Not every written work can have all its material translated into a movie or limited series, which are popular now.
Even Thomas Edison produced an adaptation which was just about 13 minutes in duration and originally thought to be lost. Probably the most popular one is the 1931 movie directed by James Whale with Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein and Boris Karloff in his iconic role as the Monster.
This version very much set the gold standard for all future adaptations which is why Karloff became so recognized for the role and attempts to make different versions haven’t been as well remembered. Andy Warhol produced a movie, Flesh for Frankenstein, with Udo Kier (who passed while I was working on this review) as the mad doctor and directed by Paul Morrissey. It’s about as disturbing as you’d think. Then there’s Blackenstein or Black Frankenstein, a very low-budget blaxploitation movie that beat the makers of Blacula to produce their own version.
And then, Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder made Young Frankenstein which is one of the best comedies ever made. By the 1990s, there had been a renewed interest in the novel following the disastrous The Bride in 1985 with Sting as the titular character.
Kenneth Branagh made a more faithful novel with Robert DeNiro as the Creature and he spoke. But there was also the divisive 1993 TNT movie with Randy Quaid as the monster and Patrick Bergen as the mad doctor. Both versions got bad reviews and have been mostly forgotten except for the fact the monster talks where Karloff just grunted and groaned basically setting a stereotype.
The problem is Shelley’s novel is a hard read for modern audiences. I even think those in the 1930s weren’t fully prepared. Most novels written 200 years ago seemed to follow a certain pattern of a person telling a story to someone about what happened. But the novel itself is a story inside of a story inside of a story as we see Captain Anderson (Lars Mikkelson), with the Royal Danish navy as their ship is trapped in ice as they are trying to sail to the North Pole.
Baron Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is found injured and near death. They are then attacked by the Creature (Jacob Elrodi), who attacks some of the sailors but Anderson manages to sink him in the water. Yet, Frankenstein tells Anderson the Creature isn’t dead as it can’t be killed and then recounts how he was made.
You can tell Guillermo Del Toro has been aching for years to make this adaptation and it’s probably the most faithful even though he moves the timeline from the 1790s to the 1850s so he can use the Crimean War as a backdrop. Isaac gives a great performance as Frankenstein who was shunned by his abusive father, Leopold (Charles Dance in a neat cameo), who favored his much young brother, William. He suspects Leopold, a renowned surgeon, may caused his mother, Claire (Mia Goth), to die during childbirth.
Haunted by the death of his mother, Frankenstein has become arrogant on the concept he can “cure” death and during a tribunal hearing re-animates a corpse. But he is expelled by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
It’s the basic story as we’ve seen before, but Del Toro takes a different approach and tends to focus more on the Creature during the second half as he wanders through the woods. He secretly helps a family with their farming as he befriends an elderly blind man (David Bradley). It’s here where Del Toro shows more sympathy for the Creature than in previous adaptations.
Over time, the Creature learns how to speak upon listening to the young children read to the blind man. He also observes the world of violence as the blind man’s older family are quick with the firearms. They initially fire on him as he observes a deer getting shot. The Creature is presented like a child discovering things for the first time.
The problem is everyone else sees him as a monster especially when the blind man is mortally wounded by wild wolves and the Creature is accused of it. While previous filmmakers have shown Frankenstein as the true monster, I think it has more here to do about the dangers some unknowingly inflict on others.
Goth reappears as Elizabeth Harlander, the fiancé of William. She shows some sympathy toward the Creature. But while Frankenstein wanted to play make advancements in science and medicine, he doesn’t realize you can’t always play God.
But I also think Del Toro has understood that Shelley was focusing on the dangers of creating life (i.e. procreation) without any sense of raising children rightfully. Leopold only sees his eldest son as an extension of him therefore he views him more as property. As for William, the younger brother never grows to resent his father because Leopold dies.
Heinrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz) is Elizabeth’s uncle and he’s dying of syphilis but he has been able to help Frankenstein fund his experiments. During this time, there was no such thing as contraception and STDs were more of a risk. Even offspring were unfairly given these diseases during procreation.
The Creature didn’t asked to be reanimated but is being viewed as evil yet the humans are the ones being more evil creating wars and firing on people they see as intimidating without getting the truth. There’s also a subplot of the navy sailors considering turning around and going back when they get unstuck from the ice, but Anderson wants them to venture on.
Anderson and Frankenstein are no different. They want glory and fame but they don’t realize there’s going to be a lot of dead bodies along the way.
This is one of Del Toro’s best movies. However, I wished he gave Goth more to do. But it’s not his fault. Both Claire and Elizabeth aren’t the best formed characters even in the original source. Del Toro has actually focused a lot more on women characters than some of contemporary characters who just uses them as plot devices for men characters. I also think it’s clever casting for Goth to play both characters hinting that Frankenstein may have incestuous feelings for his moth, which is why he becomes smitten with her even though she’s to marry William.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 