This is half film review half literary criticism, considering that Frankenstein is a seminal book in my life and would have been the subject of a thesis had I gone for a Masters. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life paying student loans, so here we are.
I saw del Toro's version of Frankenstein last night and it left me with a jumble of thoughts. I've looked forward to seeing this one for over a decade. While I was hoping for a straight adaptation of Mary Shelly's groundbreaking book, I was treated to a film that deviated from the plot in many ways and yet stayed true to essential themes that make the story so impactful. I will compare and contrast the book and movie to bring my point home, so there will be spoilers.
In the novel, Victor Frankenstein is a well-adjusted young man raised by affluent, loving parents and is devoted to his mother who dies of an illness. He was raised with his adopted sister Elizabeth who he is betrothed to. Victor aspires to conquer death and becomes a medical student, inspired by the dreams of alchemists and sorcerers. His obsessive research and hard work brings about his hideous Creation. Horrified by it, he abandoned his Creation, who is exposed to the cruelties of the world. Comprehending it's purposeless existence and complete loneliness, the Creation hates mankind and swears vengeance on Victor, a vengeance he completes after Victor refuses to build a mate for it. The Creation murders Victor's loved ones in cold blood and Victor pursues it into the far north. Stranded and dying of exposure, Victor is rescued by the crew an English expedition vessel. He dies after telling his story to the captain and Creation expresses his regrets before Victor's body, confirming the truth of the story, and disappears into the icy waste.
In the movie, Victor is a dysfunctional child raised by an abusive father and a loving mother. While his literary counterpart has some noble qualities, this Victor is an imperious, arrogant, cruel liar (not unlike Peter Cushing's depiction in the Hammer movies). Unlike the character in the book, this Victor tries to mentor his Creation. William, the little brother, is grown up and fills the role of Victor's friend Henry and is engaged to Elizabeth. Victor falls in love with her but she doesn't love him. She encounters Victor's Creation and loves, establishing an instant connection. In a fit of jealousy and impatience, Victor abuses his Creation, and after deciding that the Creation a dangerous abomination, he resolves to destroy it by burning down his laboratory. The Creature survives and finds the world cruel and unaccepting, although he has a brief friendship with a blind man until it is torn from him by violence. The Creation seeks love and demands Victor's help in creating a mate but Victor refuses. This Creation only kills in self defense but it cannot die, no matter what is inflicted on it. This version of the Creation wants to die. After accidentally killing Elizabeth by accidentally shooting her, Victor pursues the Creation to the far north. Failing to kill his enemy, Victor is rescued by Danish explorers who he tells his story to. He is confronted by the Creation before he dies and the reach an understanding in which he accepts the Creation as his son and encourages him to embrace life. The Creation helps the explorers to get out of their icy trap and the look on the Creation's indicates that he'll live on.
These are differences in a generalized nutshell and doesn't describe them all in detail. No doubt, this is the most hopeful adaptation I have ever seen of the book in which the Creation and Victor really do come full circle. There is still the sting of tragedy that smacks of a Miltonian quality but redemption as well, which is also Miltonian. There are still the same themes of man trying to replace God and defying nature as well as the existential loneliness of the Creation. Also, there's the theme of parenthood wonderfully realized in this movie and even explores the possibility of Elizabeth being a mother to the Creation. While the book's Victor is sympathetic and partly villainous, the movie's Victor is all villain and only partly human. The Creation of the novel is sympathetic and villainous while the movie's Creation is completely sympathetic and partly villainous. del Toro was right in saying this wasn't a horror movie, it is a gothic movie. It's gothic not just for its setting and obsession with death, but also because of Victor's monstrous destructive nature, man's instinctive fear of the unknown, and how these elements inspired the Creation's malice. Evil is always a theme in gothic fiction and it manifests in a complicated nature in the book and movie.
As a film, this may be one of del Toro's most elegant works with an incredible script full of nuance. The performances by Oscar Isaac (Victor), Jacob Elordi (the Creation, and Mia Goth (Elizabeth) are all top notch. Some reviews claim the film is sluggish, but you won't hear it from me because I found the film so engrossing. It also helps that the cinematography and overall direction are gorgeous. Because del Toro veered from the book's plot, he took the movie into thematic and emotional depths never reached previously. I'm grateful that del Toro took this path, exceeding my expectations in some way and defying them in others. This is a movie I'll treasure. A+
Written by Nick Montelongo
I saw del Toro's version of Frankenstein last night and it left me with a jumble of thoughts. I've looked forward to seeing this one for over a decade. While I was hoping for a straight adaptation of Mary Shelly's groundbreaking book, I was treated to a film that deviated from the plot in many ways and yet stayed true to essential themes that make the story so impactful. I will compare and contrast the book and movie to bring my point home, so there will be spoilers.
In the novel, Victor Frankenstein is a well-adjusted young man raised by affluent, loving parents and is devoted to his mother who dies of an illness. He was raised with his adopted sister Elizabeth who he is betrothed to. Victor aspires to conquer death and becomes a medical student, inspired by the dreams of alchemists and sorcerers. His obsessive research and hard work brings about his hideous Creation. Horrified by it, he abandoned his Creation, who is exposed to the cruelties of the world. Comprehending it's purposeless existence and complete loneliness, the Creation hates mankind and swears vengeance on Victor, a vengeance he completes after Victor refuses to build a mate for it. The Creation murders Victor's loved ones in cold blood and Victor pursues it into the far north. Stranded and dying of exposure, Victor is rescued by the crew an English expedition vessel. He dies after telling his story to the captain and Creation expresses his regrets before Victor's body, confirming the truth of the story, and disappears into the icy waste.
In the movie, Victor is a dysfunctional child raised by an abusive father and a loving mother. While his literary counterpart has some noble qualities, this Victor is an imperious, arrogant, cruel liar (not unlike Peter Cushing's depiction in the Hammer movies). Unlike the character in the book, this Victor tries to mentor his Creation. William, the little brother, is grown up and fills the role of Victor's friend Henry and is engaged to Elizabeth. Victor falls in love with her but she doesn't love him. She encounters Victor's Creation and loves, establishing an instant connection. In a fit of jealousy and impatience, Victor abuses his Creation, and after deciding that the Creation a dangerous abomination, he resolves to destroy it by burning down his laboratory. The Creature survives and finds the world cruel and unaccepting, although he has a brief friendship with a blind man until it is torn from him by violence. The Creation seeks love and demands Victor's help in creating a mate but Victor refuses. This Creation only kills in self defense but it cannot die, no matter what is inflicted on it. This version of the Creation wants to die. After accidentally killing Elizabeth by accidentally shooting her, Victor pursues the Creation to the far north. Failing to kill his enemy, Victor is rescued by Danish explorers who he tells his story to. He is confronted by the Creation before he dies and the reach an understanding in which he accepts the Creation as his son and encourages him to embrace life. The Creation helps the explorers to get out of their icy trap and the look on the Creation's indicates that he'll live on.
These are differences in a generalized nutshell and doesn't describe them all in detail. No doubt, this is the most hopeful adaptation I have ever seen of the book in which the Creation and Victor really do come full circle. There is still the sting of tragedy that smacks of a Miltonian quality but redemption as well, which is also Miltonian. There are still the same themes of man trying to replace God and defying nature as well as the existential loneliness of the Creation. Also, there's the theme of parenthood wonderfully realized in this movie and even explores the possibility of Elizabeth being a mother to the Creation. While the book's Victor is sympathetic and partly villainous, the movie's Victor is all villain and only partly human. The Creation of the novel is sympathetic and villainous while the movie's Creation is completely sympathetic and partly villainous. del Toro was right in saying this wasn't a horror movie, it is a gothic movie. It's gothic not just for its setting and obsession with death, but also because of Victor's monstrous destructive nature, man's instinctive fear of the unknown, and how these elements inspired the Creation's malice. Evil is always a theme in gothic fiction and it manifests in a complicated nature in the book and movie.
As a film, this may be one of del Toro's most elegant works with an incredible script full of nuance. The performances by Oscar Isaac (Victor), Jacob Elordi (the Creation, and Mia Goth (Elizabeth) are all top notch. Some reviews claim the film is sluggish, but you won't hear it from me because I found the film so engrossing. It also helps that the cinematography and overall direction are gorgeous. Because del Toro veered from the book's plot, he took the movie into thematic and emotional depths never reached previously. I'm grateful that del Toro took this path, exceeding my expectations in some way and defying them in others. This is a movie I'll treasure. A+
Written by Nick Montelongo
The author does not allow comments to this entry
No comments