Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the most iconic literary works of all time. It has received a number of adaptations and the newest one to join the ranks is Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein released just a little earlier this year. The memorable story was a match made in heaven for this well known and awarded director. With seemingly the perfect project, perfect director, and perfect cast many classic literature fans and cinephiles were waiting with baited breath for this film to drop in theatres and on Netflix.

The color palette for this movie so perfectly reflects all the aspects of this story. The wonder of Frankenstein’s monster and his fascination with life, the deep and very dark creativity in Victor’s mind and then just the time period. The coloring and richness of the color palette really do a great job of accenting the themes of life and death.

Oscar Isaac was a truly fantastic casting choice. He possesses the incredible ability of fully disappearing into a character. Yes, that is an actor's job, but so few are actually great at it. The character arc Victor goes through is so visible in his demeanor, in his speech pattern, in the way that he moves. Between the opening and the flashback Victor carries with him what he did and what the consequences of his actions were.

Sometimes I forget the similarities between Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde even though they are two of my favorite stories. Jekyll and Hyde explores a different question of morality but at its core it is really what if Victor and his monster were trapped in the same body? And it was written exactly 50 years after Frankenstein.

Mia Goth was also an incredible casting choice. She was meant for horror films. But even more than that she was meant for just weird and unconventional films. She is brilliant and is so fantastic at subtly. She is extremely expressive and can convey so much with just the slightest eye or lip movement. And she is so uniquely beautiful she fits so well into a world like this.

The cinematography is gorgeous. Even on my living room tv on Netflix it conveys the scale of the feat Victor is attempting. They also did a great job of playing with the lighting. I love when films don’t have consistent lighting. I want lens flare, I want sunset soaked rooms of marble, I want exactly what this is. Seriously a stunning movie to watch.

Del Toro seems to have spent a lot of time highlighting Victor’s thought process and making him understandable but also making it clear that he is the villain. Victor is the evil in the story and Del Toro did a great job of hammering that home.

There is a lot of symbolism in Victor’s gloves being red. As he is attempting to create life we get this lovely foreshadowing of all the blood that is about to be on his hands.

Then we have Jesus on the cross imagery because the story has done a great job of weaving the general public's religious views of the time period. “Only God gives life and only God takes it away” to paraphrase the beginning of this journey for Victor.

Now we get to Jacob Elordi who is starting to build a rather impressive filmography for himself. He’s doing a rather incredible job. Acting without words takes an impressive amount of study because you have to find other ways to communicate and convey emotion. Jacob’s movements are so clear. From fascination and wonder in that first scene in Victor’s room to confusion and discovery when Victor is shaving him. Just fantastic.

The film also does a great job of showing Victor’s apathy. His referring to his creation as nothing more than “It”, chaining him in the basement, how Victor handles him and speaks to him overall. And all of this is in direct contrast to Elizabeth’s innate kindness and understanding.

The way that the creature (who I am going to refer to as Adam from now on, I understand that this is not a real name but for the purposes of writing in a coherent manner he needs a name) takes on Elizabeth’s kindness is so beautiful. He returns the kindness that was paid to him.

The film also spends a lot of time making the audience understand that Adam was not just a mindless, bloodthirsty monster. He was simply a blank slate, a creature whose mind and emotions were open to being written. Elizabeth laid the foundation for his wonder and kindness, and Victor laid the foundation for his violence and rage.

For me adaptations don’t have to be beat for beat recreations but the characterizations and themes must be intact. And this version of Frankenstein absolutely highlighted the things that it was supposed to. From the casting to the pacing this was as close to a perfect film as it gets. 10/10 actually seems too low for Del Toro’s latest masterpiece.