Frankenstein

 

“Did you ever wonder which part maybe contained the soul?”

Monstrous, tragic and macabre, Frankenstein is the culmination of del Toro’s greatest strengths as he crafts a grand yet intricate romanced gothic horror steampunk sci-fi exploration of monsters and men with stunning visuals, deep humanity and creaturely comfort despite its harsh unflinching brutality in a classic tale revived for a new era.

Discussion Points:

I absolutely adored this - its sentimentality and its science, its humanity and its monstrosity, and a joy to witness on the big screen with a packed crowd thanks to the Sydney Film Festival. This is the film that Guillermo del Toro has always been working to make - a career culmination of gothic horror sci-fi romantic tragedy about monsters and man. It’s been his long time passion project and it’s abundantly clear just how much love and care he has for Mary Shelley’s macabre tragedy of an immortal monster reaching his cobble stitched arm towards humanity only to be cruelly whipped away. It’s a story that’s been adapted, and readapted, and reassembled, and revised over and over again, but del Toro’s wisely returns to reviving the original retaining the heart and mind that is often discarded in later remakes that remix all the subsequent staples of the creature feature. Oscar Isaac as the titular mad scientist Victor Frankenstein balances scientific curiosity, medicinal clinicity, and brutish cruelty. His harsh possessiveness is a marked contrast to the soft, sensitive Creature played with impressive physicality by Jacob Elordi in one of the years best performances. His gentle giant gazes longingly at the world, eager to live, but born of death, and unable to escape being a harbinger of destruction wherever he sojourns. And what a journey he walks, in stark ice, grand homes, and overgrown ruins all intricately crafted and stunningly shot in another del Toro visual treat, all underscored by another masterful Alexandre Desplat score. Whilst there may be some who find its brutality unconscionable, or its sentimentality saccharine, I found this tender, tragic, terrifying tale to be a truly marvellous creature full of life and depth that is a sight to behold.