There may not be a filmmaker working today who understands monsters better than Guillermo del Toro. Yes, many of his films feature otherworldly creatures, but his fascination with them implies a deeper sympathy he has for the rejected and misunderstood. A perpetual through line of his oeuvre is that the figures society reveres can often act more monstrously than the outcasts they reject. Naturally, he’s a perfect fit to adapt Frankenstein, a movie that so perfectly emulsifies the storyteller’s affinities that it’s surprising it took this late into his career to come into being. Alas, it’s alive, and even though Mary Shelley’s source material has been adapted countless times for screens big and small, this is a terrific telling of the classic tale that immediately joins the ranks as an unmissable iteration.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein begins at the North Pole in 1857, where Captain Anderson (Lars Mikkelsen) and the crew of his ship are startled by an explosion in the distance while attempting to dislodge their vessel from ice. Frantically running from the detonation is a maimed Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), who is brought aboard before a colossal Creature (Jacob Elordi) follows closely behind from the darkness. Desperate to resolve the skirmish with words instead of violence, the Captain listens to both Frankenstein and the Creature tell their composite story of how their bond initially came to be and quickly deteriorated. We discover that Frankenstein created the Creature as part of a resurrection experiment funded by the wealthy Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), whose niece Elizabeth (Mia Goth) has captured Victor’s affection.
The most invigorating narrative decision Guillermo del Toro makes in his transformation of the 1818 novel Frankenstein is in how intentional he is about portraying the Creature as the hero and Victor Frankenstein as the villain. The depiction of Frankenstein’s Monster in the landmark 1931 Universal picture as a grunting and lumbering behemoth solidified both how the character would be portrayed and how he would be culturally perceived for decades on. What Jacob Elordi and del Toro have done with the role here is nothing less than a complete cinematic reinterpretation and long-due restitution for the misunderstood monster. Elordi’s portrayal begins with the brutish behavior to which we’ve become accustomed, but it doesn’t take long for layers of benevolence and eloquence to be revealed. It’s a physically and emotionally commanding performance that stands out as the young actor’s best so far.
The tendency for storytellers has been to represent Victor Frankenstein as a “mad scientist” type, so single-minded in his focus to give life to his creation that he ignores everything else happening in his own life. Oscar Isaac certainly portrays the titular physician in Frankenstein as an eccentric genius but also as unfailingly arrogant and fiercely cold-hearted. He’s also short-tempered and quick to choose violence over kindness, traits passed down to him by his stern father, played with palpable vileness by Charles Dance. As Victor tells his side of the story, he paints himself as the wounded protagonist and Isaac has played the part so many times that it’s easy to believe him. “I fail to see why modesty should be a virtue at all,” he blithely remarks upon his arrival at Henrich’s manor, and Isaac’s delivery signals that this guy isn’t playfully mischievous as much as outright repugnant.
As we’ve come to expect from Guillermo del Toro through the years, Frankenstein is another exquisite production from every technical angle. Recalling the set design from 2015’s Crimson Peak, Frankenstein’s laboratory is a Gothic wonderland of unfurled shadows against pockets of natural splendor. The cinematography from repeat del Toro collaborator Dan Laustsen gorgeously captures the singular beauty and tragedy of this tale; there’s a shot of a figure against the background of a sunset horizon that is so breathtaking that it demands to be received inside a darkened auditorium. Laustsen makes magic with grandiose moments like that but does similarly stellar work in smaller spaces, as with a brilliant shot of Elizabeth studying Victor’s experiment while Victor studies her, both struggling to understand what they’re observing. Frankenstein is filled with many such moments of haunting wisdom, allowing us to partake in the curiosities of its creator.
Score – 4/5
More new movies coming this weekend:
Playing in theaters is Bugonia, a dark comedy starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, following two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
Also coming to theaters is Stitch Head, an animated horror comedy starring Asa Butterfield and Joel Fry, which tells the story of a small creature awoken by a mad professor in a castle to protect the professor’s other creations from the nearby townspeople.
Premiering on Netflix is Ballad Of A Small Player, a psychological thriller starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton, in which a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.
Reprinted by permission of Whatzup