Director Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN does a startling thing: it goes back to the original Gothic novel written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in 1818, “Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.” While there have been seeming endless numbers of screen versions of the Frankenstein story, generally in some form all are based in James Whale’s classic 1931 film and its sequel, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Whale’s film has thrilled countless film fans and inspired many future filmmakers, including Guillermo del Toro. but the story the 1931 movie tells departs greatly from Mary Shelley’s terrifying but more philosophical novel about the hubris of a man playing God.
Now, to be clear, del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is not a faithful screen adaptation of the novel, but something more based on it. or in parts even, “inspired by” it. In truth, the director of Oscar-winning films PAN’S LABYRINTH and THE SHAPE OF WATER makes this story his own, stamping it with his own unique signature style, using the parts of the original novel that suit his purpose in building his own creation. That creation includes plenty of references to various Frankenstein versions.
Still, this return to Shelley’s Gothic tale makes the film much more strikingly unusual, in a gripping way that other Frankensteins iterations have not. And the director takes full advantage of that fresh approach to what could otherwise be overly familiar.
Like the book, the film starts at the end of the story, with Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) in an Arctic wasteland. He tells his tale, in this case, to the captain of a ship searching for the North Pole. How the doctor got there and why is part of his story. But del Toro then does something else startling in this film: after we see and hear Dr. Frankenstein’s story, the director turns things around and allows the Creature (Jacob Elordi) to tell his version. Yes, the Creature in this one, like the original novel, is intelligent and articulate, although not at first.
FRANKENSTEIN is Guillermo del Toro’s dream project, long planned. The film has the director’s distinct style and many of the same themes that run through other del Toro films, such as man as the real monster, sympathy for the creature, father and son issues, and good versus evil. Visually, the film is very much in the director’s bold style, color-drenched, creepy, and filled with striking cinematic images. The dramatic creation moment, when the creature comes to life, takes place in a huge, strange, foreboding building, one that looks like it was built as some kind of waterworks or water-driven factory, but with echoes of James Whale’s 1931 film. The reference to the link between water and life is inescapable, while the imposing structure itself, visually, is dramatically gothic.
Instead of the frenetic Dr. Frankenstein of James Whale’s classic, Oscar Isaac plays the doctor obsessed with building a man as a brooding, cold, dark, and even heartless fellow, with a huge ego and few ethics constrains. The social commentary on unlimited ambition and power is there.
Mia Goth plays Elizabeth, but in this telling she is not the fiancee of Victor but his younger, sunnier brother William (Felix Kammerer). Elizabeth is both beautiful and intelligent, with a keen interest in science and nature. She is very close to her wealthy uncle (Christoph Waltz), who offers to fund Victor’s experiments in reanimating dead tissue with the aim of creating life. The uncle gives no reason for this decision but hints that he does have an agenda in mind.
Although inspired by the novel, del Toro still references various versions of the the Frankenstein story, in movies and even comics. including the 1931 classic film that so riveted the director as a young child. Those references are sprinkled throughout the film, and it even has a glancing reference to ROCKY HORROR, a kind of Frankenstein tale, in the early appearance of the Creature himself but without the camp.
The cast all turn in fine performances, although the story and its vivid telling is the really strength of the film. Oscar Isaac plays Dr. Frankenstein as a very dark, hard character, an unlikable person who becomes less appealing as we see what he does. The story begins with his childhood to help us understand the character, in a brooding, gothic tale in a world of with funeral black and winter white, splashed with dramatic touches of blood red. The doctor makes himself the hero of his own story but we will hear another version next. The Creature is like a newborn in a grown body at first but grows up quickly, with his innocence turning to resentment and more toward his “father.”
The director caused some uproar by casting handsome Jacob Elordi as the Frankenstein;s creation, but it is worth noting that in the original novel the creation has more the appearance of a man, albeit a large one, than Karloff’s monster. Del Toro doesn’t quite do that, as the creature is a patchwork of sewn-together skin but, like in the book and others versions, of monstrous strength, if not size.
Speaking of monsters, director del Toro makes it clear at the very start of the film who the “monster” is, and it is not the creature. The creation here has more the enormous strength than size, which allows us to see him as a young man, even a big child at the start, the son of the doctor who built him.
Art direction is one of the real stars of this film. The visual side is eye-popping and very effective in creating a sense of awe and terror. The set, costumes and visual effects are all bold, often color-drenched and sometimes massive, a Gothic look on steroids which feels perfect for this film.
One of the most striking sequences is the one where the Creature is brought to life, a process that involves lightning like the 1931 classic film, but taking place in a weird, water-themed building of tile and smooth spouts, ducts, and channels, set on the edge of a cliff plunging into the sea.
Although Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is not a faithful adaptation of the original novel, going back to that groundbreaking book, and some of its themes, does open the door for some other filmmaker to do that full adaptation. Hopefully that will happen, but until then we have this wonderfully creative new retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic novel.
FRANKENSTEIN opens Friday, Oct. 24, in theaters.
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
