"No, not madness."
"What, then?"
"There is a passage to the North Pole. And I will find it!"
"At the cost of your own life and the lives of your own crew?"
"Lives come and go. If we succeed, our names will live on forever. I will be hailed as the benefactor of our species."
"You're wrong. I of all men know that."
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) 123 min"What, then?"
"There is a passage to the North Pole. And I will find it!"
"At the cost of your own life and the lives of your own crew?"
"Lives come and go. If we succeed, our names will live on forever. I will be hailed as the benefactor of our species."
"You're wrong. I of all men know that."
**To begin with I should warn you that I wrote a paper comparing this film to the novel and over the course of many viewings of this film I have to come to despise this film, especially as someone loves the novel.**
This film SHOULD be called something like 'Frankenstein 2000' (even though it was made in the mid-nineties) or something campy like that...calling the film MARY SHELLEY'S Frankenstein implies that this adaptation, unlike all others, is the way Mary would make the film, HA! While I respect Branagh for trying to stay close to the original text, he is too ambitious. I showed this film to a group of English majors who screamed throughout the film and were overly disgusted with Branagh by the end of it...but I digress
Branagh, unlike other filmmakers, bookends the film the way the novel begins and ends: with Victor and the creature encountering Captain Walton (Aidan Quinn) and his crew as they explore the Arctic, but this information is unnecessary to the rest of the film...if this were a made for television film (such as the excellent ones made by A&E) then yes, this section should be included, but for a 2 hour film it just confuses the film.
The REAL story begins with Victor (Branagh). He is the only child of a happy couple (Ian Holm & Cherie Lunghi), but shares his parents with Elizabeth (Carter) who lost her parents. They have grown up together, but have the chemistry of a couple not siblings. Victor's mother dies in childbirth with his younger brother. Her death leads Victor to become obsessed with the reanimation of dead tissue. His obsession leads him to college where he meets Henry Clerval (Hulce), a fellow scientist who does not seem to understand or reciprocate Victor's passion. They meet and befriend the rebellious Professor Waldman (John Cleese) who shows them his own experiments with reanimation (a hand...which is disgusting) and urges Victor to stop pursuing this obsession. Days later Waldman is stabbed when he tries to vaccinate an unwilling subject (played by DeNiro). Victor ignores the advice of the late Waldman and Henry and takes the body of Waldman's murderer along with Waldman's brain and infuses this creature with life (the creature is also played by DeNiro). After a disgusting creation scene, reminiscent of a birth (the creature is in a vat of amniotic fluids, and is naked...Victor tries to help him stand which works as well as teaching an infant to walk--on ice), Victor realizes how wrong it was to pursue this task and strings up his creation hoping it was all a bad dream (although the creature gets lose). Victor returns home to the comfort of his family and Elizabeth, while the creature lives in a barn and learns to talk by watching a family (although this family is afraid of the creature when they finally see him).
The creature has Victor's diary so he learns of his origins and seeks Victor for the answers to the rest of his questions along with his request for another creature (a woman) so he would not be alone. Victor refuses and the blood begins......I wouldn't go into further detail, but it for anyone who has read the novel the film is pretty good until the killings begin and then it takes on it's own lifeforce, occasionally returning to Mary's story.
This film is disgusting: we see all the blood and gore during the killings, we witness his mother's death during childbirth (which is bloody and gross) along with part of a birth in a later scene. Branagh was too ambitious...thats the nicest way I can phrase it. I mean his version (the parts which are like the novel) are probably more accurate than any other film: the process, the scarring etc, BUT he went too far. Everything is over the top including his MAJOR change from the novel, which I can't really explain here, but everytime I watch that part of the film I get mad and disgusted (it was one of the scenes which grossed out my friends and involved a few screams). If he had toned it down...and did not take a huge step away from the novel it would be an excellent adaptation, but now it's just o.k.
One positive thing I will say is, Robert DeNiro is convincing...it is an excellent performance. He does his part well and you do pity him (for a bit)...and I like that he (the creature) refers to Victor as his father and one of his final lines in the film is "He never gave me a name" which is insightful, most people think Frankenstein is the name of the monster, NOT the scientist creating him. There are clever lines...but it's not worth watching just for those moments, sorry Branagh...your other films worked, but this doesn't!
Don't waste your money: While I do own this film, I hate it. Everyone I have shown it to had one of two reactions: disgust or anger (depending on whether they have read the novel)...its just not worth it...I don't ever remember it receiving hype or being talked about, so it will probably just fade away like so many bad films do
--: Just don't watch it...I can't say that enough. But if you do any project on Frankenstein, it might be worthwhile just for comparisons sake
This film SHOULD be called something like 'Frankenstein 2000' (even though it was made in the mid-nineties) or something campy like that...calling the film MARY SHELLEY'S Frankenstein implies that this adaptation, unlike all others, is the way Mary would make the film, HA! While I respect Branagh for trying to stay close to the original text, he is too ambitious. I showed this film to a group of English majors who screamed throughout the film and were overly disgusted with Branagh by the end of it...but I digress
Branagh, unlike other filmmakers, bookends the film the way the novel begins and ends: with Victor and the creature encountering Captain Walton (Aidan Quinn) and his crew as they explore the Arctic, but this information is unnecessary to the rest of the film...if this were a made for television film (such as the excellent ones made by A&E) then yes, this section should be included, but for a 2 hour film it just confuses the film.
The REAL story begins with Victor (Branagh). He is the only child of a happy couple (Ian Holm & Cherie Lunghi), but shares his parents with Elizabeth (Carter) who lost her parents. They have grown up together, but have the chemistry of a couple not siblings. Victor's mother dies in childbirth with his younger brother. Her death leads Victor to become obsessed with the reanimation of dead tissue. His obsession leads him to college where he meets Henry Clerval (Hulce), a fellow scientist who does not seem to understand or reciprocate Victor's passion. They meet and befriend the rebellious Professor Waldman (John Cleese) who shows them his own experiments with reanimation (a hand...which is disgusting) and urges Victor to stop pursuing this obsession. Days later Waldman is stabbed when he tries to vaccinate an unwilling subject (played by DeNiro). Victor ignores the advice of the late Waldman and Henry and takes the body of Waldman's murderer along with Waldman's brain and infuses this creature with life (the creature is also played by DeNiro). After a disgusting creation scene, reminiscent of a birth (the creature is in a vat of amniotic fluids, and is naked...Victor tries to help him stand which works as well as teaching an infant to walk--on ice), Victor realizes how wrong it was to pursue this task and strings up his creation hoping it was all a bad dream (although the creature gets lose). Victor returns home to the comfort of his family and Elizabeth, while the creature lives in a barn and learns to talk by watching a family (although this family is afraid of the creature when they finally see him).
The creature has Victor's diary so he learns of his origins and seeks Victor for the answers to the rest of his questions along with his request for another creature (a woman) so he would not be alone. Victor refuses and the blood begins......I wouldn't go into further detail, but it for anyone who has read the novel the film is pretty good until the killings begin and then it takes on it's own lifeforce, occasionally returning to Mary's story.
This film is disgusting: we see all the blood and gore during the killings, we witness his mother's death during childbirth (which is bloody and gross) along with part of a birth in a later scene. Branagh was too ambitious...thats the nicest way I can phrase it. I mean his version (the parts which are like the novel) are probably more accurate than any other film: the process, the scarring etc, BUT he went too far. Everything is over the top including his MAJOR change from the novel, which I can't really explain here, but everytime I watch that part of the film I get mad and disgusted (it was one of the scenes which grossed out my friends and involved a few screams). If he had toned it down...and did not take a huge step away from the novel it would be an excellent adaptation, but now it's just o.k.
One positive thing I will say is, Robert DeNiro is convincing...it is an excellent performance. He does his part well and you do pity him (for a bit)...and I like that he (the creature) refers to Victor as his father and one of his final lines in the film is "He never gave me a name" which is insightful, most people think Frankenstein is the name of the monster, NOT the scientist creating him. There are clever lines...but it's not worth watching just for those moments, sorry Branagh...your other films worked, but this doesn't!
Don't waste your money: While I do own this film, I hate it. Everyone I have shown it to had one of two reactions: disgust or anger (depending on whether they have read the novel)...its just not worth it...I don't ever remember it receiving hype or being talked about, so it will probably just fade away like so many bad films do
--: Just don't watch it...I can't say that enough. But if you do any project on Frankenstein, it might be worthwhile just for comparisons sake
Rating: R for horrific images
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh as Victor Frankenstein
Robert DeNiro as the Creature
Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth
Tom Hulce as Henry Clerval
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