RATING: 4.5/5
This review contains spoilers of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
Whether you love the original Frankenstein tale, a good cinematic work, or are just here for Guillermo del Toro, the newest version of the classic is definitely worth watching.
Originally written in 1818 by English author Mary Shelley, renowned novel Frankenstein tells the story of scientist Victor Frankenstein who creates a monstrous creature after putting together human pieces and using electricity to bring it to life. Since its first publication, the story has been recreated multiple times in literature and film as horror, science fiction, romance, drama, comedy, animation and much more.
On Tuesday, Frankenstein’s newest version made its highly-awaited debut at TIFF, filling the Princess of Wales theatre with hundreds of cinephiles longing for del Toro’s unique take of the gothic classic.
Having shivered over Pan’s Labyrinth, cried over the slow-motion version of Pinocchio and cheered on del Toro at the Oscars for the Toronto-set Shape of Water, I admit that I had high expectations for this film. And judging by the impressive turnout and excited comments from the crowd, I wasn’t the only one.
Switching up the order from the original novel, the film’s “Prelude” begins with Captain Robert Walton’s mission of finding the North Pole, where the crew sees a large creature emerging from an explosion, followed by an injured man. After shooting and drowning the creature under the ice, the man, who introduces himself as Victor Frankenstein (played by Oscar Isaac) warns them that the beast will keep coming back for him as long as he is with them.
The film then dives into its first part: “Victor’s Tale.”
This first part begins with the character’s early years, emphasizing his disturbing relationship with his father, a military doctor who only married his mother for status and tortured him into studying medicine. The relationship becomes even worse after Victor’s loving mother dies giving birth to his brother William (Felix Kammerer).
The death changes something in Victor, who dreams for the first time of a mystical image of a dark angel, and views to “conquer death.”
Looking back, I found this context extremely important for the development of Victor’s character, shining light into elements of his adult personality and upcoming actions throughout the movie.
At this point, the film skips to Victor already as an adult, presenting one of his experiments in front of judges at a college in London. As part of the presentation, the now grown scientist re-animates what seemed to be a dead human torso using electricity. But the demonstration doesn’t sit well with the judges, who deem it to be an abomination, and urge him to shut down the experiment.
Nevertheless, one of the people in the presentation, Harlander (Christoph Waltz), who also happens to be the uncle of William’s new fianceé, is impressed by the presentation, offering to invest in Victor’s experiments as long as he pays him with a favour that is only revealed later on.
As a sucker for scientific discoveries and troubled characters, I would have loved to see a more detailed development of Victor’s obsession with these resurrection experiments, but considering that the movie was already almost three hours long, I also appreciated the director’s decision to cut off unnecessary development from his early life.
Next, we’re introduced to William’s fianceé, Elizabeth (brilliantly played by Mia Goth), for whom Victor develops a rather inappropriate affection, and the two of them bond over their love for science and anatomy, while the brother overlooks the construction of Victor’s new lab.
Although Victor confesses to have become “more interested in life and less in death” after meeting Elizabeth, he is soon pressured by the investor to turn his attention back into science, and eventually finds a way to make his experiment work.
In the next scene, Victor is shown grotesquely cutting off legs, abs, arms and other body parts from corpses and mending them together for the experiment. Despite the rather gory imagery, the scene was humorously portrayed, sending a round of laughter through the theatre.
As the scientist prepares to give life to the experiment, Harlander reveals that he is dying from a tumor, and urges to be “put into” the resurrecting body. Victor firmly rejects the idea, and the two have a physical dispute, which ends up with Harlander dead, falling into the basement through a hole.
Nevertheless, using the power of a thunderstorm, Victor is finally able to complete the experiment, and the creature (played by Jacob Elordi) gains life.
Frustrated over the lack of a new adventure and still carrying traumas from his childhood, Victor attempts to teach the creature by severely punishing him with force and maintaining him chained into the basement, getting annoyed as the beast kept repeating one word: “Victor.”
Besides protests from Elizabeth, who believes the beast to be a purer version of men, the scientist then sets fire to his lab with the creature inside. But alas, the creature manages to escape.
At this point, Toro brilliantly switches to a first-person perspective from the creature itself in the second part of the movie: “The Creature’s Tale.”
Fleeing from the fire, the creature ends up in a forest, getting shot by hunters on the way, but learns that he is essentially immortal, quickly healing from his wounds.
He then finds a cabin in the woods, where he meets a blind old man who takes him in and teaches him how to read and speak. The creature comes to terms with his own story, learning that he was an experiment made in a lab, and remembering how Victor treated him.
After the old man is killed by wolves, the creature goes after Victor, who is at his brother William’s wedding, demanding him to create him a companion. But when the scientist firmly refuses, a fight breaks out and William and Elizabeth end up dead in the cross fire.
Following this confrontation, the creature chases Victor into the upper North, hoping the scientist will find a way to kill him, which is an impossible task considering how fast he heals.
The movie then returns to the starting point at Walton’s ship, where Victor apologizes to the creature, advising him to enjoy his life since he cannot die. Victor, who is already injured after trying to escape, then dies, as the captain lets the creature go.
The movie ends as the beast walks away with the sun shining on his face, leaving the audience feeling a real sense of closure, as if he is finally moving on.
Overall, I found this film to be a beautiful interpretation of the classic novel, maintaining the core of the novel without many modifications, while adding to del Toro’s brilliant and artistic vision, bringing the audience on a journey that joins thriller, drama, comedy, science fiction, and much more.
Although I enjoyed the extra context, I do believe that certain parts could’ve been condensed. In contrast, the very ending of the film seemed a bit rushed, and I felt confused over some unanswered questions, including the meaning of the dark angel and Victor’s originally very meaningful relationship with Elizabeth, which never seems to have any closure.
Nevertheless, Frankenstein remains as one of Toro’s best works yet, which I definitely recommend any cinephile to check out over the rest of the festival or after it comes out on Netflix on Nov. 7.
‘IT’S LIKE MARRYING A WIDOW’
Amidst a standing, loud round of applause, director Guillermo del Toro spoke about his vision for the movie and the challenges in bringing life to a new version of this well-known classic.
The Oscar-winning artist revealed that he heavily read different versions of the story and even biographies about the creator Mary Shelley to prepare for the task.
“I read all the versions that were edited by Mary [Shelley]. I read her life in as many biographies as I could, and it crosses with me a lot…I found in her a soul that gave me solace, gave me peace, and gave me terminal and different points. So, when that happens, you don’t edit what you’re doing, it becomes part of you,” he said.
“I say it’s like marrying a widow. You have to respect the memory of the late husband, but on Saturday, you’ve got to party on.”
The director, who says he has been filming some of his best works in Toronto since 1996, also took a moment to praise the city.
“I really want you guys to give this city its own applause, because out of the last 15 years of my career, some of the most significant movies I’ve been able to do [were] because I made them here.”
This summer, Mayor Olivia Chow presented del Toro with a Key to the City, recognizing the director’s long-standing relationship with Toronto, which helped consolidate the city as a hotspot for filmmakers. During the ceremony, the director also showed love to the city’s cinema industry, and referred to it as his “second home.”
