I don’t remember, in the book- How did Victor happen to be on the glacier (?) where he encountered the wretch and had the long convo with him? Was it just good old fashioned coincidence that they met?
It’s been a long time since I read it, too, but I do recall thing guy tracking creator guy through the mountains.
(Or was it vice versa? I still have the book, perhaps it’s time to read it again.)
I have not seen it yet, but I read that the director first read the book at the age of eleven (edited to add, and saw the 1931 film version at the age of seven) and has been thinking about it ever since then. So it should not be a surprise that the movie is (perhaps) somewhat faithful to the book.
To get it out of the way, especially for those who haven’t read the book: the famous 1931 movie adaption had almost nothing to do with the book other than that an artificial man/daemon/monster was created. The only other adaption I saw was the Kenneth Branagh one, which was closer to the source, but also deviated a lot from it, especially the sub plot about the monster’s “bride”. In the book, Victor Frankenstein begins to create a female creature as a companion for the male creature he had made, but destroys it before it is completed.
Clearly Mary Shelley was aware of the marketability of a sequel novel.
So that’s exactly how it is in the new film too.
I liked it, I was glad to get to see a 35mm print in an actual theater with an audience. I did think some of the cgi effects were not that good but I liked he went full into the gory charnel house aspect of it.
If the wretch learned how to speak by eavesdropping on the people in the cabin, who taught him how to read? IIRC, Victor left his diary in the overcoat that the wretch took when he awakened, and that’s how he figured it all out. Don’t make me read the book again.
IIRC, he taught himself to read from a Bible he found. Yeah, doesn’t make much sense. But don’t forget that the creature isn’t only exceptionally strong physically in the book, but also very intelligent. He’s very eloquent in his dialogues with Victor.
At this point in the thread I’d suggest that those who haven’t read the original novel should consider doing so. For a book that’s over 200 years old it reads and holds up rather well.
Waiting to find a big screen to see this on, Ive always been a fan of the Frankenstein “concept” since seeing the movie as a kid in the 60s. (freaked me right out)
Blade Runner (favorite movie) also being a very cool take on artificial life.
Deeper dive below into Mary Shelley, her book, AI, Industrial revolution, familial relationships etc etc.
I listen to On point every morning, really great host, its an NPR show from Boston.
Readable transcript, altho a good listen as well.
I agree. I’ve read it two or three times. “Who is the real monster?” is explored much more deeply in the novel.
Here is a gift link to a lengthy piece from The New York Times Magazine about the movie, the director Guillermo del Toro, the novel and the novel’s author. Mary Shelley was only eighteen years old when she conceived of the story during a summer in Italy with Percy Bysshe Shelley, John William Polidori and Lord Byron. The NYT piece mentions three editions of the novel, though it advises against reading the third one from 1831.
Two times for me, and my take on it has been that Victor is THE monster of the story by far, with “the demon” (Victor’s name for him) being a sympathetic victim driven to “evil” by intolerable cruelties.
If you’re looking for faithful versions, have a look at Victor Frankenstein (the 1977 version, not the 2015 one. The 1977 version is also called Terror of Frankenstein). It’s the first version I saw that attempted to be faithful to the book. It’s worth watching, but like Jess Franco’s 1970 Count Dracula (which was also pretty faithful, especially the first half), it’s frequently slow and boring. Worth a look, though.
The other relatively faithful version is the Hallmark miniseries Frankenstein (2004), with William Hurt and a miscast Donald Sutherland as Captain Walton. It also has one of the handsomest Frankenstein monsters ever.
I haven’t yet seen this new version. I’m definitely going to have to have a look.
The only thing I want to know is if the laboratory in the movie had those electrical things that go zzzzzt or not. If not, it’s probably not worth watching.
For those interested, it will debut on Netflix on November 7.
Will it not be shown in theaters?
Its in a few theaters now. It opens up to all theaters on the 7th.
From comments here it appears to be faithful to the book in most regards.
It’s worth pointing out that in the novel, Mary Wollstonecraft was notably mum about exactly how the Creature was created, not even saying that electricity was involved (although the possibility was certainly hinted at, and Galvani’s experiments would suggest something like that). So the novel contains no buzzing or hissing electrodes. Or even electric eels.
Exactly. And the creation is a far cry from the mindless, lumbering brute in most movies. Victor refuses any responsibility or accountability for the “monster” he created in his arrogance—and that directly led to his creation savagely forcing consequences upon Victor.