Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus, portrayed the human arrogance in the age of industrial revolution and tragedy that befalls its protagonist, a mad genius, Dr. Victor Frankenstein. In Guillermo Del Toro's version, which is magnificent by the way, Frankenstein is told in three perspectives. One from the captain of a Danish ship marooned in the arctic ice, the other from Victor's point of view and then by the creature.
Frankenstein starts in the frozen arctic sea, as Danish sailors struggle to thaw the ice so their ship can get free. There's an explosion in the distance and they rush to investigate. A gravely wounded man they find on the frozen ground is disheveled Baron Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), he warns of a creature who is stalking him, and protecting him would put everyone around him in danger. Soon enough, the tall creature (Jacob Elodi), comes charging in with superhuman strength, killing everyone in his way. Bullets and knives are no match for him.
Secluded in the captain's quarter, Victor tells his version of a story to the captain (Lars Mikkelsen), so starts one of the most rapturous, big budget Hollywood films worthy of a theatrical experience in a long time. Production design and costume in Frankenstein are typically Del Toro-esque, but turned up to eleven, in that unmistakable Victorian gothic/steampunk way. It shows Victor's upbringing and fixation with conquering death- growing up with a stern, borderline abusive surgeon father (Charles Dance) and losing his mother early in a child birth. His younger brother William (Felix Kemmerer), with his sunny dispositions, becomes naturally father's favorite. So while he is being a brilliant but unorthodox weirdo in medical school tinkering with human corpses with electricity, William makes names for himself in the finance world. It's William's business associate Harlander (Christophe Waltz) who recognizes Victor's genius and bankrolls his grand vision of a laboratory to resurrect the dead. Willam also introduces his fiancé, the niece of Harlander, Elizabeth (Mia Goth), a fetching young woman who doesn't mind being around the corpses and flirting with Victor. It's his arrogance and drive that she finds intriguing.
So they find a decrepit castle with a large spire and a big medusa head adorned wall in somewhere in European continent and it soon becomes a corpse disposal factory - for Victor to assemble body parts from recently executed criminals and dead soldiers from the Crimean War (So Del Toro's version diverts from Shelley's in terms of timeline - the Crimean War was in 1854, the book was published in 1818). Harlander dies in an accident while pleading to be part of Victor's creation because he is dying of syphilis. And the 'IT'S ALIVE!!' sequence is spectacular. But the marveling over his creation is short lived, as Victor finds the creature not too communicative and intellectually stunted. So he has it chained in the dungeon of the castle, equipped with its own, elegant, tiled drainage system (reminiscent of a Turkish bath). But the creature finds great empathy from Elizabeth. She asks Victor whether he considered if the creature had a soul, when he was creating it. Victor admits that he hadn't. Disgusted with what he created, Victor tries to burn the castle down with the creature with it. The creature escapes and Victor loses his leg in the explosion.
And the creature comes on board the ship and tells his side of the story. Even with the POV shifts, told in chronological order, Del Toro maintains the forward momentum without a hitch. The film is a lean two and a half hour experience where you don't feel its running time. Frankenstein feels much more refined in its depiction of violence and its sentimentality than GDT's other films. The action sequences are violent, but not his usual over-the-top, sadistic way (no act of facial disfiguring, of course except for the creature. who is already sewn up with different parts.
The segment with the farmer's family and the blind man, played by David Bradley (from Harry Potter films and the voice of Geppetto in GDT's Pinocchio) is perhaps the most touching part of the film. From Oscar Isaac as arrogant Dr. Frankenstein who gets his comeuppance and his sins forgiven, to Jacob Elodi's skulking, yet highly humanistic creature, to Mia Goth's smart and kind-hearted Elizabeth, not to mention the great Dance & Bradley, the acting in this film throughout is superb. Regular character actors Ralph Ineson and Burn Gorman also show up briefly.
The story of a madman's obsession destroying everything he loves and blaming it on his own creation, their unbreakable bondage and finally forgiveness really moved me in the end. Del Toro, chasing after his childhood dreams of remaking Universal Monster films, created something classy and beautiful here. I understand that he is teaming up with Netflix because he wants to continue making big budget projects, but it's a pity that the theater run of Frankenstein is only a few weeks before it premieres in streaming. It's a gorgeous film and I want everyone to experience it big. Go see it in theaters if you can.
