Guillermo Del Toro stitches up one Hell of a monster movie.
Seeing Guillermo Del Toro’s vision of “Frankenstein” on 35MM film is almost like watching a classic film on screen. You can tell by the tiny black dots and the white circle that appears on the top right corner of the screen. I would say every 20 minutes or so, that white circle would appear twice in a row. At least that’s how I saw the movie, and I love being reminded of film prints.
But even if I didn’t see this in that format, I was mesmerized by how Del Toro tells a Frankenstein story through the perspectives of both the creator Victor Frankenstein and the monster, and how it differentiates between the meaning of being a human or monster. It’s in the same realm about how someone tries to plays God and how that creation can be more than that.
He refuses to disrespect Mary Shelley’s story, and presents it as a gothic movie that reminds us of other movies like “Interview with the Vampire”or “Crimson Peak” (which Del Toro also made), and there are even some moments that almost feel like they were borrowed from “Beauty and the Beast” or “Edward Scissorhands.” It all depends on if you can read between the lines.
And even if I didn’t see it in that format, I was dazzled by the visual world that he presents. Thinking back to some of his movies like the “Hellboy” movies, “Pans Labyrinth,” “The Shape of Water,” and “Pinocchio,” I acknowledge that the filmmaker refuses to take the easy way out, and impresses us with his vision. How he sees these movies is how he makes them, and we’re watching them with a sense of awe and sense of discovery.
Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein, who finds himself being pursued by his own creation (Jacob Elordi) on an expedition ship toward the North Pole, and telling the captain (Lars Mikkelsen) his story. How his strict baron father (Charles Dance) expected him to be a better doctor (Christian Convery plays the young Victor), how his mother (Mia Goth) died giving birth to his younger brother William (Felix Kammerer), how he decided to change the course of science with reanimation with the financial assistance of the arms manufacturer Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), how he met William’s fiancee Elizabeth (also played by Goth), and how his creature turned out.
The creature starts off learning to speak almost on a “Planet of the Apes” level. That means he can keep saying: “Victor, Victor, Victor.” Just “Victor.” Until he can say “Elizabeth,” and learns how to read books. No help from Victor, of course. Isaac is great as Victor in the ways that he draws us into the character’s complexity, which questions his humanity. And Elordi, who stands at 6’5, is disguised by make-up and plays the creature who may have to kill some people but still shouldn’t be labeled a monster.
There have been many Frankenstein movies, good or bad, and they want to show different aspects of the story, doctor, and monster. In Del Toro’s vision, he takes the time to show us how man can still be a man or transition into a monster, and how a creation can either learn to be human or still be a monster or maybe both. Add a remarkable art direction, incredible set and creature designs, Dan Lausten’s darkly radiant photography, and Alexandre Desplat’s haunting score, and you have yourself a gem of a monster movie.
Disclaimer: I’m not praising “Frankenstein” because Del Toro said “F*** A.I.” at. a screening of this movie, although I’m on his side 100%. I’m praising it as a visual wonder sewn together with his personal touch.
Now Playing in Select Theaters
Streaming on Netflix November 7
