Director: Kevin Connor,
Starring: Alec Newman, Luke Goss, William Hurt, Donald Sutherland, Julie Delpy, Nicole Lewis, Monika Hilmerova, Dan Stevens, Jean Rochefort,
Running Time: 168 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Extras: ‘Creating Frankenstein’ 5 Minute Making Of,
How depressing! Films from 2004 are celebrating their 10th anniversary. It’s enough to make you want to look for a way to extend life, which is probably why the first celebratory release is this adaptation of warnings against such things. Those only familiar with FRANKENSTEIN through the movies may actually be surprised to find that the majority of the book isn’t horror at all, as demonstrated by this very faithful adaptation. A Hallmark production that was screened in two parts, FRANKENSTEIN acknowledges that the title refers to the creator and not the monster, thus giving him the majority of the focus in this dramatic telling.
As it is made for TV, the budget is certainly unkind at times, and it feels very much like a small-screen production, but by the end of its still relatively short running time (for a mini-series that is) it’s hard to care about such shortcomings when it gets the material so right. While the costumes and sets certainly portray the time period well, the lighting and uninventive shots mean we are handed an artistically bland telling of Mary Shelley’s classic tale.
Where it excels is in the pacing and writing. All the major themes are tackled including the examinations of science, belief, playing God, creation, fatherhood, revenge and so forth. The battle of wits between the monster and creator is a joy to watch, as both are despicable in some respect, but can also be empathised with. This is in thanks to the performances of Goss and Newman, who have a bizarre chemistry together as essentially son and father. The mini-series also doesn’t try to explain itself too much. More recent iterations have tried too hard to explain the science, or keep the monster slow and lumbering just to avoid the fact that he actually learns to read and speak very quickly. FRANKENSTEIN realises that the themes are more important than believability.
Some may be disappointed to see that the horror elements are underplayed, with most of the murders used for dramatic prowess. It’s a drama at its heart, and the killings are an unexpected and tragic result of the main characters’ lack of understanding. It is still scary, but only in terms of thinking over the situation, as jump scares are completely absent. This is probably because the monster is quickly established as an unfortunate human, rather than some wild beast out to destroy.
This is a kind reminder to the greatness of Mary Shelley’s classic novel. With I, FRANKENSTEIN about to hit theatres, it’s obvious that Hollywood still believes in twisting the original premise for effect. Allow this release to maybe not stun you in terms of production, but will certainly remind you of just how important the underlying messages to films can be. Not so pretty, but then again, the tale of FRANKENSTEIN never really was.
[usr=4]FRANKENSTEIN is released on DVD on 13th January via Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment.
