4 thoughts on “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, 1994. Dir. Kenneth Branagh”

  1. In the short scene from 1994’s Frankenstein film, Victor seemed to be very energetic and excited to be creating this “creature” as he called it in the book. He’s also yelling out at it “live, live”. This whole scene is very different from the book because that’s not how it was described. While reading the book I had this whole different picture and then I see this scene. What makes it different is that in the book it was raining so I was expecting to hear the rain splattering against the walls, instead of these loud machines. Also as said in the book the creature was laying by his feet. I also pictured the room to be very dark with that one candle “nearly burnt out”. This scene is dark but in a way it feels like there’s light, in order for it to be like the book they should have just had that one candle. Even at the very end of this scene when the creature had opened its eyes Victor seemed to see the creature very well and yell “yes!”. Shelley had written “I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs”. So as you can see all these little details from books are mostly never included in movies which is why some people just prefer to read then watch movies because they end up disappointed. A last big difference is that I was expecting Victor to be disappointed on his creation but instead he seemed to be happy in this scene.
    -Jasmine Estevez

  2. The 1994 Dir. Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of the creation of the monster scene in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein could not appear more different from how the scene read in the book. While in the the original text the scene reads like a segment of a horror movie, this movie adaption feels more like a music video from the 1980s. In this movie adaptation, Dr. Frankenstein runs around his lab with this strange sense of excitement. Every action made by the bare-chested doctor is quick and full of gusto to the point where the entire clip feels overtly theatrical. Even his tacky floor-length coat and flowing curls add to the ridiculousness. However, the monster’s birth is a more solemn affair in Shelly’s original text. Though it can be argued that in both of these versions the laboratory is dimly lit, save for a few candles, one important detail is missing from the movie’s setting. In the book, there is a storm brewing outside of the doctor’s lab as he muses about his impending fame. Also in the book, the monster is being brought to life is “at his feet” rather than in a tall chamber shown in the movie. Only once the monster is brought to life does Frankenstein begin getting hyper, going so far as to run out of the lab and pace around his bedroom. There are intense emotions in both scenes. But while the movie treated this creation as an lively endeavor, the book treats the same scene as an anxiety ridden medical procedure.

  3. In the scene from 1994’s Frankenstein film, Victor is running around, and pull up and down to awake the monster. I feel that Victor seems very exciting by awaking the monster; however, in the book of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor seems more ashamed and even scared by create the monster. He tries to keep the secret that he creates the monster, and feels guilty as the monster ruins his life and the lives of others around him. Only the similar thing is the background of the scene that it is on a rainy day that Victor creates the monster. Shelly also mentions in the book, “I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard,” (35) I feel same in the film as well, but I believe there should be different emotion of when Victor makes his creature. The main difference is that the Frankenstein adoption is focused on the action of what and how Victor creates; yet, the text by Shelly is described more about the emotion of how Victor feels by creating the monster.

  4. In the scene from 1994’s Frankenstein film, Victor is running around, and pull up and down to awake the monster. I feel that Victor seems very exciting by awaking the monster; however, in the book of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor seems more ashamed and even scared by create the monster. He tries to keep the secret that he creates the monster, and feels guilty as the monster ruins his life and the lives of others around him. Only the similar thing is the background of the scene that it is on a rainy day that Victor creates the monster. Shelly also mentions in the book, “I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard,” (35) I feel same in the film as well, but I believe there should be different emotion of when Victor makes his creature. The main difference is that the Frankenstein adoption is focused on the action of what and how Victor creates; yet, the text by Shelly is described more about the emotion of how Victor feels by creating the monster.
    -Soyon Ahn ( I posted it again because I didn’t put my name on it!)

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