Frankenstein Response – Josh Hirth

The main difference I noticed between the two clips was how exciting the scene was in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein directed by Kenneth Branagh. The scene holds your attention and really involves the audience in what is going on. I think it has something to do with the music. On the contrary, Frankenstein directed by James Whale, is a lot more boring and technical. The scene is full of technical machinery, and depicts the creation as more of a science experiment than Branagh’s scene. It also has other people watching, which adds another dynamic to the whole creation. What struck me as an obvious difference between both scenes and the novel’s Frankenstein was the struggle Victor went through in the novel, as opposed to the obvious lack of struggle that both Victors go through in the clips. In the novel, there is a general scene of fear and uncertainty around creating such a creature, but in the clips, specifically James Whale’s clip, there doesn’t seem to be a struggle at all. In fact, in Whales scene Victor is so enthusiastic by the Frankenstein he has created. However in Branagh’s clip Victor appears to sway between struggling and excitement by what he has created. As Frankenstein is coming to life he sounds eager and excited by what he has done. However in the last seconds of the scene, right as Frankenstein is coming to life, he seems to be struggling somewhat. So much so that the people watching had to physically hold him up. All in all, I would say that each rendition of Frankenstein brings with it its own interpretation, in what is probably an attempt to relate Frankenstein to the era in which the scene was created.

 

One thought on “Frankenstein Response – Josh Hirth

  1. I like the point you brought up about how each version of Frankenstein plays off of the era in which it was filmed. Whale’s version is definitely more technical and an example of early film while Branagh’s has an element of excitement that is decidedly more modern. I do agree that, as different as both version are, ultimately neither of them capture the internal struggle Frankenstein faces during the scene as Shelley wrote it.

Comments are closed.