Frankenstein

Synopsis

A Danish ship is stuck in the ice trying to reach the North Pole when the crew finds a wounded man. Pursued by a being with super human strength they take him back to the ship. While recovering the man, revealed to be Victor Frankenstein, tells his tale.

Frankenstein grew up in France as the son of surgeon and his wife in an unhappy marriage. Closer to his mother than his father, he becomes obsessed with surpassing his father as a surgeon when his mother dies while giving birth to his brother William swearing to conquer death.

Grown up he moves to Edingburgh, where he continues his pursuit in reviving death flesh. However when he presents his progress to the Royal College of Surgeons he is reviled as a heretic. Despite this, one man in the audience, arms merchant Harlander, approaches him and promises him unlimited funding. As chance would have it he is the uncle of Elizabeth, the fiancee of William, Frankenstein’s brother.

With unlimited resources, Frankenstein is now free to pursue his research in an isolated tower (oddly reminiscent of Orcthanc from the adaptation of The Two Towers). In the beginning Victor harvest body parts from condemended criminals, but when Harlander demands results, he starts to get his bodies from battlefields. When Frankestein finally finishes his creature, Harlander reveals that his body is decaying with syphilis, and demands that his brain is put in the creature. Frankenstein refuses and it comes to scuffle during which Harlander falls to his death.

Frankenstein uses lighting to attempt to revive his creature, however it seems to fail. Exhausted and disillusioned he goes to bed. When he wakes the next morning he finds the create next to his bed. Frankenstein starts to educate the creature, but gets frustrated when he can learn just one word: “Victor”. Afraid of his strength, he chains his in the sewers beneath the tower.

When William and Elizabeth visits Frankenstein, they find the creature. Elizabeths questions whether the harsh treatment is necessary and with kindness teaches him to say her name as well. Victor tells William and Elizabeth that the create killed Harlander and sends them away upon which he sets fire to the tower with creature chained inside.

As Frankenstein concludes his tale, the creature enters the boat and confront the captain and his creator. When he hears that Frankenstein has told his story, he insists on telling his.

As the tower is about to collapse, the create breaks his chains and escapes through a sewer hole into the ocean. He is washed up on a nearby beach and makes his way inland. He comes across a cabin where a family lives. Observing them through the walls, he becomes attached them, and starts helping them in secret. Eventually, claiming it must The Spirit of the Forest, they start repaying by leaving out clothes and food.

When the rest of the family leaves for winter, a blind old man insists on staying behind. Alone, the creature reveals himself to the old man and a friendship develops. The man teaches the creature to speak and read prompting him to try to remember his past. He ourneys back to the lab and discovers the truth, but when he returns to the cabin he finds the old man attacked by wolves and dying. The old man’s family returns and mistakenly beleives the creature have killed him. They shoot him and leave for dead, but the creature revives and realises that he is immortal.

Realising that he will have to spend eternity alone, he seeks out Frankenstein to create him a companion. When Frankenstein adamently refuses, the creature attacks him, however Elizabeth arrives and intervenes and their old tenderness is revived. Frankenstein however sees an opportunity and while trying to shoot the monster accidentally wounds Elizabeth. The monster carries her away to a cave where dies in his arms.

Enraged at Frankenstein killing the one person who cared for him, the creature pursues him to the arctic.

As the story concludes Frankenstein and the Creature reconsile and recognises each other as father and son. Frankenstein dies of his wounds and as a last act the creature frees the ship from the ice and the captain abandons his attempt to reach the North Pole recognising in his pursuit the same madness that Frankenstein suffered from.

Impressions

This was a great film. I have never read the book, but my feeling is that it was quite true to the original story. I really enjoyed the two different perspectives. Oscar Isaac was great as a manically obsessed Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi was equally great as the pitiful monster.

I was also fun to see Mads Mikkelsen’s brother as the captain of the ship.