Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (film)

Frankenstein

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Produced by Francis Ford Coppola
James V. Hart
John Veitch
Screenplay by Steph Lady
Frank Darabont
Based on Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
Starring
Music by Patrick Doyle
Cinematography Roger Pratt
Edited by Andrew Marcus
Production
company
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release dates
  • November 4, 1994 (1994-11-04)
Running time
 123 minutes[1]
Country United States
Japan
Language English
Budget $45 million
Box office $112 million

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a 1994 horror drama film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Holm, John Cleese, and Aidan Quinn. The picture was produced on a budget of $45 million and is considered the most faithful film adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, despite several differences and additions in plot from the novel.[2]


Cast

  • Robert De Niro as The Creation, the product of an experiment with corpses and electricity.
    • De Niro also portrays Professor Waldman's killer whose body was used for the creature.
  • Kenneth Branagh as Victor Frankenstein, a scientist obsessed with conquering death.
  • Tom Hulce as Henry Clerval, Dr. Frankenstein's best friend from medical school.
  • Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth, Frankenstein's fiancée and adoptive sister.[3]
  • Ian Holm as Baron Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's father.
  • John Cleese as Professor Waldman, Frankenstein's tutor and colleague who shares his interest in creating life. His brain is later used for the creature following his death.
  • Aidan Quinn as Captain Robert Walton, the commander of the ship which picks up Frankenstein in the Arctic Circle.
  • Richard Briers as Grandfather, an elderly blind man who is kind to the Creation.
  • Robert Hardy as Professor Krempe, a university tutor of medical sciences who condemns Frankenstein's theories of life beyond death.
  • Trevyn McDowell as Justine Moritz, a worker in the Frankenstein household who is close friends with Elizabeth.
    • Christina Cuttall as young Justine
  • Celia Imrie as Mrs. Moritz, the head servant in the household who often fights with Justine.
  • Cherie Lunghi as Caroline Frankenstein, Victor's mother who dies during the birth of his younger brother, William.
  • Ryan Smith as William Frankenstein, Victor's younger brother.
    • Charles Wyn-Davies as young William
  • Hugh Bonneville as Schiller
  • Jenny Galloway as Vendor's wife
  • Patrick Doyle (uncredited) as Ballroom orchestra conductor
  • Alex Lowe as Crewman
  • Stuart Hazeldine (uncredited) as Man in crowd scene
  • Fay Ripley (deleted scenes) as Whore

Reception

Frank Darabont

Original screenwriter Frank Darabont later called the film "the best script I ever wrote and the worst movie I’ve ever seen." He elaborated:

There’s a weird doppleganger effect when I watch the movie. It’s kind of like the movie I wrote, but not at all like the movie I wrote. It has no patience for subtlety. It has no patience for the quiet moments. It has no patience period. It’s big and loud and blunt and rephrased by the director at every possible turn. Cumulatively, the effect was a totally different movie. I don’t know why Branagh needed to make this big, loud film…the material was subtle. Shelley’s book was way out there in a lot of ways, but it’s also very subtle. I don’t know why it had to be this operatic attempt at filmmaking. Shelley’s book is not operatic, it whispers at you a lot. The movie was a bad one. That was my Waterloo. That’s where I really got my ass kicked most as a screenwriter... [Branagh] really took the brunt of the blame for that film, which was appropriate. That movie was his vision entirely. If you love that movie you can throw all your roses at Ken Branagh’s feet. If you hated it, throw your spears there too, because that was his movie.[4]

Critical response

Critical reviews were mixed; the film currently holds a 39% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 41 reviews with the consensus: "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is ambitious and visually striking, but the overwrought tone and lack of scares make for a tonally inconsistent experience".[5]

Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, writing: "I admired the scenes with De Niro [as the Creature] so much I'm tempted to give Mary Shelley's Frankenstein a favorable verdict. But it's a near miss. The Creature is on target, but the rest of the film is so frantic, so manic, it doesn't pause to be sure its effects are registered."[6] Janet Maslin wrote, "Branagh is in over his head. He displays neither the technical finesse to handle a big, visually ambitious film nor the insight to develop a stirring new version of this story. Instead, this is a bland, no-fault Frankenstein for the '90s, short on villainy but loaded with the tragically misunderstood. Even the Creature (Robert De Niro), an aesthetically challenged loner with a father who rejected him, would make a dandy guest on any daytime television talk show."[7]

Conversely, James Berardinelli of Reelviews.net gave the film three out of four stars, writing: "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein may not be the definitive version of the 1818 novel, and the director likely attempted more than is practical for a two-hour film, but overambition is preferable to the alternative, especially if it results—as in this case—in something more substantial than Hollywood's typical, fitfully entertaining fluff."[8]

Box office

The film fared poorly upon its U.S. theatrical release, grossing only $22 million, but did well in global markets where it grossed $90 million.[9][10]

Accolades

Award Category Recipients and nominees Result
Academy Awards Best Makeup Daniel Parker, Paul Engelen, Carol Hemming Nominated
British Academy Film Awards Best Production Design Tim Harvey Nominated
Saturn Awards Best Horror/Thriller Film Nominated
Best Actor Kenneth Branagh Nominated
Best Actress Helena Bonham Carter Nominated
Best Make-up Daniel Parker, Paul Engelen Nominated
Best Music Patrick Doyle Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Robert De Niro Nominated
Best Writing Steph Lady, Frank Darabont Nominated

Other media

The film had a pinball table made based on it, as well as a video game adaptation produced by Sony Imagesoft and released for the Super NES and Genesis, which follows a platform-style format. A Sega CD version was also produced by Sony Imagesoft that has a more adventure-based format that would sometimes switch to a fighting game.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN (15)". Columbia TriStar Films. British Board of Film Classification. October 14, 1994. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Mathews, Jack (1994-10-31). "Sleep Tight, a Monstrous Season Approaches : Movies: Those perennial masters of the dark, Frankenstein's monster and Count Dracula, return in a pair of new films. As always, they keep changing with the times.". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  3. ↑ Mitchell, Sean (1994-11-06). "Kissing the 19th Century Goodby With "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' behind her, Helena Bonham Carter vows to get away from period movies. But she's done so well as the prim and proper English lady. (Except for the stripping thing.)". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  4. ↑ Bauer, Erik (2016-04-22). "Frank Darabont on The Shawshank Redemption". Creativescreenwriting.com. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  5. ↑ "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  6. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1994-11-04). "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Movie Review (1994) | Roger Ebert". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  7. ↑ Maslin, Janet (1994-11-04). "Movie Review - - FILM REVIEW: FRANKENSTEIN; A Brain on Ice, a Dead Toad and Voila! - NYTimes.com". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  8. ↑ "Reelviews Movie Reviews". Reelviews.net. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  9. ↑ "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)". Box Office Mojo. 1994-12-02. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  10. ↑ Natale, Richard (1994-11-07). "Stargate Keeps Surprising Lead Over the Pack Movies: The sci-fi thriller holds onto the top box-office spot despite stiff competition from heavily hyped star vehicles `The War' and `Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-22.

External links

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