The Novel ‘Frankenstein- The Modern Prometheus’ is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing this novel when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name appeared in the second edition published in Paris in 1821. Lord Byron’s suggestion of a ghost story competition to while away their Swiss holiday inspired Shelley’s Frankenstein. She named the scientist Frankenstein, getting inspired from the ‘Frankenstein castle’ in Germany.
This Novel is dark it has lot of death and murder. The major theme of the novel is ‘Danger of pursuing knowledge
Mary Shelley’s novel ‘Frankenstein - The Modern Prometheus’ has inspired a number of films from 1910, The first adapted movie was ‘Frankenstein (1910)’ American short silent horror film produced by Edison studios and Directed by James Searle Dawley to ‘The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015)’ as a British television period crime drama series that was first aired on ITV encore. Among these, the movie which was most faithful and close to the novel is Frankenstein (1994) directed by Kenneth Branagh who stars as Victor Frankenstein, despite several differences and additions to the plot of the novel.
Casting in the movie:
Robert De Niro- Creature
Kenneth Branagh - Victor Frankenstein
Tom Hulce- Henry Clerval
Helena Carter- Elizabeth Lavenza
Hannah Gordon- Young Elizabeth
Ian Holm- Alphonse Frankenstein
John Cleese - prof. Dr. Waldman
Aidan Quinn - Robert Walton
Richard Briers- blind grandfather
Robert Hardy - Professor Krempe
Trevyn McDowell - Justine Moritz
Celia Imrie - Mrs. Moritz
Cherie Lunghi- Caroline Frankenstein
Ryan Smith - William Frankenstein
Roger Pratt was the cinematographer of the film. There is awesome heavy use of circular cameras where the camera is just walking around the subjects in multiple scenes. I think it was a little overused. It makes me nauseating sometimes.
Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth Lavenza, both very well played characters in the film. Here, the monster is very understated, Robert DeNiro plays pretty well, He gets the good makeup and stitches. The movie is extremely fast- pace we don’t get any breathing time to connect with the main characters. The movie has a much more dramatic direction than the book did.
Similarities in the original text and movie:
Frame of movie:
The Movie ‘Frankenstein (1994)’ is closest to the narrative of Mary Shelley’s Novel in comparison to many other movie adaptations as it has preserved the narrative of the novel. Most adaptations of this novel have entirely removed the subplot of Arctic explorer Robert Walton as an listenser of Frankenstein's memories as in the novel. While in ‘The curse of Frankenstein (1957)’ narrates his story to someone unfamiliar. However, ‘Frankenstein (1994)’ does not only retain Robert but performs the same role and also in the same setting - The Arctic.
Creature:
The presentation of the creature is also significantly laid out the same as in the Novel. In the original novel the creature educates himself and becomes fluent and intellectually sophisticated and similarly in the Novel. Many other adaptations instead present the creature as unclear and stupid.
Device of writing:
The Novel is related through an epistolary narrative structure, and there are frequent references to writing--the characters write each other letters, Frankenstein keeps records of his experiments, etc. shows the characters writing or using objects associated with writing, film too gives same emphasises on writing.
Difference between film and Novel:
The film removes any reference to the Safie subplot from the novel. However, the film's most obvious changes are the portrayals of the deaths of both Justine and Elizabeth. In the original novel, both die. That is one significant difference between this film adaptation and many others- many films do not portray the women dying onscreen or even rewrite the plot so that the one or both of the female characters live. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein preserves the women's deaths. However, the details of their deaths in Branagh's film are quite different from the source text.
No time is given in the movie for any time of character development while we can clearly learn about the character’s in the novel. We don’t even get time to see how Victor is digesting the things that happened to him. We cannot get closely connected to or empathize with the movie characters. The movie is relying more on music and is really little more sometime.
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