Thinking Activity: Frankenstein

Thinking Activity

 (Frankenstein)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein v/s Kenneth Branagh's movie Frankenstein:

(Post-viewing tasks)

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(1)What is the difference between the movie and the novel?

While speaking both of these words movie and novel, different ideas and views comes in front of our eyes. We can also say that, "if novel is heart so, movie is heartbeat." If reading of the novel leads us to imagination then watching movies leads us to see images of imagination. Kenneth Branagh's "Frankenstein" and Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is the best example for this.

"I will add but word as to the alternation I have made. Throughout they are entirely confined to such parts as are mere adjuncts to the story, leaving the core and substance of it's untouched."

-Mary Shelley

(Author's Introduction)

If we just look at these words of Mary Shelley, it seems that Kenneth Branagh has literally followed this in his movie. The whole movie is faithful to the novel, hence director Kenneth Branagh has made several kinds of changes from the novel. He has made this changes just to bring liveliness to the movie.

The promise of the movie's title, along with the breaking of that promise, offers us case study to examine the way fidelity remains the dominant paradigm, even when director knows that such fidelity is impossible to achieve.

-Julie Sloan Brannon

Now, if just try to find out the differences and similarities between movie and novel, here are some important key facts:

	Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"	Kenneth Branagh's "Frankenstein"
Genre	Gothic novel,  horror fiction, science fiction	Horror drama film Scientific fiction
Set in	late 18th century	Late 18th century
Place	England	England
Beginning	Captain Robert Walton writing letters to his sister.	In 1794, Captain Walton leads a troubled expedition to reach the North Pole. While their ship is trapped in the ice of the Arctic Sea, the crew discovers a man, Victor Frankenstein, traveling across the Arctic on his own. Victor proceeds to tell Walton and the crew his life story.
Recreation of Lady Elizabeth	Monster demands for companion or friend or rather for female friend and Victor creates	Bursting into emotions and feelings towards his beloved Elizabeth, Victor wants to be alive his wife and suddenly starts his experiment and does his wife alive with experience of first experiment of creation of Monster.
Ending	It's not very clear in the novel whether Monster lives or dies or runs away. Shelley has ended this novel with open ending or it has been left upon readers.	With his creative and artistic style, Kenneth Branagh has ended movie with realization to Monster about father son relationship. At the very middle of the ocean upon a type of island Monster gave funeral to his father and also died with him.

(2)Does the movie helps you to understand narrative structure of the novel?

Movie helps vigorously in narrative structure of the novel. As we all know, Reading unfolds greater than watching scenes but we should not forget that it's also very toughest task for director to bring images to the words.  How narrative structure goes in the movie it's really interesting! Shelley's Gothic novel "Frankenstein" has a unique plot and structure which Kenneth Branagh has kept in mind throughout the movie and without any doubt this helps us in wider understanding of the movie.

(3)Do you think the movie is helpful to understand the viewpoints of different characters?

Characterization is the second important part of any movie or novel & it is also matters a lot what kind of imagination occurs in our mind while reading the novel. And if we just try to look at Kenneth Branagh's movie "Frankenstein" we come to know that most of the characters seems to be pass on our imaginative judgements. Major two characters of the novel, Victor Frankenstein and the monster both are portrayed in that manner that it's very difficult for the audience to come out from its influence. Both brings very picture to the heart of audience. Other characters like Elizabeth, his friend and all these characters are also at the heart of audience.

In adding this, characters behavior is

also remains true to their type. It's also very tough task for any Director to come out with the characters who puts his faces to words of novel and at some very extend level, Kenneth Branagh passes on this ground.

(4)What do you think about the creation of lady monster in the novel and Elizabeth's look of a monster in the movie?

(5)Think about Victor's acceptance of Elizabeth and rejection of the monster.

Before discussing about Victor's acceptance of Elizabeth and rejection of Monster, it's very important to know about acceptance or rejection. Let first be very clear about that however one is unbiased or neutral towards anything or any situation, one can not easily come out from emotions and feelings and that's all. It's all about perception. There is no any particular factors which are playing a role in conditioning Victor's mind, but it's about perception of looking at Monster(Victor's just experiment) and Lady Elizabeth (Victor's beloved).

At first look, the major difference between both of them is that they both are made up with different purpose. Monster was created just for Victor's experiment or rather for his sake.When Victor recreates Elizabeth with his experiment, he simply accepts her as she is her beloved and bursting into feelings and emotions, without thinking even for a moment he makes Elizabeth alive with scientific experiment and accept her as his loved one. While if we just look at the monster, Monster is abandoned by his creator as he is ugly looking, or rather for that it would be very dangerous for society also. As common human beings, Victor is also conditioned by society and Ultimately because of having fear of society, Victor is not capable of accepting Monster. But while matter comes of Elizabeth, he simply forgets every norms and biases of society and accept her.

(6)Do you think the director is faithful to the novel?

If the author is the mother then the director is the maternity. To which extend Mary Shelley tries to lead us, Kenneth Branagh helps us to reach there. From the very beginning of the movie, from the very first scene Branagh has tried to be true to novel throughout the whole movie. Not only that, dialogues and scenes which are narrated in the novel seemed happening in front of our eyes, while watching Kenneth Branagh's "Frankenstein". Though director has made several changes in his movie, but it just to make it artistic impressive. Second creation of lady Elizabeth after monster, and destroyance of monster in the movie which comes at the very end, is quite different from the novel, but it brings charm to the movie and becomes an important portion of. 

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 weird doppelganger 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.

Overall, Kenneth Branagh's "Frankenstein" helps us to understand Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". The director Kenneth Branagh is faithfully to novel "Frankenstein".