Mary Shelleys Frankenstein 4K 1994 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Captain Robert Walton, an explorer obsessed with the manic urge to reach the North Pole at any cost, meets Dr. Victor Frankenstein in the Arctic wilderness, pursuing a mysterious humanoid creature.

Upon learning of the captain's purpose, Frankenstein tells him his sad and macabre story. Back in his youth, Victor became fascinated with science. And after his mother's death he was determined to become a scientist and defeat death. His obsession led to terribly tragic consequences for himself and for all his loved ones...

Review 4K Movie

It would be hard to find anyone who has not heard of the novel or been acquainted with one of its countless interpretations. The book, which was for its author only a sample of the pen, thanks to its actual plot moved into the category of timeless and served as inspiration for the creation of works of art of varying degrees of artistic value, and above all, movies. It was the cinema that fully appreciated the visual possibilities of Mary Shelley's work and regularly referred to it. Such an admirer of English literary classics as Kenneth Branagh did not overlook it either, with his 1994 adaptation of Frankenstein.

Branagh's film stands out among dozens of other adaptations of the famous Gothic novel for several reasons. First and foremost, this is a minimal discrepancy with the source material, although not without them. Of course, such a serious concept requires thoroughness and scope of production. And here Branagh did not lose face. This is by no means a thrashy undertaking, speculating on the impressive themes of the novel (and of these, alas, the majority of screen adaptations of 'Frankenstein'), but a very emotional and psychologically accurate transfer to the screen story of the Creator and Creation. The cast, music, costumes and make-up also contributed to this. One of the advantages of the picture is that Branagh the director and Branagh the actor did not succumb to the temptation to use the decisions of previous screen adaptations (particularly the most famous one from 1931), interpreting in his own way the images of Victor Frankenstein and his Creation. Whereas in Shelley some readers may attribute the scientist's act to the narrowness of scientific thought at the time, others to Victor's romantic nature, and still others to his insanity, in Branagh these three interpretations of the image coexist. If at the beginning of the film he is an enthusiastic young idealist, then closer to the finale he is a real madman, for the sake of his beloved, who has repeated his horrible experiment (it is this plot move that is the main deviation from the novel. In the book, the scientist realized his mistake and tried to atone for it). By taking Victor's desire to defeat death and rise above nature to extremes, Branagh makes his role and the entire film emotionally intense.

The undoubted success of the film is Robert De Niro, who brilliantly (even under the pounds of makeup) embodied the creation of Frankenstein on the screen. In my opinion, this is how Mary Shelley herself saw the character. A monster created at the insane whim of its creator and thus forced to suffer and channel all its power and anger into killing innocents. But having acquired the ability to think (Shelley had preceded the creature's acquaintance with the works of Goethe, while Branagh wrote off the acquisition of his mind and senses as genetic memory - another discrepancy with the original), it presents the scientist with its terrible ultimatum...

The important role of Frankenstein's bride is played by Helena Bonham Carter. Her heroine wants to be happy next to the man she loves, but she knows nothing of his experiments, of which she is also destined to become a victim. Played an actress here well, although the script did not give her an opportunity to bring to the role of the eccentricity, which will become famous Helena later. Therefore, Elizabeth Frankenstein has become for her one of a number of images of reverent English ladies, played by the actress at the time.

The role of Henry Clerval was played with his characteristic infantilism by Tom Hulse, and Ian Holm embodied the image of Victor's father very emotionally on the screen.

As for the picture as a whole, it made a mad impression on me, and some moments were simply shocking (especially the process of creating the monster and Elizabeth's 'resurrection'). However, I can't consider Frankenstein a masterpiece (unlike the other adaptation of the classic Gothic novel - Bram Stoker's Dracula), because of the uneven rhythm of Branagh's film, some episodes of which seem to remind of timing, which makes them resemble commercials or music videos. Coppola did not have this. Nevertheless, I appreciated this film as well.