Frankenstein

I love the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (it, along with Hamlet, was one of my favorite pieces of literature to teach) so the new adaptation by Guillermo del Toro was one of my most anticipated movies this year.  I went to see it with my nephew, and a huge crowd, at the Broadway last night and I loved it!  I loved everything about it!  Baron Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is confronted by a mysterious Creature (Jacob Elordi) on a ship, under the command of Captain Anderson (Lars Mikkelsen), that is trapped in ice whilst on an expedition to the North Pole.  When Frankenstein hears that Anderson is willing to continue to the North Pole no matter the cost to his crew, he fears that he shares his same madness and recounts his story to him as a cautionary tale.  He tells of his obsession to overcome death after his beloved mother died in childbirth, his expulsion from the Royal College of Surgeons for experimenting on corpses, his patron Heinrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz) who funds his experiments in an abandoned water tower, his unrequited love for Harlander's niece Elizabeth (Mia Goth) who is also engaged to his brother William (Felix Kammerer), his success in reanimating a corpse created from the bodies of soldiers killed in the Crimean War, his disappointment with the Creature's seeming lack of intelligence, and his attempt to kill the Creature by setting the tower on fire.  The Creature then describes his mistreatment at the hands of Frankenstein who sees him as a monster, his bond with Elizabeth who sees his purity of heart, his escape from the fire at the tower, his terror at being lost and alone in the woods, his interactions with a blind man (David Bradley) who befriends him and teaches him to speak and read, his search for answers about his creation, and then his search for the creator who doomed him to a life of isolation.  After Frankenstein and his Creature have a final reckoning, Anderson decides to abandon his reckless pursuit and return home.  I am usually a purist when it comes to adaptations of literature but I think the changes from the novel add to the narrative rather than detract from it and I especially loved the more sympathetic depiction of the Creature.  I was impressed by the performances from Isaac, as a man consumed by his obsession, and Goth, as the moral compass of the story, but I was absolutely blown away by Elordi.  I loved his physicality as a being with an imposing stature but the development of a newborn and his portrayal of both innocence and rage.  I also really enjoyed all of the Gothic elements in the production design (the visuals are gorgeous and I particularly loved the use of fallen angels as a motif) and the Baroque-inspired score by Alexandre Desplat (one of my favorite movie composers).  I've always loved the story but I found this adaptation to be incredibly moving and I highly recommend it (I'm sure it will be among my favorite movies of the year).  It will be available to stream on Netflix beginning November 7 and I cannot wait to watch it again.