SO! I finally sat down and watched Guillermo Del Toro's "Frankenstein", and I have some thoughts.
Is it a beautifully crafted piece of media? Undoubtedly, yes. Casting? Chef's kiss π€πΌ. What made me stop watching it on my first go-around however was Victor's relationship with his parents.
For those of you who have NOT read the book, Victor's parents are completely infatuated with each other. They have Victor, who becomes their shining joy of a child. They want more children and for a minute are unable to, so they adopt Elizabeth Lavenza to be his sister/future spouse, only later who have William. All around a happy family of 5. Victor's dad encourages his interest in science, but also tries to steer him away from some of the more radical and fanciful pseudo-sciences he expresses interest in like reanimation.
While Victor is off at college, Elizabeth contracts scarlet fever, and his mother then contracts it as well while trying to nurse her back to health. Mrs. Frankenstein eventually succumbs, and dies which is the key moment that makes Victor go "Fuck it, we're going to bring her back." Very Full Metal Alchemist, Very Alphonse Elric.
I feel like, had we stuck to that as being the reason why Victor went down this whole reanimation rabbit hole, it would feel more like Victor was the young stupid college student who fucked up on his science experiment, vs the absolutely bat shit and abusive psychopath that Oscar Isaacs played him as. Added bonus, we totally avoid the emotionally incestuous relationship we got between Del Toro's characters.
And not to be a Victor apologist, but The Creature was actually quite monstrous in the book. His first few murders were accidental, but he then hold that physical power over Victor to manipulate him into doing what he wants (like agreeing to make him a companion). Is Victor innocent in this? No, absolutely not, he was the one to create The Creature, and should've done the right thing by owing that responsibility and teaching it vs running away and hiding from his fuck up.
As far as film adaptations go, Del Toro's Frankenstein is world's better than the 1931 Universal Pictures horror film series, and hold more true to the spirit of Mary Shelley's novel, but is more of a "inspired by" interpretation than a book to film adaptation.
I know having a truly faithful book to film adaptation is never going to happen with any story, but sometimes I just want film makers to actually read and digest the media they want to adapt for the screen. Is that too much to ask?
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