Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994), directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter / Z-View
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay: Steph Lady, Frank Darabont; based on FRANKENSTEIN: or THE MODERN PROMETHEUS by Mary Shelley
Stars: Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Aidan Quinn, Ian Holm, Robert Hardy, Cherie Lunghi and John Cleese.
Tagline: Be warned. It’s alive.
The Plot…
1794. Captain Walton, leading an expedition to the North Pole, is in a bad way. His ship has become trapped in ice. While attempting to free the vessel, the crew hears a frightening scream somewhere in the mist that surrounds them. Suddenly a man appears and calls for the men to grab their weapons and come with him.
The crew grab their guns and begin to move forward. Their dogs run ahead, disappearing into the mist. Within seconds they hear the cries of their dogs being killed.
The men retreat to the ship. As his crew stands guard Captain Walton and the man talk. The stranger says that he created the creature in the mist, and that his name is Victor Frankenstein.
This is his (and the creature’s) story…
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein earned a 1995 Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup – Daniel Parker, Paul Engelen, Carol Hemming
Francis Ford Coppola bought Steph Lady’s screenplay with the intent to direct the film as a follow-up to his Dracula film. When Coppola decided to just serve as the film’s producer, he insisted that Robert DeNiro play the creature.
DeNiro chose Kenneth Branagh to direct. Branagh brought in Frank Darabont to create a second draft of the screenplay. Branagh wanted the film to include a “recreated bride” which doesn’t happen in Shelley’s novel.
Coppola didn’t like many of the choices Branagh made and their were multiple disagreements during filming. Coppola wanted to recut the film, but Branagh refused. Coppola went on record denouncing the film.
Coppola wasn’t the only creative who worked on the film that didn’t care for the finished movie. Frank Darabont said in interviews that he didn’t care for the movie and that Kenneth Branagh mishandled the material, and made changes to the screenplay.
Kenneth Branagh was married to actress Emma Thompson, but during filming of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, began an affair with his co-star Helena Bonham Carter. Thompson divorced Branagh in 1997 and he continued his affair with Carter until their breakup in 1999.
A four-issue comic book adaptation was published by Topps. It was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Rafael Kayanan.
DeNiro as the creature didn’t work for me. I could only see DeNiro in make-up and not a creature reanimated from dead bodies.
The screen loves Helena Bonham Carter, so her rebirth as “the Bride” is shocking — especially since she doesn’t (and legally couldn’t) look like the classic Universal Bride.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) rates 3 of 5 stars.