MARY Shelley’s classic novel “Frankenstein” —which was published in 1818—has been an inspiration to more than 50 films and is still being used as a reference in contemporary cinema.
This year, Shelley’s prized character will once again grace the big screen in a movie titled “Victor Frankenstein.”
It is directed by Paul McGuigan, the filmmaker who brought us the film “Wicker Park” in 2004.
However, this is not the usual Frankenstein film seen from the previous interpretations. The new movie gives emphasis to the mad scientist’s relationship with his best friend and assistant, Igor Strausman.
James McAvoy is Victor Frankenstein while Daniel Radcliffe takes on the role of Igor.
Those who are familiar with Shelley’s book will raise the point that Igor is not part of the novel. True enough, screenwriter Max Landis created the character of Radcliffe in this movie to showcase a Frankenstein film that no one has ever seen before.
“Landis has done nothing less than capture the zeitgeist of all the Frankenstein movies he’s watched,” McGuigan said. “He’s cherry-picked ideas and created his own ‘monster,’ so to speak.”
The character of Igor was inspired from the mad scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant in the 1931 film “Frankenstein.”
The story is told through the perspective of Igor who shares a vision with Victor in creating a better world for human beings. The two are doing research on giving life back to the dead.
Eventually, Victor’s experiment leads to horrifying consequences, and it is only Igor who can save the scientist from the brink of madness.
The film is set in 1860, the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. However, Radcliffe does not consider “Victor Frankenstein” a period film.
“[I think of the film] as being completely modern. Victor and Igor have cutting-edge ideas; they’re the tip of the spear. They believe it could be creative and reshape the world,” Radcliffe said. “I like the film’s irreverent tone and how it avoids being Victorian and ‘buttoned-up.’ Victor and Igor are forward-thinking.”
“Victor Frankenstein” opened last Nov. 25 in Philippine cinemas. It is distributed by 20th Century Fox.