Start the week with a film: In 'Bride of Frankenstein', the Creature hunts for a companion

Guillermo del Toro’s version of Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein has several new elements and plot beats, but the film stays faithful to the source material in one key respect. Both Shelly and del Toro feel deeply for the hideous Creature, who is forced to come into the world because of an unholy act of hubris.

Shelley’s novel is the strange tale of the scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a humanoid entity through forbidden experiments. Although Frankenstein rejects his creation, the Creature won’t let him be. Having developed the ability to speak, and eventually think, the Creature upbraids his maker for abandoning him. In a sub-plot, Frankenstein asks for a female companion who will be just like him, which spooks Frankenstein.

Written in 1818, the evocative book led to film adaptations during the silent era. In 1931, American director James Whale made Frankenstein, whose visual styles and conventions are still considered iconic: the dramatic moment when the Creature come to life, his flat-headed and dead-eyed appearance, his perilous encounter with other people.

A scene in which the Creature plays with an innocent girl, only to toss her into a pond because he doesn’t know the extent of his strength, is one of the film’s most shattering moments.

James Whale followed up...

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