Mary Shelley`s Frankenstein
Released on Fri, November 4, 1994
"Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" delves into the dark ambition of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant and driven young physician. Consumed by the profound grief stemming from his mother's untimely death during his birth, Victor channels his sorrow into an obsessive pursuit of conquering mortality itself. He becomes fixated on unlocking the secrets of life and death, driven by a desire to alleviate the pain and loss he experienced.
This intense preoccupation leads Victor down a treacherous path of clandestine experimentation. Shrouded in secrecy, he dedicates himself to unraveling the mysteries of animation, delving into arcane knowledge and macabre practices. He painstakingly gathers discarded remains from corpses, piecing them together in a desperate attempt to breathe life back into inanimate matter. His laboratory becomes a sanctuary for his morbid experiments.
Fueled by his unwavering determination, Victor ultimately succeeds in his audacious endeavor. He manages to imbue his grotesque assemblage of body parts with a spark of life, bringing into existence a creature of unnatural origin. This moment of triumph, however, is short-lived. Upon beholding his creation, Victor is instantly overcome with a wave of revulsion and horror.
The sight of the monstrous being he has brought into existence shatters Victor's initial excitement, replacing it with a profound sense of dread and guilt. He recoils in disgust from the creature, abandoning it to its own devices in a moment of panicked regret. The weight of his actions begins to bear down upon him as he comprehends the magnitude of his transgression.
Victor's initial arrogance and ambition give way to remorse and self-loathing. He realizes the ethical implications of his actions and the potential consequences of tampering with the natural order. The creation he once viewed as a scientific breakthrough now haunts his waking moments, a constant reminder of his hubris and the horror he has unleashed upon the world.
Thus, Victor is instantly filled with the realization that he had made a terrible mistake in what he had done, creating a monster that he had never wanted or planned to have created. He comes to regret the actions and experiments that he had completed. He knew in his heart that what he had done was wrong, but it was too late to reverse any of his actions.
Kenneth Branagh
as Victor Frankenstein
Tom Hulce
as Henry Clerval
Aidan Quinn
as Cap. Robert Walton
Ian Holm
as Baron Frankenstein
Richard Briers
as Grandfather
John Cleese
as Prof. Waldman