Happy Birthday, Frankenstein!
It’s 200 years since Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was published. This June, the Watershed celebrates the gothic classic’s bicentenary with a film season and presentation by Sir Christopher Frayling. Yes, yes, we know that Shelley actually started work on the story during that fateful night in 1816, but a 202nd anniversary doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
The ‘shed has certainly picked an excellent, impressively diverse selection of films for its Frankenstein 200 celebration. This kicks off with Ken Russell’s unfairly maligned, enjoyably OTT Gothic, which reimagines the laudanum-fuelled Lake Geneva debauchery that led to the novel’s creation. James Whale’s iconic 1931 Frankenstein with Boris Karloff follows (though purists might object that Bride of Frankenstein is actually a better film). Then there’s Ken Branagh’s lavish 1994 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with Bob De Niro as a fun-sized monster. Finally, Mel Brooks’s lovingly crafted greatest comedy Young Frankenstein gets another welcome outing. Shame there’s no room for Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie or Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (“Wanna date?”), but you can’t have everything.
Bristol’s Maisie Williams as Isabel Baxter in Haifaa al-Mansour’s upcoming Mary Shelley biopic
Putting all this into perspective on June 5 is Sir Christopher Frayling’s presentation The Many Lives of Frankenstein. Drawing on his book Frankenstein: The First 200 Years, the distinguished academic explores the story’s enduring popularity. But what of Haifaa al-Mansour’s biopic Mary Shelley, with Elle Fanning and our very own Maisie Williams? That won’t be with us until July, but word is that it’s an unforgivably boring stinker.
Follow the links below for further details and screening times of all films in the Frankenstein 200 season.
