Happy Thursday! I’m posting off schedule today to participate in a blogfest.
Fellow fantasist Claudie A., now all set up at her spiffy new location at The Novel Experiment, has been hosting a blogoversary Superheroes of Science Blogfest all this week. The blogfest asks these questions of us:
Who is the most memorable scientist character to you? What’s so special about him? What scientists – dead, alive or fictional – made a difference in your life? Is there a scientist you admire? What has he discovered or what is he working on?
I’m going to go with a very particular interpretation of a very particular fictional scientist, Dr. Frankenstein from the 1994 Kenneth Branagh movie.
What is it about this character that so speaks to me? It’s the twisting of his sense of judgment by the torment and desperation he feels over the loss of loved ones.
It’s watching him go from the joy of discovery apparent here:
To the horrific tragedy that unfolds here:
Branagh’s Frankenstein is so incredibly human, in turns defiant and despairing in the face of mortality and lack of control. I find this compelling in any character. I find it more so in a speculative fiction story, where these conflicts come out in dramatic and literal interpretations.
I just have to see this! I have a secret thing for Kenneth Branagh, and Frankenstein's story has always been among my favourite. One movie added to my TBW pile! ;) Thanks, and great post!
ReplyDeleteKenneth Branagh is a great actor; I have his version of Hamlet. I haven't seen him in Frankenstein, but now I'd like to.
ReplyDeleteI'm a member of BroadUniverse, and we consider Mary Shelly the mother of science fiction.
Hi, Sandra. I've been fascinated by Mary Shelley ever since seeing a strange, fanciful movie about the inception of her idea for Frankstein at Byron's villa. I wish I could recall the name of that film.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of this movie before! Now I'm really curious! And Kenneth Branagh has always been a fave of mine. LOVE him in much ado about nothing!
ReplyDeleteI'm a little surprised at how many people have never heard of the movie, but I probably shouldn't be. Now that I think about it, I remember a college friend and I going to see it, and we were the only people in the whole theater. Probably not one of Branagh's biggest hits. :)
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