This movie had a special impact on me because in a way, Mary Shelley is responsible for my obsession with films. My first memory involves being a young child hiding under a theater seat looking up at the Frankenstein monster. I was both terrified and fascinated at the same time. From that day forward, I’ve been hooked on movies. But I digress.
As the child of two liberal literary figures (William Godwin, a political philosopher and novelist, and Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication for the Rights of Woman), Mary must have inherited a love of writing. Because Mary’s mother died shortly after her birth, she is raised by her intellectual father (Stephen Dillane) and a strict stepmother (Joanne Froggatt) she does not like. Up until her romance with Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth), Mary feels close to her father. She also loves her younger sister (Bel Powley), who can’t get enough of Mary’s imaginative made-up stories, especially the spooky ones. And Mary reads everything she can get her hands on.
Then, while still a teenager, she meets the dashing Percy. She falls hard for this handsome poet, and their passionate romance begins. That’s when everything changes – not necessarily for the better.
Mary believes in “free love” just like Percy. The problem? She loves Percy only, but he practices his belief. The result? Marriage misery. However, Percy does want Mary to write, even though he thinks her work could be so much better. One fateful night during a terrible thunder storm, Percy’s friend Lord Byron (Tom Sturridge) suggests a story contest, which motivates Mary to start thinking about a tale that ultimately becomes Frankenstein.
When the book is published, Mary’s name does not appear as the author. Remember, it’s a time when women should not be writing about such things. Percy pens the introduction, so most people assume he’s the author. After the success of this first publication, the second one gives Mary Shelley her well-deserved author credit.
Women authors have faced the plight,
lack of respect, and that’s not right.
MARY SHELLEY, a fine movie,
shows how sad this fact can be.
Mary’s father and husband too
felt her writing just would not do.
But she earned fame despite their gall.
Her creation surprised them all.
Mary wrote the first sci-fi book.
With Gothic themes, just take a look.
Frankenstein makes life from the dead.
His Creature lives and causes dread.
This biopic is quite a treat.
Acting and visuals? Hard to beat.
Dramatic license – what’s the fuss?
That’s all done to entertain us.
(Released by IFC and rated PG-13 for sexuality and thematic elements including substance abuse.)
Review also posted at ReelTalk Movie Reviews.
I've never read the book, Frankenstein, but have seen the movie and always found it rather camp. More like a bad horror film than science fiction. Stitching body parts together made no sense to me even as a teenager seeing the movie. Large doses of electricity applied may have tingled those in the audience with an aversion for electricity, but I had to smirk at the sophomoric idea of bringing things to life with an electrical shock.
Ron