Frankenstein movie sparks mixed feelings

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - **** (of 4)

It's tragic, it's gothic, and it's good. Certainly the title of the movie Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's classic 19th century novel, does not "say it all."

Director Kenneth Branagh succeeds in restoring the passionate, romantic aspects of the original novel, tarnished by the old silver-screen portrayal of the 1930s. Branagh certainly resurrects the gothic, European splendor in a fashion that appeals to older audiences as well as the MTV generation.

Camera techniques are vital to the development of events in the film (running time approximately 2 1/2 hours). Frequently, the camera whirls like a bumble-bee, showing the frustrated Victor in his laboratory. He faces a choice between dedicating his life to science or wedding his beloved adopted sister, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter). The camera is also useful in providing the audience with a full view of Geneva and the Swiss Alps.

Branagh also uses a lot of symbolism in the motion picture. For example, the wooden flute that the monster (Robert De Niro) plays symbolizes his intellectual development, but also his emotional instability. This instrument is his only comfort in a cold, bitter world (symbolized by the scenes in the woods in the dead of winter) where people are judged by their appearance.

The audience can see the suffering that the monster has endured because of his ugliness, which all began with his conception in his symbolic iron womb.

Throughout the film, beautiful melancholy orchestral scores can fill the viewer with emotion. There were points in the film when the music almost brought tears to my eyes.

As the monster lies on the snow, cringing like a wounded animal, the viewer sees the rage, the bitterness in his eyes. He will avenge his horrid birth caused by his "father," Victor. Soon after the monster embarks on his killing spree of the Frankenstein family, the audience begins to lose sympathy for the fiend.

The only flaw of the film is that the events occur in rapid succession. Fifteen minutes after the start of the picture, three years have passed. Some viewers may find that it is difficult to keep up with the story like I did at times; occasionally, the rapidity may seem unreal.

Fortunately, when viewing the full picture, the plot is not badly destroyed by the timeframe of events. Overall, Branagh successfully shows how Hollywood can take a movie with a cheesy image, resurrect many of Shelley's original ideas, and create a masterpiece.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - ** (of 4)

As director of Frankenstein, Kenneth Branagh can't decide whether to play the film as a Shakespearean stage production or a Hollywood blockbuster. Likewise, his portrayal of Victor Frankenstein waivers between grandiose orations and Fabio-esque shirtless posing.

The TNT mini-series version seems to be a more practical approach to this classic gothic tome. Branagh's film runs like a very long trailer for itself. The story simply can't be packed into 2 1/2 hours.

The cast races through the novel's exposition, trying to get Robert De Niro on screen as fast as possible. When De Niro arrives, it's his movie. De Niro's performance fleshes out the famous monster, much as Gary Oldman did in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Instead of a lumbering, green, "Lou Ferrigno-as-the-Hulk" creature, we are offered an eloquent, if grotesque, being of extreme passion.

To his credit, Branagh draws sympathy to the creature like no other film version has. The much-parodied "visit with the old blind man" segment is, ironically, much fresher in its more original form.

The frame tale of Arctic explorers almost works to rescue the film's overall effect. This may owe something to the fact that the scenes focus on two excellent actors, Aiden Quinn and De Niro, with Branagh quietly playing dead.

Branagh has made nothing but fine movies until now. His suspense tale Dead Again was eerie and well-plotted. His Shakespearean style worked wonders with last year's Much Ado About Nothing . In the case of Frankenstein, however, the indecision between melodramatic flash and flashy dramatics causes the film to stagger like a Boris Karloff interpretation.