Kenneth Branaghs adaption of Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel, Frankenstein, to the sliver screen is the most accurate adaption to date. However, there were some changes made during the converting. Among them were how in the book Henry and Victor had been friends since childhood. In the movie they met in college. Another small change was Professor Waldman’s subject. In the book he was a chemistry teacher . In the movie he is an anatomy teacher.
T here were to particular changes which stood out more then the others. One was when the monster shows up to the cottage on Victor and Elizabeth wedding night. That scene changed drastically from the book to the movie. They defiantly upped the monstrosity factor. In the book it’s less gruesome. The monster simply strangles her to death with his bare hands. Now in the movie, the directors decided to the give the audience a more graphic visual and has the monster rip out Elizabeth’s heart with his hands.
T he part that stands out in the transition from book to movie is when Victor decides, that out of his love for Elizabeth, he wants to revive her. In the book the thought of reviving Elizabeth isn’t even mentioned. In this scene the director upped the beauty. The scene demonstrates to the audience just how much the monster hurt Victor and it also shows how much Victor really loved Elizabeth. Victor took Justine body and took Elizabeth head and connected them and then brought her back to life, only to later have her kill herself.
There are other more obvious changes. But, these two caught my attention the most. The book in of itself (gruesome details aside) is a love story. A beautiful one at that. It’s about a man ultimately who just wants to be accepted and love. After all it’s said that “the greatest joy in life is to love and be loved.” I believe Branaghs adaptation did the book justice.