Version vs. Version: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Mary Shelley first published the story of Frankenstein in 1818. The story of a scientist tormented by the life he had created easily captured the imagination of the public. In 1910, Thomas Edison created the first film inspired by the characters, which I reviewed earlier this month. Universal Studios released their version in 1930, and Boris Karloff is still the iconic version of the monster. Since then, dozens of films have been released that are either direct adaptations of the novel, or inspired by Universal’s film, or just use the characters in some form or other. There is no shortage of films with which to compare the novel to, but for this edition of “Version vs. Version”, I decided to go with the 1994 film, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. Marketed as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it purports to be closer to the original novel than other films.

In some ways, this is accurate. In other ways, it really, really isn’t.

News: Jones, Gilliam, Cleese, Palin, Idle… and Williams?

From Variety comes an interesting report for fans of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. It seems a new film, Absolutely Anything is re-uniting the surviving cast. Terry Jones is directing the film, which is a Live-action/CGI science-fiction comedy about aliens who give an inept Earthman unlimited power. Mike Medavoy (producer of Black Swan) is the producer on the film. Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, and Michael Palin have already signed on to the film, and Jones and Medavoy are trying to get Eric Idle to sign on as well. If he does, all five surviving Pythons will be involved in the film, which would be the first feature collaboration for the troupe since 1983′s Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (The Wind in the Willows, later retitled Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, came close in 1996, but Gilliam appears to have had no role in it.) Also attached to the film is American comedian Robin Williams, who will be voicing a talking dog and possibly playing one of the live roles as well.

Personally, I’m intrigued by this. I like Robin Williams when he is working in a good movie, and I trust Terry Jones to deliver on that front. Plus, if anybody knows how to properly corral a manic comedian, it’s a guy who worked with several manic comedians for several years. The plot might be a little thin, but that might just be because very little of it has been revealed yet.

I suspect there isn’t much chance of this being an “OK” film. Given the people involved, it’s likely to be either brilliant, or one of the most spectacular train wrecks in cinematic history. Either way, it should be interesting to watch.