Guillermo del Toro: I became a Frankensteinist at 11
Guillermo del Toro has discussed his passion for making the new Frankenstein movie.
Guillermo del Toro became a "Frankensteinist" at the age of 11.
The 61-year-old filmmaker has helmed the new Frankenstein movie, and Guillermo admits that the project has taken a long time to come to fruition.
Speaking at the BFI IMAX in London, Guillermo explained: "I just felt this book should exist, because [Frankenstein’s] Creature is me. You know, I identify entirely with the Creature. And I wanted to tell the story the way Mary Shelley wanted to tell it, which is, it becomes every human.
"It is the origin of humanity and understanding as paradise lost … I know this sounds exaggerated, but it’s my religion. I was born and raised Catholic, and then at 11, I became a Frankensteinist."
Frankenstein was made for Netflix, but Guillermo has encouraged film fans to watch the movie in a cinema.
He said: "This is the best way to experience any story: collectively, and it is the best way to see movies. I mean, it takes 35,000 iPhones to make that screen … but it also is the communal [aspect].
"I think that movies — the way I see them — whether it’s The Shape of Water or Pan’s Labyrinth or this [Frankenstein], you know, they bring a sacramental beauty to them. If we commune with them, we can gain a spiritual tendency for empathy, for humanity, for forgiveness, for something that we need.
"If we experience it as a community, all the better, because we have never been so connected and so alone as we are right now."
Oscar Isaac plays Baron Victor Frankenstein, a surgeon who seeks to create life from death, in the new Frankenstein film, and the actor recently admitted that he loved shooting the sci-fi movie.
Speaking to Teyana Taylor for Variety, Oscar explained: "I don’t know if I’ve ever got stuck in something.
"I did have a hard time when I went into another project after Frankenstein. It wasn’t until I brought back Victor to talk for a moment that I realised … After Frankenstein, I was playing a character that was quite tight and small; Victor was still in there, angry that he had to be in this tiny little sad man.
"There was something about playing Victor that was very freeing and pleasurable. He is a character that loves pleasure — a bit like Perfidia. There was something about playing somebody so unhinged, with no regard for moral judgement, that it’s this vitalist energy that was really exciting and pleasurable to play. Leaving that was really hard."
