Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein premiered on Saturday at the Venice Film Festival to a nearly 15-minute standing ovation, one of the longest this year.
The film’s cast, including Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, were present at the premiere with the veteran filmmaker, as well as the composer Alexandre Desplat.
An adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic novel of the same name, the film follows the brilliant but egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein, played by Isaac, who brings a creature, played by Elordi, to life in an experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
According to multiple US outlets, the film opened to a very enthusiastic audience that gave the film an almost 15-minute standing ovation.
Elordi, who stepped into the role after Andrew Garfield departed over scheduling conflicts, was visibly moved during the prolonged ovation. In multiple videos on social media, he can be seen embracing del Toro and Isaac, and then wiping tears before bowing to the audience.
In the press conference for the film earlier the same day, Elordi described the Creature as “the purest form of myself”.
“It was a vessel that I could put every part of myself into. From the moment that I was born to being here with you today, all of it is in that character,” he said. “And in so many ways, the creature that’s on screen in this movie is the sort of purest form of myself. He’s more me than I am.”
Del Toro’s Frankenstein joins a list of strong contenders at Venice, including films by Yorgos Lanthimos, Kathryn Bigelow, Park Chan Wook, and Kaouther Ben Hania, with awards to be announced on 6 September.
This is del Toro’s first time back at the festival since The Shape of Water in 2017, which won the Golden Lion and later best picture and director at the Oscars.
Del Toro has previously said his version of Frankenstein is not a “horror film,” and said at the press conference that the film was not a metaphor for AI either.
“It’s not intended as a metaphor for that,” del Toro said of AI, per Variety. “We live in a time of terror and intimidation, certainly. And the seminal question in the novel is, what is it to be human? What makes us human? There’s no more urgent task than to remain, in a time where everything is pushing towards a bipolar, understanding of our humanity.
“The movie tries to show imperfect characters and the right we have to remain imperfect, and the right we have to understand each other under the most oppressive circumstances,” he continued before adding, “I’m not afraid of artificial intelligence. I’m afraid of natural stupidity.”
The Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab gave the film three stars, writing that there are “few contemporary directors [who] can match Del Toro’s visual flair or his imagination”.
“In terms of craft, there is much to admire here. Whether it’s the battlefield where Victor goes in search of body parts, or the muddy, blood-spattered Edinburgh streets where public hangings are still held, every location is lovingly detailed. Costume and production design are impeccable.”
Frankenstein will be released in theatres on 17 October and for streaming on Netflix on 7 November.
