If your local cinema is one that plays the NT Live series of recorded theatre productions you should see if they are playing Danny Boyle’s excellent production of Frankenstein from 2011 as it has a return season this week.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller swapped the leading roles of Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster on alternate nights and both versions are out there.
I reviewed it for RNZ At the Movies during one of the lockdowns in September 2021:
If you haven't seen subsidised British theatre in its pomp, you will be amazed at the production values on display in this show. The giant Olivier Theatre has a size and scale that in New Zealand we normally devote to public car parking buildings.
What I can only describe as a corkscrew revolving stage with huge set elements rising up from the floor as the stage spins; and all the elements feature on stage - earth, fire, water. The design by Mark Tildesley and costumes by Sattirat Anne Larlarb have a steampunk aesthetic which was in vogue at the time but looks slightly out of date now.
The plot hews pretty closely to Mary Shelley's novel. Victor Frankenstein, obsessed with the electrochemical properties of life, constructs a creature from scavenged body parts and manages to awaken it. Horrified by what he has made, Frankenstein abandons the creature who is forced to learn the ways of men while at the same time being scorned and despised by them.
But he is a quick learner and after a year living with a blind philosopher in the Swiss mountains - a sojourn that does not end well - the Creature determines to go to Geneva and reckon with his creator, and bargain for a companion. This also does not go well.
If you can’t get to a cinema before this re-release disappears, you can do what we did back in 2021 and watch it on the NT Live home streaming service where there are currently 91 different productions to choose from.
And you can listen to the whole review here (8m 11s). Also in that whole programme: Netflix drumming documentary Count Me In, Soderbergh’s Atlantic crossing drama Let Them All Talk and the classic Field of Dreams.
Where to watch Frankenstein
Worldwide: Streaming on National Theatre At Home. Also in select cinemas for a limited time – check your listings.
Favourite comments
Reader BF of Twizel responded to yesterday’s recommendation of Sunny on Apple TV+: “Fyi our own Wētā Workshop worked on Sunny (the show and the robot)”
Reader HG of Wellington went to see Joker: Folie à Deux: “I went and saw Joker - Folies à Deux as a big fan of the first movie. TBH it’s not as bad as the reviews say - the musical pieces could have been easily removed and it would have been a good movie.”
And reader MN chose to honour our 300th edition by going to see The Substance: “Holy s#!t. Honestly. Holy f@%$!ng s#!t.” That’s a small clip from a long comment. I’ll wait for The Substance to appear at home, I think.
Further reading
RNZ gave me an opportunity to give my review of Joker: Folie à Deux a bit of a polish. It got picked up by the NZ Herald, too. Which was nice.
what a co-incidence, just got back from seeing this at Napier MTG. Incredible play and excellent actors and staging, highly recommend. The short-documentary-like piece at the start positioned the performance and its themes so well.