I’m alive! It’s at the Venice Film Festival! But that’s not about the attention of artificial intelligence.
“Frankenstein” by Guillermo del Toro, starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac, follows a wonderful, yet selfish scientist who brings monster creatures to life only because the experiment leads to the destruction of both of them. It’s a timely tale about hubrism and out of control, but the Oscar-winning director claims that his new film is not a warning about AI spread.
“It is not intended as a comparative phor for that,” Del Toro said at the official press conference for the film on Saturday afternoon. “We certainly live in an age of fear and intimidation. And in an age where everything is pushing towards bipolarity and understanding our humanity, there is no urgent challenge. The film tries to show imperfect characters, and we have to understand each other in imperfect situations.”
He further said, “I’m not afraid of artificial intelligence. I’m afraid of natural stupidity.”
Mary Shelley’s work has been adapted to the screen many times. Most notably, “Frankenstein” in 1931, directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff. In the Del Toro version, Erorudi plays the creature trapped in a fatal feud with his creator (Isaac). But instead of a standard horror film, the director imagines the story as a layered family drama. For Del Toro, placing the spin on his own film of “Frankenstein” is the pinnacle of a lifelong dream.
“I’ve been chasing creatures since I was a kid. I’ve been waiting for the film to take place in the right conditions. Both are about making it creatively in terms of achieving the scope to make it different, and on a scale that allows you to rebuild the whole world,” he said. And now he’s finished the film and he joked. “I’m suffering from postpartum depression.”
Given the theme of the film, Erorudi was asked who in society represents him a monster. The actor immediately replied, “a man in a suit.”
Del Toro inserted it saying, “It was very well tailored (one).”
Meanwhile, Isaac recalls an early conversation with Del Toro that led to his casting as monster maker Victor Frankenstein.
“I can’t believe I’m here now. I can’t believe I’ve arrived here for two years now. A table (in Del Toro) who is eating Cuban pork and talking about our lives with my father, says, “I want you to be Victor.” “It just seemed like that pinnacle.”
The $120 million budget monster movie, which premieres Saturday night, competes for the prestigious Golden Lion won by Delotoro in 2017’s “The Shape of Water.” Elordi and Isaac co-stars Christoph Waltz and Mia Goth, as well as composer Alexandre Desplat, attended the press conference.
Netflix is releasing “Frankenstein,” so the movie is limited to three-week releases on the big screen before it lands on the streaming service. However, Del Toro did not worry about the shorter theatrical window and claimed he was happy with the arrangements for the film’s development.
“Look at my set, I always want more everything,” he said. However, regarding the rocky state of the cinema, the director said he “don’t know what will happen.” He raised the 2021 psychological thriller, Nightmare Alley.
“We were released next to the Spider-Man (Noway Home) and Covid variations, Omicron. We barely lasted,” Del Toro said. “So you don’t know what’s affordable. All I know is to reach over 300 million viewers (on Netflix), and you have the opportunity and challenge to make a movie that evokes that cinema, and then you provide the theatre first. It makes a very creative experience for me.”
