Last night, Monday, February 9th, was a showing of Frankenstein that also had a Q&A with Guillermo del Toro and Jacob Elordi! The tickets went quickly and sold out before the end of the day when they went on sale. I chose the third row because I wanted to get photos of the special guests and also I had already seen the film, in fact in the same theater! Actually, third row is fine for IMAX, not at neck bending level, plus a good place for taking photos of the guests. I did notice this time watching Frankenstein, spoilers ahead!, the symbolism of the head pat which is symbolically the submission to the Divine. The Creature (Jacob Elordi) watches next door to the family, the Blind Man (David Bradley) patting his grand daughter, Anna-Maria (Sofia Galasso) in a gesture of reassurance and family. Later, Frankenstein enters the cabin to learn from the Blind Man.
Jacob Elordi and Guillermo del Toro during the Frankenstein Q&A, photo by the author.
He is lost emotionally and on his knees, the Blind Man pats his head. He has found a father figure in the Blind Man and this is the only kindness he felt since Elizabeth (Mia Goth) had a brief moment with him. At the end of the movie, we find that Frankenstein has burst into the captain’s cabin of the Horisont, not to get revenge on his creator, Victor (Oscar Isaac), but to find his purpose in life. It is a father and son dynamic. Victor pats his son’s head. Jacob Elordi walked out and Guillermo del Toro joined at chairs set in the center of the stage.
Elordi said about playing the part, “I didn’t feel any pressure at all. I felt an immense amount of curiosity. This is what you dream of being an actor. This is the role you dream of playing when you’re eleven or twelve years old. You want to be a creature.” Elordi continued, “Movies are our art form. The youngest art that we have and this is how we express our soul. Guillermo is showing us how to do that and he has investigated it, and he has gone to the places, people have not gone before, he’s set the limit for cinema and imagination. So as an actor when that guy says will you come and play on my set, yes, yes, yes.”
Del Toro spoke about the Creature, “learning hatred and reacting with hatred, learning love and reacting with love, and then at the end reacting with love to those that hated him that is the lesson for me. To me, Jacob Elordi is more hidden now (gestures at Elordi next to him), here, then with that Creature. I think the Creature reveals you. It doesn’t hide anything. It actually allows you to be who you are. I think it’s the same for me.” Del Toro pointed out Mike Hill, prosthetic designer for the film, who was in the audience. Elordi discussed his scenes requiring only two takes, “The film did tell me and it told us and that’s why I could do it in two takes. I think because when you (del Toro) said it, I believed it."
Elordi continued, "t actually came from you (del Toro) as for me knowing what to do and more from absolute belief in this filmmaker who put his entire life into this thing.” Del Toro then spoke about Elordi, “He walks into the set. Imagine you are now that kid inside of a much older, much larger guy. The kid is in here (points to his heart). Then, the Creature you dreamed all your life about just walked in and then I grabbed his guy’s and I go like this (del Toro takes Elordi’s hand and pats his head). The first day we were best friends.” This screening was also interesting to see after the Frankenstein: Crafting A Tale Eternal exhibit. It was great to see Frankenstein again on screen and now watching the discussion of Guillermo del Toro and Jacob Elordi giving insight on their collaboration and working on the movie!
#Frankenstein, #TCLChineseTheatre, #GuillermoDelToro, #JacobElordi, #MikeHill, #DavidBraldey, #SofiaGalasso, #MiaGoth, #OscarIsaac, #FrankensteinCraftingATaleEternal
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