“A beautiful creature, like a newborn”

Because it is a gothic novel, the adaptation of Frankenstein of the Mexican Guillermo del Toroalthough it retains a certain “dark” atmosphere, it makes references to fantasy film aesthetics that challenge the classic conventions of the horror genre. Ñ ​​Magazine spoke with the artistic director of the film, the Canadian Tamara Deverell, about the changes that del Toro required for the adaptation of the classic.

–What did Guillermo del Toro ask of you for the adaptation of this film? Did he give you any ideas regarding the images?

–Guillermo doesn’t talk too much. He doesn’t address me with words, but with metaphors and a solid script. After working with him for so many years (their first collaborative work was The alley of lost soulsfrom 2021), it’s like we sat down and I already know him. Afterwards, it is an organic team effort. to do Frankenstein we made a scouting of locations in Scotland, which is where the film and Mary Shelley’s book take place. So a lot of what we formulated in terms of images had to do with the locations, like the town where everything takes place and so on. That gave us the ideas.

–What did you have in mind for the creation of the creature? It has some classic monster things, like the stitching and such, but on the other hand, interestingly, it is visually attractive.

–From my point of view as a production designer, I understood that Del Toro wanted the creature to be beautiful like a newborn. For me, the creature is nature itself, it is someone who embodies its character. He is on a different plane than Victor Frankenstein; He is someone higher. That was one of the reasons why Guillermo sought to show the creature covered in moss and leaves. That connection with nature is inherent in the creature.

–Traditionally the scenarios of Frankenstein They are inspired by Gothic, but this version has elements of fantasy and science fiction. What was your inspiration for this unorthodox version?

–It’s interesting, because actually my foundation was historical. I stuck to what was physically possible to create in that Victorian setting. In the set design, there were things made by hand, and then Guillermo looked for a way in which he could take all that towards the fantastic. I understand what you’re saying about science fiction; I think we seek to create our own world instead of being tied to a gothic aesthetic. In a sense, it is science fiction, but it is based on historical reality. That is to say, there is a balance between fantasy and what was plausible for that period in history.

–The classic versions exude horror and the bizarre, while del Toro’s Frankenstein completely evades the genre. What do you think of this abrupt change of record?

–The film has some horror elements. The creature is certainly not horrifying. But what I think, essentially, is that Guillermo did not want to be conditioned by everything that had been done before in the cinema. We were creating our own world. Of course, to make the film we saw many of those films and Guillermo was greatly inspired by a graphic novel (probably Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein, considered the purest adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel).

–How much of the film was made with computers?

–In terms of design, we made 3D models and I made many sketches and drawings, both on the computer and with pencil and paper. But Guillermo prefers to do things by hand. The ice masses in the arctic scenes were made by hand, with silicone and other materials, and Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory was a place you could walk around. Many of the things were built the way they should have been built at the time. Visual effects were mostly used for wide shots. With the effects, you want them not to be noticeable, so we went manual, and we were very good at that.