Guillermo del Toro on “Frankenstein” and remaking a monster

Director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) hovers over a model depicting the creature from his latest film, Frankenstein. “I think we did the most extensive, minute anatomical assembly of a monster in the history of cinema,” he said.

He looked at every tendon, every suture, every organ and admitted that for some it might be too much. “Sorry about breakfast!” he laughed.

But to bring Victor Frankenstein's monster to life in film, the director first played the creator himself. Del Toro, who revived Frankenstein for Netflix as writer, producer and director, talks about Sunday Morning London exhibition detailing his elaborate vision of classic gothic, from the wardrobe and props to the extensive notes he spent years writing.

The glass case also contains original text ranging from Mary Shelley to Lord Byron. “That’s something I’d steal,” he joked. “I would do a full-fledged Pink Panther.”

A groundbreaking novel about a scientist who creates a living, sentient being that combines horror, romance and humanity. It was author: Mary Shelleywho graduated when she was just 19 years old, more than 200 years ago.

So why is her story alive? “Well, first of all, it was written by a teenager full of questions and rage and rebellion,” del Toro said. “You know, we now have the same questions: who are we? Why am I human? Why am I here?

Is it a coincidence that the film comes out on the eve of Halloween? “No! No!” – he said. “For me, Halloween lasts all year round.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I live in a house that has secret passages. I live in a house full of monsters,” he said.

“In your mind?”

“No, I built it! When I was forty-something, I put everything I had into creating the house I wanted when I was 7.”

“Well, no wonder you wanted to make Frankenstein!”

“I have a room dedicated to Frankenstein. I call it the living room.”

And what is he doing in this room? “In the morning I greet all the figures, write, research, design.”

He said he began to explore life through literature while growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico. But for him, Frankenstein was not just a story he read. “You really wanted to make this movie,” I said.

“I gave over 50 years of my life to this, so yeah,” del Toro said. “All my films have it. All 13 films have film elements. Pinocchio is another prodigal father asking forgiveness from his child. My first film, Kronos, is about eternal life. The Shape of Water is of course the idea that the monster has the same essence as the female lead, and the female character recognizes herself in him.”

“We are all creatures,” he said. “I mean, we have a world that tells you that you shouldn't be a creature, but in reality we're all weird in some way.”

And what is del Toro's weirdness? “I was a strange pale creature who loved to read, and at seven I was a hypochondriac. I thought I had trichinosis. I thought I had cirrhosis of the liver. So I was a weird, weird kid.”

And for del Toro, this is an appeal to monsters: “The monsters tell you: look, it’s okay to be you. It's okay to be imperfect.”

“You say that someone needs to tell you that it’s okay to be you. Who was this person for you? I asked.

“Boris Karloff, Godzilla, the creature from the Black Lagoon! What’s beautiful about monsters is that they become the patrons of imperfection.”

Boris Karloff's 1931 portrayal of Mary Shelley's monster has made film history. In del Toro's reimagining, Oscar Isaac is Victor Frankenstein giving birth to the creature played by Jacob Elordi.

“Every day there was something new, beautiful and strange waiting for me,” Isaac said. “When I was invited to do these things as a performer, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event.”

When asked what he did to become this creature, Elordi replied: “I don’t know if it would really fit into the news. I can't tell you. It's such an elusive thing. Guillermo and I immediately shared language. I was completely creatively ready to play something like that.”

When asked why he chose Isaac and Elordi for these roles, del Toro replied: “The eyes. I cast my eyes.”

I asked, “What do you see in their eyes?”

“Oscar had brilliance, madness, seduction and pain. And Jacob was completely open. There was an innocence, openness and purity in his eyes that was completely disarming.”

And did the director want his monster to be beautiful? “Oh yes. 100%, it has to look like something new,” he said. “It doesn’t look like an intensive care unit renovation.”

“But there is also beauty and sexuality in Jacob as this being,” I said.

“Well, I was raised Catholic, and on a lot of crucifixes in Mexico, the loincloth is too low!”

-Have you thought about this?

“No,” del Toro said, “but my grandmother definitely was!”

Del Toro's Frankenstein is rich in Catholic imagery and inspired by all the monsters he grew up with, fueling his lifelong cinematic mission.

I asked, “Do you feel any connection to the Frankensteins of the past?”

“To the myth,” he replied. “I mean, my first love was Mary Shelley. I can truly tell you this: you were born to sing a song or two in your life. This this is my song.”

“So what do you do now?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” del Toro replied. – Macrame? Pottery?

To watch the Frankenstein trailer, click on the video player below.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Extended Interview – Guillermo del Toro (Video)

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The story was produced by Michaela Bufano. Editor: Carol Ross.

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