Viewer’s Response to changes in plot between Branagh’s Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s
...s a man with similar beliefs. In the movie this is also true, although Branagh take Waldman’s character a step further. Waldman having already carried out the research on their shared passion for the resurrection of dead tissue, had the acquired wisdom that told him what was so incredibly horrible and wrong about such a feat. Waldman is then fatally stabbed. This allows Victor to rummage through Waldman’s notes and previous investigations. Victor’s passion overrides any sense that Waldman might have instilled in him. Branagh used Waldman’s death and consequent disappearance from the scene as a means for quick delivery of the required knowledge to Victor through his annotations and research. The creation scene of the monster also differs greatly between the movie and the novel. Branagh’s creation scene is closely detailed and expressive in the movie verses Mary Shelley’s version, which includes little description and leaves the actual processes of the ‘giving of life’ to the reader’s own imagination. Keep in mind that both movie and television producers work primarily to relax their audience by giving them the information to believe instead of having the viewers actually thinking, all while fulfilling the goal of the audience still believing that after the watching experience they are enlightened and had been challenged. Branagh successfully manipulates this situation by giving the viewer the scene fully detailed fed in fast displays of images that stimulate the eye and thus a predetermined recognition of the comprehension. What is also interesting and may or may not be worth mentioning is that instead of the monster disappearing into the woods directly after leaving Victor’s laboratory and apartment, he stumbles through the city creating quite an uproar. Based on the horrid appearance of the ...