I watched the film Mary Shelley more feeling I should than with any high expectations. In fact, it was a delight, not least for its portrayal of a strong woman who - almost exactly 200 years ago - created one of the most brilliant tales of science, medicine and abandonment.
Mary Shelley is less about Shelley the poet and more about Wollstonecraft the feminist writer and thinking - for the writer of Frankenstein clearly owes more to the influence of her mother and her writings than they do to those of her then lover.
In fact, it would appear that her writing of Frankenstein was influenced more by Dr Polidori, who she met in Geneva while visiting Lord Byron with her lover and sister. Discussions with the doctor seem to have fuelled Shelley's dreams, which are portrayed in the film as both intense and realistic. She sees not only a scientist bringing the dead to life, but also her own dead baby being once more alive.
Many critics of Mary Shelley have felt a distance between the novelist and her writing and yet that's precisely what I saw. It's incredible that she was just 19 when she began writing Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. Casting an actress of a similar age - Elle Fanning - results in a stunning portrayal, showing a young girl willingly led astray by a glamorous, philandering poet. Her father's piece of advice on first seeing the writings of the younger Shelley was to ignore everyone else's work and "find your voice". That progression from young scribbler to mature novelist is shown in agonising detail by Fanning.
It is the men of Shelley's life who are less kindly portrayed. William Godwin (Stephen Dillane) is a weak father who takes his wife's side over that of his children. Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth) is the genius poet who believes strongly in free love until there's evidence that his lover might actually have feelings for someone else. Lord Byron (Tom Sturridge) is simply vile.
Director Haifaa Al-Mansour creates more than a biopic. The film demonstrates little of the context of Mary Shelley's life, but goes some way to explaining one of her guiding principles: "I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves."
Mary Shelley is less about Shelley the poet and more about Wollstonecraft the feminist writer and thinking - for the writer of Frankenstein clearly owes more to the influence of her mother and her writings than they do to those of her then lover.
In fact, it would appear that her writing of Frankenstein was influenced more by Dr Polidori, who she met in Geneva while visiting Lord Byron with her lover and sister. Discussions with the doctor seem to have fuelled Shelley's dreams, which are portrayed in the film as both intense and realistic. She sees not only a scientist bringing the dead to life, but also her own dead baby being once more alive.
Many critics of Mary Shelley have felt a distance between the novelist and her writing and yet that's precisely what I saw. It's incredible that she was just 19 when she began writing Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. Casting an actress of a similar age - Elle Fanning - results in a stunning portrayal, showing a young girl willingly led astray by a glamorous, philandering poet. Her father's piece of advice on first seeing the writings of the younger Shelley was to ignore everyone else's work and "find your voice". That progression from young scribbler to mature novelist is shown in agonising detail by Fanning.
It is the men of Shelley's life who are less kindly portrayed. William Godwin (Stephen Dillane) is a weak father who takes his wife's side over that of his children. Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth) is the genius poet who believes strongly in free love until there's evidence that his lover might actually have feelings for someone else. Lord Byron (Tom Sturridge) is simply vile.
Director Haifaa Al-Mansour creates more than a biopic. The film demonstrates little of the context of Mary Shelley's life, but goes some way to explaining one of her guiding principles: "I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves."
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