Film Review

THE YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

Country / Year: United States of America, 1974.

Genre: Comedy /Sci-Fi.

Director: Mel Brooks.

Writing Credits: Mel Brooks & Gene Wilder.

Cast: Gene Wilder (Dr. Frederick Frankenstein), Peter Boyle (The monster), Marty Feldman (Igor), Teri Garr (Inga), Maledeine Kahn (Elisabeth), Cloris Leachman (Frau Blücher), Keneth Mars (Inspector Kemp).

Plot / Synopsis:

“Destiny, destiny. No escaping that for me.” This simple rhyme is what summarizes the whole story, not only the plot but also the film. When two genius of the comedy like Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder start to work together, only God knows what will come of all this, but you can be sure that it will be good. That’s what happened with “The Young Frankenstein”. Excellent plot, fabulous director, fantastic cast, brilliant set designers, very suitable music and sound effects (they fit every scene) and, last but not least, black and white photography, which is very appropriate to get the atmosphere of the film reminding classical movies, only can reach to one of the best comedies ever made. It’s just destiny.

I’m not going to be fair with that master piece because it’s impossible to summarize the film without including jokes or a brief description of the scenes and characters. But the fact is that I have to do a synopsis and if I add jokes, characters and scenes it won’t be a synopsis, it will be an essay about comedy but it’s not the point, so let’s go to sum it up. Someone will say that this is very close to a sacrilege, I know, so I’m sorry.

Everything starts when Dr. Frederick Fronkonsteen (Gene Wilder), receives his grandfather’s legacy, the family’s castle in Transylvania. He is ashamed of his family reputation because of his granddad's experiments, that’s the reason for being called Fronkonsteen instead of Frankenstein, but when he goes to his ancestors castle, leaving his beloved girlfriend Elisabeth (Maledeine Kahn) in the United States, everything changes. He’s leading to find out his grandfather’s notes about “discovering the secret of bestowing life” and then he accepts his destiny. He’s a Frankenstein after all, so with his grandfather secret laboratory and instructions, the invaluable help of his pretty assistants Inga (Teri Garr) and, of course, Igor the hunchback (Marti Feldman, who plays one of the most hilarious characters ever performed), the doctor manages to give life to a lifeless matter, but fortunately without the result he has expected. Tanks to Igor, the huge monster (Peter Boyle) becomes alive with and abnormal brain (Abby Normal as Igor says) instead of the brain of a “Genius and Saint”.

Troubles come when Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman) frees the monster (I think I’ve heard some neighs...). Then a series of hilarious situations take place. One of the best is the monster’s meeting with the blind old man who lives alone. I think it’s one of the best comedy scenes ever filmed (every time I see it, I can’t stop laughing). After that, with the sound of a nice lullaby, which hypnotizes the monster every time he listens to it, “the gang” captures the monster. Once the monster has been captured, the doctor tries to convince him not to be frighten of people and then he realises that the only thing the monster wants is to be accepted although his grotesque appearance.

All this reaches to one of the most strange and unexpected situations in the film, the musical performance with the doctor and the monster in Broadway’s style (ridiculous but comical). Of course, whit that performance, people lose their fear but also their respect for the monster and, after an incident with a lamp, they throw vegetables to the monster which annoys him very much and drives him crazy. The monster is imprisoned but escapes again kidnapping the doctor’s girlfriend, who has just arrived for a visit when the situation is more and more complicated. The monster with his primary instincts and an enormous “schwanztück” (I don’t know what it rally means but it’s the word they use in the film) helps Elisabeth to find, as she sings, “the sweet mystery of life”. Elisabeth falls in love with the huge monster, and probably his huge “schwanztück”, but the monster is attracted again to the castle with the melody of the Frankenstein’s lullaby.

Once in the castle, the doctor tries an experiment with the monster. He is going to give part of his brain to the monster. The experiment starts but a riot, commanded by inspector Kemp (Keneth Mars) and his mechanic arm, arrive just five seconds before the experiment is totally complete. Although the premature end, the experiment works in some way. The monster gets the faculty of speaking fluently and, after a moving speech, he convinces the riot to break up without killing the doctor and himself.

At the end, everything finishes well. Elisabeth and the monster get married, Inga and the doctor get married too and, as a consequence of the experiment, the doctor gets the faculty of an enormous “schwanztück” which helps Inga to find “the sweet mystery of life”.

Opinion:

After my brief introduction in the previous section, you’ll probably guess that I love “The Young Frankenstein”. It’s one of my favourite films and I can’t write anything against that Mel Brooks’ movie. I reaffirm everything I’ve written in the introduction and I recommend you to watch the film more than once because, if you pay attention, you can find something new every time you watch it. It may be because when you’re laughing you miss some funny details or jokes and next time you get it. This is the consequence of a film in which almost every second has something hilarious. Moreover, some killing scenes can make you laugh again and again although you have watched them a hundred times. It’s something very difficult to achieve nowadays, a great movie based on irony and amusing characters with an incredible cast making it possible. Indeed, this is a cult movie for people who love elegant and brilliant humour.

Language:

Language in the film is simple, clear and rhythmic enough to get all the jokes. It’s quite polite with very little use of slang or bad words, although there are some exceptions (only when it is required to make a joke). Vocabulary is quite easy to understand with very common words (at least if you know what they’re going to say because you’ve watched it so many times that you know the dialogues by heart), the most difficult things is to get some puns but characters’ actions or faces help to get it. Puns, jokes, sarcastic and amusing comments are said all the time, moreover rhythm and tone in speech change frequently to produce viewers laugh. A great amount of humorous resources are included so, as a consequence, language is always subordinate to the comic situations, although there are some brilliant philosophical speeches too.

A final remark must be done in relation to the language. Characters in the film use different accents which separate them in groups. Leaving behind the comical way some characters speak, three different groups because of their accents can be distinguished. The first one is the group with German accent. Some characters that are supposed to be native from Transylvania use it (Inga, Frau Blücher, Inspector Kemp, etc.). The second one is the village people that make up the riot. They speak in a particular way (even I have noticed it), and according to Mr. Brooks explanations, it’s Londoner’s accent. Finally, the third group is formed by characters with no special or exaggerated accent. They are the ones that come from America (Dr. Frankenstein, Elisabeth, etc.), my dear Igor, and some supporting actors (the old blind man, the village girl, etc.). They speak with their original accent (usually US or UK accent).

Pablo Martínez Gil

Film Review

MILLION DOLLAR BABY

Film Title: Million Dollar Baby.

Country / Year: USA / 2004

Genre: Drama, sport (boxing).

Director: Clint Eastwood.

Writing credits: Paul Haggis, from the stories compiled in "Rope burns" by F.X. Toole.

Cast: Clint Eastwood (Frankie Dunn), Hilary Swank (Maggie Fitzgerald), Morgan Freeman (Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris).

Plot / Synopsis:
“I’m gonna disconnect your air machine, then you're gonna go to sleep. Then I'll give you a shot, and you'll... stay asleep. Mo cuishle means ‘My darling, my blood' ". This is only one of the great deal of thrilling dialogues said by Frankie Dunn to Maggie Fitzgerald. He runs a gym with Eddie Scrap’s help and is a boxing trainer too. He has always refused to train women but when Maggie, a waitress who wants to be a boxer, arrives in his gym he starts changing his mind. After having observed her talented skills in boxing he accepts to be Maggie’s trainer to convert her into a professional boxer. That’s the beginning of very hard-working training days. Although Frankie and Maggie have several problems with their respective families and are not very lucky with their lives, they forget all about that when Maggie goes out in the ring. She travels with Frankie around Europe and the States defying consolidate boxers. Her passion for boxing and determination makes her win most of the fights and she became famous all over the world. People know her as Mo Cuishle, a pseudonym Frankie has created in Gaelic for her. They’re all happy with her achievements when suddenly Maggie’s life goes to pieces at her World Championship fight. After a wrong fall at the ring she becomes tetraplegic and from then on she will have to decide between life or death. Frankie and Mr. Scrap will be always by her side trying to save her from the unavoidable tragic end.

Opinion:
Million Dollar Baby is a magnificent film which has won 4 Oscars awards included the Best Film Oscar. Indeed, this is a very touching film despite being about boxing. The dialogues are brilliant and they’re marked by the feelings of the characters although they can sometimes be heartbreaking. Moreover, all the main actors and actresses must have had some boxing lessons to play their role so well because they have achieved breathtaking scenes when they’re fighting. The fantastic special effects have been necessary to make these scenes so perfect and the make-up is also a fundamental element for that. The film has got a melancholic and sad soundtrack and it appears for instance when there is the voice-over.

Language:
They speak in American English. We can realize it because of the accent and as there are subtitles we can see the typical spelling from the United States. They speak in colloquial English and sometimes some characters use some slang words and expressions.

María Miguel Recatalá