Why is the 1994 film version of Frankenstein so different from Shelley's novel Frankenstein?Frankenstein's life involves Elizabeth a lot more in...

Kenneth Branagh's 1994 filmatic adaptation of Mary
Shelley's Romantic novel Frankenstein contains many elements not
seen in the original novel. While both the novel and the film open in similar ways (with
Walton's expedition and the coming of Victor), the movie does tend to allot the women of
the film more power than the novel does.

For example,
Victor's reaction to his mother's death is far more emotionally harrowing in the movie
than the text. Shelley's "version" shows Elizabeth to be far more affected by Caroline's
death than Victor. Victor's obsession with the women in his life is far more evident in
the film.

Victor's obsession in the novel is the
reanimation of life and the destruction of the monster--far different from the film.
Instead of the lightning triggering Victor's interest in reanimation and science, his
mother's death exists as the trigger. Following his victory at creating life, Victor
feels that anyone around him who dies (and he cares about) needs to be brought
back--shown by his bringing back of Elizabeth in Branagh's
version.

That said, not many filmmakers create exact
replications of the novels they chose to rewrite for film. Many reasons explain the
existence of the differences between an original text and an
adaptation.

First, some novels are too long for filmmakers
to produce in completion. Given limitations regarding budget and time frames, some
aspects of the original text must be omitted.

Second, many
people are involved in making a film. A director must choose the right people to cast,
the correct costuming, and the appropriate setting. With so many things to create
visually, some things may be left out of the adaptation based upon preferences of those
involved in the project.

Lastly, when creating a filmatic
adaptation of an original, the writer/producer in charge focuses upon the things they
wish to bring to the forefront of the film. Essentially, this is much like many people
reading the same work will come to the conclusion about the different levels of
importance regarding different parts of the text.

Branagh
seems to wish to highlight the relationship between Elizabeth and Victor far more than
Victor and his creature. Given that love has always been a theme important to
moviegoers, Branagh brought the love between Victor and Elizabeth to the front of the
novel (instead of leaving it hidden as Shelley did).