Tag Archives: Benedict Cumberbatch

Redemption in Danny Boyle’s “Frankenstein”

When people find out I already saw Danny Boyle’s “Frankenstein” five times, not to mention that this is only a broadcasted movie version of the original live recording, they raise their eyebrows and ask me, ‘Is it that good?!’. My answer to them is: Yes, it is that good. Then again, there are probably better stories, better actors, better stage plays, better directions. I’m not saying this is the Most Successful Play in the Universe. But it speaks to me. And I will watch it again, twice, later on this summer.

It spoke to me already when I was reading C. G. Jung’s “Answer to Job”, a highly controversial treaty on God’s complex character in the light of how He treats Job. Some thoughts stayed with me and reverberated off the emotional network of “Frankenstein”. I am not ashamed to say I shed tears when I first saw the play. Not because of the brilliant acting of both Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, which is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the production, but because there are several moments in the play that resonated with me. When the Creature thinks Frankenstein is dead, he cries, he feels lost, he says, ‘don’t leave me alone… can I die? what will it be like?… if you go, I will go, too’. I have been there. Oh, that harrowing, terrible, empty feeling… when there is nothing to wake up for. Nothing to continue for. The tears shed for the Creature were tears shed for myself, too. ‘The only thing I wanted was your love… I would have loved you so much’, he says, and kisses the temple of the unconscious Frankenstein. No human heart can stay unmoved… ‘My poor Creator’, he adds, heart-broken. He knows what Victor and the audience knew a while back: the Creature has surpassed the Creator. This is the fate of parents and children, this is how the world evolves. But the Creature has surpassed his Creator in a very important way: he has learnt how to love, he, the one put together from dead tissue, he, the one without a name, he, the one who never got to hold a woman in his arms – while Victor, the scientific genius, remained unable to love, because all his life he considered science and progress to be more important than being close to people. read more »

Válasz Jóbnak, avagy Frankenstein ma

A londoni National Theatre 2009-ben úgy döntött, hogy néhány színdarabját élőben leközvetíti a világ számos városának filmszínházaiban. Ez a kezdeményezés töretlen sikereket élvez a mai napig, ami, tekintve a felvételek hibátlan minőségét, teljes mértékben érthető. Abban a kiváltságos helyzetben vagyok, hogy két napja egy prágai fimszínházban (vajon a budapesti Uránia Filmszínház miért nem hozta be Magyarországra?) tekinthettem meg a Nick Dear forgatókönyve alapján készült “Frankenstein, avagy a modern Prométheusz” című színdarabot, melyet tavaly már vetítettek számos országban, de melyet közkívánatra idén ismét levetítettek szerte a világon. A prágai vetítés hibátlan volt, hangzásban, látványban egészen döbbenetes módon szárnyalta túl a britek produckiója bármelyik színpadi előadást, amit idehaza volt szerencsém látni. Ami pedig a színészi játékot illeti, az külön bejegyzést érdemelne, de ettől most eltekintek, ugyanis a darab mondanivalója sokkal fontosabb számomra. read more »

Treasures

It all started with the new BBC series “Sherlock”. It took me considerably more time than it took most Cumberbitches to fall under the spell of Benedict, the new British acting phenomenon. But I did, around the end of episode 1 of series 2, and by the time I finished “Sherlock” I was hungering for more. Mr Cumberbatch led me to a few beautiful movies, relatively unknown to the general public. “Wreckers” (2011) and “Van Gogh: Painted in words” (2010), as well as “Hawking” (2004) would definitely deserve more recognition. But the movie that twisted my guts and heart and soul in so many ways I felt drenched in my own sorrow at the end was “Third star”, something I previously considered a silly comedy based on its cover, not really worth seeing, just maybe. Possibly. Just to tick it off my list. And then it turned out to be THE movie of the week. Month. Probably year. read more »

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