CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Gods and Monsters

Director

Bill Condon

Year

1998

Rating

Reviewed by

a.k.a. Jacinda

Review date

Friday, March 02, 2001

Gods and Monsters depicts the last days in the life of director James Whale (Ian McKellen) who has brought us such classic monster movies as Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. After a stroke Whale’s memories about his film career and the experiences he made in the Great War start haunting him. James Boon (Brendan Fraser), his muscle-packed gardener, gets to know the famous director more closely when he poses as a model for Whale. The couple couldn’t be more different as Boon is an ex-marine and Whale, a retired homosexual Hollywood director. In the course of the movie the exhausted and lonely Whale has to face that his time is almost over but he also finds a new friend in Boon.

This is one of the most unusual movies I’ve seen in the last years. In contrast to many other movies that portray the life of real persons this one doesn’t glorify James Whale and his work. It achieves much more by showing Whale as a human being with all its failures and fears. This movie is not only about a single person but about the essentials of human life. Whale realizes that he once was an important man considered a genius with a lot of lovers and friends, but in the end the fame he once had can’t save him from being lonely. He knows that he never made the movie that would make him immortal and that he will be remembered for some horror movies that might look silly to future audiences. The movie also shows how much passion Whale put into his beloved monsters and that those movies are about essential human feelings. Those feelings also occur in Gods and Monsters as Whale not unlike his creation Frankenstein is misunderstood and an outcast in the world.

Lynn Redgrave and Brendan Fraser give excellent performances but all my praise goes to Ian McKellen. He makes us believe he is James Whale, a charismatic but broken man who cannot fulfill his dreams. I haven’t seen many performances that are as strong as McKellen’s. I completely fell for his charms, his intelligence and his humour. McKellen makes the movie a memorable experience that causes you to think about what your life is and what it should be about. Gods And Monsters shows James Whale as a tragic hero giving him the recognition he deserves. I’m glad to have met the man behind Frankenstein (1931).

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