To me, this movie is perfection.

This is How Movies Should Be Made

The Worst Film Ever

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

First things first. If you're looking for a complete, understated biopic, this is not the film for you. Understated, 'Mary Shelley' is not. Captivating, it most certainly is. Emotionally powerful, visually beautiful, and positively immersive, it may not be pin-point accurate to history but I feel it is true to the spirit of those it portrays and the story it tells. It also doesn't fall into my least favourite biopic traps, like trying to show a person's whole life in one film, or being so cowed by history it forgets to have fun. It has a good, solid time frame, and ends exactly where it should. It is compelling and entertaining. There was so much more to Mary Shelley than the events depicted here, yes, but the story it tells is by no means an incomplete one. I couldn't recommend this film emphatically enough. Elle Fanning is pitch-perfect as Mary herself, capturing grand emotion and great genius without losing sight of her youth, and she carries the whole film beautifully. Douglas Booth is a wonderful Shelley, and gets extra props for making me care about a historical figure I've always disliked. Bel Powley gives a fantastic, sympathetic performance as Claire Clairmont, who deserved better and for whom I would die here. Tom Sturridge is a delightfully mercurial and rather hammy Byron, Ben Hardy an earnest and lovable Polidori. In fact, I can't think of a single performance I disliked. Is it a perfect film? No. Is it totally historically accurate? God, no. But did I, personally, love it? Oh, so much.

The problem I see straightaway with all the people panning, and it seems to be a lot, the biopic of Mary Shelley, is that they want more, everyone says they want more, that Mary's life should have been celebrated more, should have encompassed the entire gamut including how she became this incredible feminist writer who struggled through trying times which gave shape and form to the rebel, the prototype for the modern genre writer or whatever, but no one truly opens up their hearts and gets to specifics to what they seek... The tale unfolds the origins to one of the most extra-ordinary stories ever told, 'Frankenstein' the content which would set a precedent to the horror genre; the interwoven philosophical questions to which it gives rise, All this is so extra-ordinary, back then nor today would anyone bethink this could be composed by anyone other than the tortured wretched narrator himself! But, what exactly do these detractors want, it is a movie, in life there are two ways to live, both of which open up the sluice gates of creativity into which two distinctive operations berth: 'Man vs Man' and Man vs Whatever'- for 'whatever' it does not matter, it is extrinsic and thus in the remote regions of the vast imaginations. One is introspective, this tells inly the tale which affords direct passage into the soul. Vexing intrepid journey one mightn't endeavor unless wholly consumed by a burning rapture to extrapolate from the arbitrary randomness in all its abstract glory. Extroverts: We all are indelibly unless perhaps one is speaking on Emily Dickinson, who yet had to share with someone, if not her heart, but to tell the tale of someone like Emily is an obstacle ponderous in its mounting intimidation insofar as where is the story. It presides undeniably in her notes, her diaries, her letters, her work itself is her glorious or yet inglorious life story. The wonderful prolific effusive poesy that once again sets a precedent and begs the question, how can this little girl, this reclusive little girl who scarce met anyone, who scarce spoke to anyone, who scarce lived other than bleeding words on a page whence in whose pen conflates as one with the sibilant tumultuous gales whirling into the offing, into forever, for posterity genuinely, this is the age we herald Emily and Mary as contemporaries in essence , disembodied and yet their words mean something as they pluck at our heartstrings wherein we connect to their souls far beyond to enjoy their words yet today in the wonderful here and now. For Mary then her life is outside of her soul alone, her words spill outside her notes, her diaries to buffet against the ways of the outside world in a darkly celebration which culminates on the outposts of Literary canons. For Mary everything would lead up to the climacteric inclusive with her covey of poets who set the stage for a triumphal third act. For what is life but if not to live, to see how people inter-act, to catch a glimpse on those inter-relationships of those who have inspired us, how they have lived fettered to the trappings of everyday life, to being simply human in the milieu of our universal human condition, and in Mary's tale how their lives contrasted stridently, wonderfully, thoughtfully, lavishly, empathetically and above all inspirationally as creatives in the throes of their muse whilst poised to create respectively their own unique masterpieces. The acting all around, I am not a thespian nor claim to cite great acting ability which marks a milestone in the thespian arts but I will say one thing, like all of us, we have been swept away in a whirlwind of something a cut above and, imo, I think Ellie Fanning's performance should be considered for best actress respectively. I think Ellie did Mary better than Mary could have enacted Mary, am I dumb for thinking this? lol, its just that creatives do not really grasp the actual ebb and flow that spans the gambit of human emotion under the yoke of the creative condition, all they do is put out work, creative work, it takes a thespian to bring to life that work and sometimes it takes a thespian of spectacular magnitude to extract the very essence of a creative in the throes of their work or life with a flurry so stylistic and wonderful it underscores the very passion that drove the heart and spirit as a unified whole to produce those great works, nobody can out-act a true thespian , nobody, and Ellie was like a startling eye inside the tornado of the times, her covey of creatives, and her consuming entrammelled passions, surging amidst the torrential tumult of an inconsumable rapturous hullabaloo. The dialogue sequences are so incredibly beautiful, they could easily be sewn together into one long affirmation, proclamation, protestations, as if one is reading from their dissertation, and yet explode in resplendent pleasure when in distinctly fashioned by another with brilliant set ups and lucid bandied banter; it truly is a cut above; like Percy says: 'Burning but inconsumable!' The darkling undercurrent seething underneath can not be sustained and finally comes to its own crisis with a surging heap after heap manifesting onto itself the very heart which had hitherto occasioned joy forthwith inversely hews a terror that is the very scaffolding for the atmosphere that hath birthed Frankenstein. Like the monster that feeds on the lies, the deception, the disappointments , the expectations regressing into degradation wrest this very beast that is so pronounced in Mary's waning or waxing essence. Consequently, this very atmosphere that brought us from pathos to bathos was delicately hewn and wrought from the talented writer/director whose superlative efforts lend to this illuminating but unfortunately depressing fact that Mary and only Mary, as the sole survivor who was able to vanquish her daemons and bring them to life through her art, we , we are there along for the ride but left behind in the wake of her terrible journey, her journey, her life, for it was a happy ending, but only in Mary's creative essence was she to purge whereby giving life to something else, in the offing, something prodigious, for posterity everlasting. Ergo the melancholia, for the characters dissolve and go onto their woebegone ways unhappily and this is why so many felt the film failed (imo)... Through this extra-ordinary crafted excellence manifests naturally, this triumphant, yet inauspicious dichotomy - her greatest talents gave rise allegorically to a Frankenstein imitation of her film being as she was able to capture hold and suspend us in this terrible atmosphere. But I am here to say NO! She and this film are truly ingenious, this person is a gift from God if there was ever one amongst us, this person is special, rare and unique.. Indubitably! And I don't think people are trying truly, deep within their hearts of hearts, to understand , formulate, even though this is a biopic , so the material is there, the insurmountable indefatigable effort to root out, glean, and cull and collate and edit the endless heaps of spectacular incredible eloquent everything, and above all create inside the fissures to string the tale together, amicably, sensibly, yet rhapsodical, to enrapture our very souls, entrammel our very spirits, reign over our hearts , transfigure and transport us through all these uncharted lands verily! lo! and to finally dispatch us into Mary's world, her very words, her very life into her soul, to feel her blood curdling and quickening together, we beat as one as we dance through the dance whereupon her very heartstrings consume us completely, I don't think people are truly truly trying at the very least to conceptualize this daunting task - and to me, I don't think it could have been put together any better - it is ... perfection! I think its a shame more and more creative people are not coming out in defense of this triumphal work...

This is hardly going to be a criticism, as I really enjoyed this movie.More often that not female-directed period pieces (Becoming Jane, Vanity Fair) fall prey to a quasi-rom-com conception: they're delicate, whimsical, and generously saturated. Mary Shelley is very conscious of its subject matter and its heroine. From its dreary color scheme, to its ample references to Mary's heritage, to its meticulous dialogue, I did feel the time and place intended, and I did feel a heavily researched respect for their events. Every character was written wholly and frankly, I love that we never SEE Shelley's infidelities to heighten our sympathy of Mary, and most of all, I loved Elle Fanning. For an actress so seemingly frail, she held her ground, delivered her lines, and projected sheer power unfolding. I'll be pretty disappointed if she doesn't win some kind of recognition for this.

I noticed there were some some bad reviews on this movie but I'm perplexed by this. There were so many beautiful and subtle messages in this movie that perhaps were not detected by the average movie goers. I've noticed over the last 10 years that if a movie has subtlety, character studies, and is epic not in visual effects, it's not understood. This was a beautiful story of a young woman who wrote one of most progressive stories, Frankenstein, of its time and has stood the test of time. Her character development of the protagonist, the creature itself, was clearly drawn from her own suffering. Much like Interview with a Vampire was inspired by Ann Rice's grief over her daughters death. It's a beautiful movie and if you are interested in movies that are character driven, please see this movie. It's a refreshing change from the 100s of Marvel Themed movie.