Themes: Writer's Life, Mind Games, Woman In Jeopardy
Main Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, Timothy Spall
Release Year: 1986
Country: UK
Run Time: 87 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Director Ken Russell applies his trademark excess to this surreal, experimental examination of the creative dementia which shaped Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein. The story is embellished from events which allegedly took place at the Swiss villa of Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne) on the night of June 16, 1816. Byron's guests include poet Percy Shelley (Julian Sands) and his future wife Mary (Natasha Richardson); Mary's half-sister Claire (Myriam Cyr) and Byron's leech-happy personal physician Dr. John Polidori (Timothy Spall). Byron promises them a night of horror like only a mad poet can deliver -- after partaking of laudanum and other hallucinogens, the guests tell ghost stories while exploring the dark corridors of his home. From here, Russell dives headlong into madness, discarding plot structure in favor of fever-dream setpieces in which the guests confront living manifestations of their own fears and insecurities -- creative, mortal and sexual, among others. The raging Romantics are also given to lengthy discourse on the nature of fear and the fine line between creative genius and insanity; by the film's end, viewers may find themselves wondering the same thing about the director. Those who may prefer a more subdued speculation on the same theme should seek out Ivan Passer's Haunted Summer. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Review
Gothic is not a movie for everyone -- a qualification that can be applied to almost any Ken Russell film -- but those who respond to it will respond very strongly indeed. The good news is that even those for whom Gothic is not really their cup of tea should at the very least find it engrossing, if perhaps too gross for their tastes. Compared to some of his 1970s excesses (Lisztomania comes immediately to mind), Gothic is relatively restrained. There are still plenty of moments to cause discomfort, but they're more at home here in what is, after all, really a horror movie. That, as it turns out, is one of Gothic's problems: it strays too far from the accepted limitations of the genre to satisfy as a typical horror flick, yet its efforts at being something deeper are ultimately too superficial for it to succeed as anything else (a character study, a historical account, a philosophical dialogue, etc.). Still, on a strictly visual level, there's a great deal to admire in Gothic, from its stunning Mike Southon cinematography to its grotesque special effects to its razor-sharp editing. It's also blessed with actors who, while they can't always triumph over some of the excesses of the director, still manage to craft compelling, provocative portraits. Gothic is too uneven to satisfy most people, but many will find that its highs more than compensate for its lows. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Andreas Wisniewski - Fletcher; Alec Mango - Murray; Dexter Fletcher - Rushton; Pascal King - Justine; Tom Hickey - Tour Guide; Linda Coggin - Turkish Mechanical Doll; Kristine Landon-Smith - Kristine/Mechanical Woman; Chris Chappell - Man in Armour; Kiran Shah - Fusell Monster; Christine Newby - Shelley Fan; Mark Pickard - Young William; Kim Tillesley - Shelley Fan
Credit
Michael Buchanan - Art Director, Mary Selway - Casting, Kay Gallwey - Costume Designer, Victoria Russell - Costume Designer, Ken Russell - Director, Michael Bradsell - Editor, Al Clark - Executive Producer, Thomas Dolby - Composer (Music Score), Pat Hay - Makeup, Christopher Hobbs - Production Designer, Mike Southon - Cinematographer, Penny Corke - Producer, Ace Effects - Special Effects, Roy Street - Stunts, Stephen Volk - Screenwriter
The film is a lurid and highly fictionalized tale based on the Shelleys' visit with Lord Byron in Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva, and the famous challenge to write a horror story, which ultimately led to Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein and John Polidori writing The Vampyre. The same event has also been portrayed in the films Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Haunted Summer (1988), among others.
The film's poster motif is based on Henry Fuseli's painting The Nightmare, which is also referenced in the film.
Elgar (1962, TV) ·French Dressing (1963) ·The Debussy Film (1965, TV) ·Always On Sunday (1965, TV) ·Isadora Duncan, The Biggest Dancer In The World (1966, TV) ·Dante's Inferno (1967, TV) ·Billion Dollar Brain (1967) ·Song of Summer (1968, TV) ·Women in Love (1969)
