«Mary Shelley»: Pure Elegance

Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) - Virginia Eufemi

It’s rare to walk out of the movie theater deeply moved by the quality of the feature film you’ve just seen. That was the case with the biopic Mary Shelley, which had its Swiss premiere this week in the «Films of the Third Kind» category at the NIFFF.

Everything about this film is remarkable, starting with the thoroughly convincing Elle Fanning, who plays the English writer—a young woman with an exceptionally sharp mind and ideals as strong as steel. On a formal level, Mary Shelley is a pure feast for the eyes. The scenes unfold one after another, presenting still lifes with striking chiaroscuro and interiors of obsessive historical accuracy. The sets are crafted with such meticulous care that they transport us back in time. Few «historical» films manage to reproduce the costumes, atmospheres, and colors of an era with such accuracy. Mary Shelley alternates between cool greens and blues and the warmth of red and burgundy—colors that help give the film its signature elegance.

The Poetry of Life

As for the story, the events marking Mary Shelley’s transition from adolescence to adulthood are presented at a brisk pace, getting straight to the point and helping us understand what led her to write the masterful work of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1816). There is nothing tedious or drawn-out; everything is skillfully calculated to give us an overview of the years leading up to the writing of Frankenstein. It is, first and foremost, an encounter—with the brilliant poet Percy Shelley (played by Douglas Booth)—that will change her life. He is twenty-one, she is sixteen; quickly—but not hastily—their love blossoms before our eyes, without it seeming strange or unexpected to us. Above all, it is a meeting of two minds, and perhaps that is what bound them so closely together, despite life’s trials.

This sublime film also offers an opportunity to (re)discover the romantic and noble verses of Percy Shelley, which are often recited in voice-over and add to the refinement of the scenes. Mary Shelley seems to faithfully recreate the atmosphere of the early 19th century^th century, filled with boredom and art. It was therefore with great astonishment that the young woman, then seventeen years old, encountered «galvanism,» a scientific discovery that involves electrically stimulating an inert body to revive its muscles.

Sources of inspiration for Frankenstein There are, however, many reasons: galvanism played a part, but the hardships Mary Shelley endured—such as the death of her young daughter Clara—inspired her novel about abandonment and isolation, betrayal, selfishness, and vanity. But as Lord Byron put it: «Love makes its way where wolves would not dare to tread.» What we are presented with is a profound, rather than superficial, film, in which the fantastical never intrudes: dreams are always clearly distinguished from reality by the young woman’s abrupt awakening, so as to avoid any ambiguity.

From Wollstonecraft to Al-Mansour

Mary Shelley was the daughter of the writer Mary Wollstonecraft, author of the avant-garde pamphlet Advocacy for Women's Rights  (1792). We are thus at the dawn of the feminist movement, and Mary Shelley is a remarkably modern and open-minded woman who advocates for tolerance and acceptance of difference. Once again, this is conveyed subtly, without any explicit stance: nothing in this film will offend you.

Let's not forget that the director, Haifaa Al-Mansour, is the first woman to have directed a feature film in Saudi Arabia (it was Wadjda (in 2012). Mary Shelley’s aura as a strong, dignified, and courageous woman shines through throughout the film, even when she faces refusals to publish her book from publishers who do not believe that an eighteen-year-old woman could have produced such a masterpiece. With this film, Haifaa Al-Mansour follows in the footsteps of Mary Wollstonecraft and Shelley, as she is the heir to an artistic mastery that sets her apart from others and elegantly champions women’s rights.

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Photo credit: © NIFFF