Film description

Bill Morrison, director of the acclaimed Decasia (2002), returns with another found footage project offering a nostalgic treatise on the nature of creation, instead of a symphony of decomposition. The starting point is the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, on the 100-year anniversary of the first film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel. Here, Morrison presents his take on the classic tale. Sewn of lifeless and rotting flesh, the novel’s monster is a desperate struggle against impending death and decay, a work that gets out of control to take on a life of its own. Morrison follows in the doctor’s footsteps by digging up rotting film fragments to make them whole again. Just like Frankenstein’s monster, the celluloid gets new life, but the creator soon loses control. The damaged emulsion changes color, bulges, crumbles; the image distorts, fades, loses opacity, and pulses with its own organic life to the rhythm of Dave Douglas’ electro-jazz. As in his previous film, Morrison gives voice to the medium’s material properties, extracting them from the shadows, turning a secondary instrumental function into the leading role. You can almost hear Dr. Frankenstein scream, It’s alive!

Grzegorz Kurek