3.5 iconic-parodies out of 4
The subtleties that differentiate parody, satire, and homage are often so minute that even a single step to the left or right of a finely drawn line of demarcation can send even the most well-meaning films into the annals of oblivion. It’s easy to lose a movie to a desire to keep things authentic, but it’s just as easy to produce a film that is a mockery of the original source and, indeed, a mockery of the medium in general.
Films like those in the Scary Movie franchise come to mind as examples of movies more devoted to mockery than actual lampoon. Where movies like Scary Movie fail because of their insistence on ridiculing the original source material (slasher flicks), Young Frankenstein pays tribute to the characters in Mary Shelley’s novel, while gently aping the story by suggesting that it might be a little ridiculous that we’ve all driven ourselves mad analyzing the Freudian implications of a man obsessed with creating life.
I continue by stating that Shelley’s Frankenstein is a novel that has been adapted, parodied, satirized, critiqued, and paid homage in almost every single conceivable medium. However, I remain adamant in my belief that there is no greater tribute to Shelley’s novel than Mel Brooks’s 1974 film Young Frankenstein.
“…there is no greater tribute to Shelley’s novel than Mel Brooks’s 1974 film Young Frankenstein.”
Starring Gene Wilder as the eponymous young Frederick Frankenstein, Brooks’s film is set two generations after the events of Shelley’s novel. It’s quickly established that Frederick despises his infamous grandfather for sullying the family name—which Frederick insists is pronounced “Fronkenschtein.” After inheriting the infamous Frankenstein estate in Transylvania, Frederick moves into the castle, only to slowly become gripped by the Frankenstein curse—that supernatural desire to shirk the bonds of conventional science in favour of something more vigorous.
It should come as no surprise that Frederick eventually creates a monster of his own. Further, in what is no doubt film history’s most literal example of “daddy issues,” both the monster and Frederick are subsequently forced to grasp that complicated notion of forging one’s own path while living in someone else’s shadow.
Ironically enough, this is a movie so devoted to the original novel that one would be excused for thinking that it’s based on a long-lost sequel to Shelley’s story. Brooks makes no small effort to mock Shelley’s Frankenstein, but he simultaneously fails to ignore the story’s effects on the English language and modern culture as a whole.
“…a film so deftly made and so perfectly executed, that even the most mundane scenes stand out…”
When viewed from the lens of a modern era obsessed with remakes, reboots, and sequels, Young Frankenstein stands out due to the strength of its cast and the execution of its writing. It is a film so deftly made and so perfectly executed, that even the most mundane scenes stand out simply due to the lavish care attributed to their production. It is, in short, the precise kind of film that even the most ardent Shelley fan must admit is a worthy reimagining.
Young Frankenstein, however, is more than just an homage to Shelley’s story. It is an homage to the monster movies of the early 1900s that allowed institutions like Warner Bros. and Universal to build their names and legacies. Utilizing many of the same sets and props as James Whale’s 1931 Frankenstein—as well as props, sets, and costumes from an assortment of other films in the Frankenstein cinematic universes—Brooks’s film is that rare story that looks to the past, not with disgust and disappointment, but with awe and admiration. Refusing to reject the camp special effects and low-budget production of its predecessors, Young Frankenstein instead revels in the mundane charlatanry of cinema’s past. Furthermore, by choosing to film in black and white, Brooks literally refuses to bring his story into the modern multicoloured present.
“…Brooks’s film is that rare story that looks to the past, not with disgust and disappointment, but with awe…”
Indeed, except for a few small story and character changes (and all of the humour that Brooks and company add to their script) Young Frankenstein is an almost shot-for-shot remake of not only the 1931 film, but also films like Bride of Frankenstein and The Curse of Frankenstein. The differences are sometimes subtle and sometimes exaggerated, but Brooks’s film argues that, when it is responsible and justified to pay tribute to history, there is no need for revision.
I conclude by challenging Mel Brooks. Following the recent death of Gene Wilder, Brooks was reported as having said that Blazing Saddles is the funniest movie ever made. I respectfully disagree on a number of fronts, if only so that I may suggest that Young Frankenstein is even funnier.
Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox.