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Captain!
Can we talk?
Hmm.
We must break through the ice.
The men are hungry and exhausted.
We cannot keep up this pace without consequence.
Listen up, men!
The more we delay the labor,
the firmer the grasp of the ice will become.
The work continues.
Rotate each group.
Sir, with respect...
The men need assurances.
Assurances?
Yes, that we will head back to St. Petersburg once we free the ship.
They don't think we'll be seaworthy for long and they want to know--
Listen up!
It is neither your place, nor the officer here, to think anything...
We signed up for a mission and we will see it to completion.
We will reach the North Pole.
Is it understood?
An explosion, Captain.
About two miles away.
Get the men.
The sled dogs are unharmed.
Then where does all this blood come from?
Over here, Captain!
A wounded man, he's lost a lot of blood.
Wound to the shoulder, his leg is broken.
Bear attack?
I don't think so, Captain.
Larsen, help me with his boot.
A prosthetic leg.
Put him on the board.
Hurry! To the ship! Now!
Larsen, that thing is coming.
Ready the rifles!
On my command.
Aim!
Fire!
Next group!
Fire!
All to the ship!!
Where is that man we brought onboard?
Where?
What is that thing? What does it want?
Bring him to me!
The blunderbuss. Larsen, get the blunderbuss!
Victor.
Victor!
I killed it.
It's still alive!
Ladder!
Pull up the ladder!
Bring him to me!
How many shots are left?
One, but it can't kill it.
I know.
I'm not aiming for him.
Laudanum, to ease the pain. Drink it. Drink it.
Where am I?
You are on the Royal Danish ship, Horisont.
I'm Captain Anderson. This is Dr. Udsen.
How many of your men did it kill?
Six.
It will come back and kill many more.
All of you, if necessary, unless you deliver me to it.
No, no. It's gone.
It sank in the freezing waters. It's dead.
No, it is not!
It cannot die.
I have tried to destroy it.
Whether you believe me or not,
it will come back... for me.
And when it does,
you must promise that you will put me out on the ice
and let it take me.
Please.
What manner of creature is that?
What manner of devil made him?
I did.
I made him.
I had determined that the memory of my evils should die with me.
It's ready.
Some of what I will tell you is fact.
Some is not, but it is all true.
My name is Victor.
Victor Frankenstein.
It was my father who gave me that name.
Do you know what it means?
I believe I do, yes. Conqueror.
One that wins it all.
Yes. It all started with him.
My father.
And my mother.
Victor!
Come down, your father is arriving.
Maman? Maman?
I'm here, Mother.
I'm here.
My father was a baron and a preeminent surgeon.
He had married my mother largely out of convenience,
as her dowry was considerable and her lineage noble.
It furnished my father with the means to preserve his rank and family estate.
He was absent from our lives,
but when he came home, the entire household bent to his will.
Claire, dear.
The rest of the time...
Victor.
Father.
The rest of the time, Mother was mine.
No, bring that here.
The salts in the meat will enrich your blood,
as well as the baby's.
You eat for two, remember?
Go on.
It's nutritious.
Guardian angel.
Sweet companion.
Stand by my side and do not leave me.
Under your mantle,
shelter me, and...
I would hear them through the wall, arguing incessantly,
yelling at each other about wealth, estate... and me.
Their voices filled me with fear.
Maman?
The man despised us both.
Our raven black hair, our deep, dark eyes.
Even our quiet, at times nervous disposition
seemed to exasperate him to no end.
List as accurately as you can the ancient classification
of the humors in the human body.
Blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm.
Average male heart. Weight?
Nine to eleven ounces, Father.
Average female heart. Weight?
Eight to ten ounces.
Why do you suppose that is?
Difference in mass in female heart?
Depth of emotion?
Tendency to the melancholic?
Mass. Volume of blood, Father. Muscular irrigation.
Quite. There is no spiritual content in tissue,
and no emotion in a muscle.
Now, describe the main function of the tricuspid valve, please.
I cannot recall, Father, but I'm sure I will remember.
Yeah, I'm sure you will.
Ivory does not bleed, Victor.
Flesh does.
By the time you remember a fact, your patient could be dead.
You understand?
The main function of the tricuspid valve
is to prevent the reflux of blood into the vena cava.
No, not your hands. Not anymore.
They are now the instruments of your craft and will,
and we must care for them.
Your face, however, is vanity.
You bear my name, Victor, and with it my reputation.
I pray you remember that.
I feel you have something very good, parce que...
Three...
Two...
One...
That's impossible.
I'll shuffle.
Mother?
Maman?
Father!
Father. It's Mother.
Maman.
I need hot water and clean linen. A lot of it.
- Now. - Sir.
- No, Victor! - Mother?
- Maman! - Victor!
Father! Father!
- Victor! - Save her, please!
My mother, whom I had come to consider a part of my very self,
she who I thought would never leave,
she who was life... was now death.
Her eyes extinguished,
her smile feeding the cold earth.
Leave!
All of you, leave!
A part of the universe had been hollowed out
and the firmament was now permanently dark.
Now, cover your eyes.
Don't look until I tell you to.
Now.
William grew full of sunshine and smiles.
He was of a calmer, gentler disposition, clearly favored by my father.
Thank you, Father.
Oh, it's a pleasure, my boy.
He was the breeze, I was the storm cloud.
He was all laughter, I was all frowns.
Pick up the reins.
Look at me, Father. Look at me.
There was something more.
Or rather, something was missing.
My mother had died
at the hands of the most distinguished doctor of his day:
My father.
An idea... took shape in my mind.
Define the circulatory system, if you will...
Inevitable, unavoidable...
...as enunciated in De Motu Cordis.
...until it became truth.
Father?
You let her die, did you not?
I did everything in my power to save her. You must know that.
So you failed.
- No one can conquer death. - Mm-hmm.
I will. I will conquer it.
Everything you know, I will know. And more.
I think we've done quite enough for today.
I was born anew that night.
I had a vision.
I saw, for the first time...
the Dark Angel.
And it made me a promise.
I would have command over the forces of life and death.
I would become every ounce the surgeon my father was.
I would surpass him in ambition and in reach.
The vision was so clear.
Clearer than anything I'd ever seen in my waking hours or dreams.
But how?
My downfall was swift.
Two revolts and a fire on my mother's plantations
dwindled the family fortune.
We kept the estate, but lost everything else.
William went to one side of the family in Vienna
and I to London, then Edinburgh.
And there, for decades, I tried to...
expand the narrow limits of academia.
Life.
This... is life, gentlemen.
We are born.
Hmm?
And no sooner do we rise, we fall.
Death.
And in the space between that rise and fall,
our humble little purview.
Now, birth is not in our hands.
Is it?
Conception, that spark, the animation of thought and soul.
That is in God's hands.
God.
But death.
Ah, now there lies the challenge.
That should be our concern.
It should be.
Who are we to do so? We are not gods, are we?
But if we are to behave as immodestly as gods,
we must, at the very least, deliver miracles.
Wouldn't you say?
Ignite a divine spark...
...in these young students' minds.
Teach them defiance rather than obedience.
Show that man may pursue nature to her hiding places and stop death.
Not slow it down, but stop it entirely!
Silence. Silence!
How exactly do you propose to teach what is impossible?
Composite subject, the body.
That of a shopkeeper, delivered mere moments after expiration.
The brain laid bare but functional,
the spinal branches and vagal nerves intact.
You may observe the hair-thin scars.
No coarse stitching needed by my own technique.
The arm, you see,
comes from another specimen, that of a carpenter.
The muscles, ligaments, nerves, all connected now.
Now, the spasmodic movement of the body
caused from the electric current, this is not new.
It's not new. However, the flow of energy through the body
follows a different notion entirely.
An Eastern notion called qi.
Now, it considers the vital flow of energy both within and without.
I'm utilizing needles in six--
Quiet!
Sit down!
This is a hearing, Doctor, not a carnival act.
You're not helping your cause, Victor.
This galvanic trickery will simply not do.
Trickery.
Trickery?
Are you sure?
That is not trickery. That is a decision.
Motor coordination between the eye of one dead man and the arm of another,
infused with a new will and the rudiments of understanding.
Understanding in a brain that already died?
Release now.
Please.
"Please" always helps.
Turn that off at once. At once, you charlatan.
This is the future. This is possible.
Why not study it? Why not quantify it?
This is unholy.
An abomination.
An obscenity!
God gives life, and God takes it, Victor.
Perhaps God is inept!
And it is we that must amend his mistakes!
Do not let these old fools extinguish your voice!
The answers only come when coaxed by disobedience,
free of fear and cowardly dogma!
Professor Krempe.
Baron Frankenstein, my name is Heinrich Harlander,
and I carry with me a letter of introduction
from your brother, William.
From my brother?
I asked for the privilege of your acquaintance.
It won't take but a minute of your time.
- Please. - Very well.
So William is coming to see me, is that it?
Yeah, in a matter of days.
He wants to introduce you to his fiancée. My niece, as it happens.
Elizabeth Harlander, a very nice young lady,
fresh from convent life.
The photographs are mine.
William has become quite successful in the world of finance.
He's making a name for himself.
Ha! A name? For himself?
Well, I'm afraid we both share that name, whether we like it or not.
I read your article in The Lancet.
You really believe you can do it?
Assemble a man?
A full new body? And give it life?
You saw it today, didn't you?
What I saw was a crucifixion, really.
You were done for before you uttered a word.
I still showed them.
What?
The truth.
They will forget by suppertime.
Yes, yes, yes. But what did you think? Hmm?
I thought it was brilliant.
It was. I know.
But you are like a child, so excited,
clutching your new pet so tightly that you're strangling it.
That is why I worry about you.
Can you contain your fire, Prometheus?
Or are you going to burn your hands before delivering it?
Quite.
Please do not think me rude, but my day has proven long enough,
and I believe myself totally unfit for the company of strangers.
So if there's nothing more--
Oh, but there is. Much more.
I've taken quarters in Edinburgh.
Three days from now, we are to meet with William and Elizabeth.
And that evening, I will change your destiny.
I will show you something extraordinary.
The peach. The peach. Turn the peach. Turn it.
You bit it again.
You're eating the peaches.
This is a memento mori.
The peach, symbol of life and youth, and you bite into it?
- I was hungry, Kiki. - Don't call me Kiki.
Baron Victor Frankenstein, sir.
You can leave.
Forgive me.
Welcome.
Herr Harlander.
A young art, photography.
Goodbye, Kiki.
Already a passion of mine.
Did you bring the papers?
Oh, thank you.
- You're extraordinary. - Thank you.
Hmm.
You're using the nervous system to deliver the surge of energy.
Are you not?
Correct.
And thus the sustainability of the life force you command
is very brief, wanes, evaporates.
How so?
At the lecture, you ended your demonstration out of pride.
But really, because the galvanic life force
was already fading, was it not?
Are you yourself a surgeon, sir?
Yeah, once upon a time. An army surgeon.
Not a particularly skilled one, either.
But it allowed me to secure the rudiments of my fortune.
I own a few ammunition factories.
- An arms merchant. - A realist.
Are you familiar with the Evelyn Tables?
Of course. Acquired by Sir John Evelyn,
there are four planks, meticulous dissection,
some of the oldest in Europe, presenting the nerves,
veins and arteries of cadavers. What?
Yes. But there's a fifth one.
The most compelling one.
Exquisite, is it not?
Flesh rendered onto wood.
The cadaver lies on the plank, is peeled away layer by layer,
and the remaining tissue is lacquered with resin onto the wood.
- It showcases the lymphatic system. - Yes.
Muslim medics called it the secret circulatory system.
It moves a mere three liters of fluid, but it's a vast network.
- Oh, it's remarkable. - Yes.
Now for us, for you, the important variation is here.
The ninth configuration. A very delicate,
almost ethereal structure surrounding the heart.
It can distribute, but also store energy.
Yes, if you can access that without destroying
- the surrounding tissue-- - No. Not through the front.
The back, spinal column, thoracic curvature.
Of course.
Flow of energy, scarring and regeneration beyond anyone's imagination.
Life eternal.
I will endow your pursuit with unlimited resources.
And in exchange?
No need to become indelicate.
We're searchers for truth and transcendence, kindred spirits.
I may in time ask you for a favor in return,
but it's mostly the privilege to record your process for posterity.
I work alone.
I'm very quiet.
William Frankenstein and your niece, Herr Harlander.
I shall consider it.
I'll consider it.
Baron.
Don't pretend to be reasonable now. It would be such a shame.
Victor.
William!
- Victor. - Look at you.
My, you've grown.
Through no merit of my own.
May I introduce the woman I'm to marry.
Lady Elizabeth Harlander.
Absolutely delighted.
Can't say I was shocked when you were expelled,
but the manner and virulence of your expulsion,
uncalled for, I'm sure.
No, it was called for. I earned it.
I made it a point to earn it, wouldn't you say, Herr Harlander?
It was quite an exit, I assure you.
Why provoke them?
Why not just carry on without calling attention to yourself in such a manner?
How safe, even by your standards, William.
You almost sound like Father.
He was a most tactful man, our father.
He was precise, discreet, measured.
I, on the other hand, fail to see why modesty is considered a virtue at all.
Victor's always been one to harvest attention.
Even as children, I mitigated his voice by staying silent.
Perhaps too much and far too many times, wouldn't you say, Victor?
If life can be regenerated,
not as a mere simulation,
but as a divine act by physical, chemical means,
why whisper it?
You laugh?
- You're amused? - I must be, yes.
Are my ideas not clear?
You certainly expressed them loudly enough.
Are they not worthwhile?
Ideas are not worthwhile by themselves, I don't believe.
Enlighten me, please.
Take the war, for example.
William, cigar and brandy in my study?
Surely you've heard my niece expound on the matter before.
You'll excuse us.
Pray, carry on. Ideas.
Well... honor, country, valor.
These surely are worthwhile, elevated ideas by themselves,
wouldn't you agree?
- Mm-hmm. - And nevertheless, men are dying for them.
In a decidedly un-elevated way,
face down in the mud, choking on blood,
screaming in pain.
Men that were fathers, brothers or sons to someone out there.
Men that were fed, cleaned and nursed
and schooled into this world by their mothers,
only to fall on a battlefield far away,
far from those that provoke these tragedies.
Those men remain at home, untouched by blood or bayonet,
their skin unpierced, their blankets warm and clean.
That is what happens when ideas are pursued by fools.
And you think me a fool?
Hmm?
Run to your brandy and cigars.
The boys are waiting.
How often a man believes he's met an angel or a devil,
only to find it is all an illusion.
The game of chess we play...
we play only against ourselves.
Help him.
Help him!
Here you go. Drink some.
You better come with me.
Nothing.
Sir, the watchman saw him.
Circling the ship. In the mist.
We all saw him drown.
Sir.
The men are terrified.
They think that man should be surrendered to the ice
and be done with this.
He is under my protection...
and the protection of the Crown!
A few weeks later, I rode with William and Harlander
to a lake near Vaduz across the channel.
The tower was built as a water filtration plant to irrigate the fields.
Public works, so construction was abandoned at the start of the war.
Not this war, the one before.
Or the one before that, I cannot quite remember.
The moment I laid eyes on it...
The tower.
I could feel destiny calling.
The structure's basically intact.
And there's a chute going from top, right to the bottom.
I can arrange for your belongings.
We'll bring them from Edinburgh.
Anything you need or want shall be granted.
- Anything? - Anything.
I have secured William's service for the duration of the project.
I'll need a holding cell.
- And an ice chamber close to the lab. - William.
There are two pump reservoirs at the base of the tower.
We'll repurpose those.
We shall need to recondition the steam engines.
We'll need enough fuel to make sure they run.
There and there, four high-capacity voltaic batteries,
positive and negative polarity,
and a lightning rod system of pure silver telescoping down into the lab.
Yes. My contractors can manufacture any and all equipment you may require.
I take it then that we have an understanding?
A bargain has been struck.
Bastard!
No. No. Not this one.
Aah. Open your mouth.
You, you're lucky to be hanged. You would have died within the year.
Herr Harlander promised me access to optimal specimens.
Yeah, that he may have, your lordship,
but as you well know,
crime doesn't pay, and it's a poor showing of it we have here.
They're wretches every one of them.
I'm sorry about that.
That's a strong back. This one will do.
Come back later.
Confession?
I was intrigued.
What would such a delicate, pious creature have to confess to?
As luck would have it, an opportunity presented itself,
and I...
I was about to find out.
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
How long has it been
since your last confession, my daughter?
Barely a week, Father. I was in a convent.
A week?
Tsk-tsk. Have you so hastily committed sin?
I have.
Sin of intent, not deed.
- A man, is it? - Yes.
My fiancé's brother.
Lust?
Hatred...
- Hatred? - The man is appalling, grotesque.
Harsh words.
Rather uncharitable, wouldn't you say?
Respectfully, Father, you do not know this man.
He tries to control and manipulate everything and everyone around him.
Like every tyrant, he delights in playing the victim.
His only advantage, I would say,
is he's far cruder than he believes himself to be.
Cruder?
Uh, pray explain yourself, my child.
For one, he's easy to spot.
You can see him... even on a busy street on market day.
Tell me, how soon did you spot me?
I saw you well before you saw me, I can say that much.
Have you had supper?
I'm not that hungry, Baron. Thank you.
Well, I for one am famished.
- Thank you, my good man. - Thank you, sir.
What books did you buy, hmm? May I?
Guess.
- Guess? - Mm-hmm. I'd rather that you did.
Very well.
A romance...
drenched in Mediterranean sun and silk and the skirmishes of love.
Insulting, but unsurprising.
Really?
- Insects? - Mm.
My interest in science leans towards the smallest things.
Moving with nature, perhaps the rhythms of God.
I've always searched for something more pure, marvelous.
Is that what you were seeking in the convent?
In a way.
Was it worth it?
Is anything?
Permit me, sister.
This hardly seems appropriate.
Is anything?
Very well.
Laughter!
And for the very first time,
I became more interested in life
and somewhat less interested in death.
The main rod has a fast bolting system.
Did you use an alloy?
Copper and zinc.
This is... This simply will not do. Start over.
Pure silver is a perfect conductor.
William, you must stay behind. Please.
I trust you above anyone else.
Only for a few more days.
You're not going to catch her.
Beautiful. Beautiful.
- Should we trap her or let her go? - Mm...
Trap her.
Now we have something in common.
A prisoner.
As promised, William took dutiful charge of the laboratory build and needs.
Can you fix that over there, please?
Go, help.
He followed my instructions to the letter.
The battery.
It's all pure silver now.
Conduction points corresponding to the lymphatic system,
which was quite complex.
- But I managed. - Mm-hmm.
Herr Harlander, thank you. The party's delightful.
I hope we're not distracting you from your research
to tend to me and Elizabeth.
Not at all.
She's young. She can count on us to guard her.
I shall leave you your privacy.
No need for subterfuge between us.
French porcelain, chimes to a man's stream.
I am very near a solution, an access point to the lymphatic system.
Ah, yeah, that.
It's been so long.
The war is waning.
And my funding will end with it.
You said your funds were unlimited.
My patience is not.
I have it on good authority that a battle is to take place within a week.
The tide of war will deliver its bounty to our shore.
A battlefield? The bodies will be mangled.
One week.
- One week? - After that, history will pass us by.
Flush that for me, will you, Baron?
A week to determine how to deliver the current.
Impossible.
What would I do?
I was close. I could feel it.
And then...
life got in the way.
Oh.
I believe she missed you.
I must warn you, Elizabeth,
- I've been working on a dissection. - It's beautiful.
Does it shock you?
Reminds me of martyrdom paintings.
Pain is gone.
You can see God's design in the symmetry and the shapes.
Elizabeth.
I must confess something to you.
I have a belief in the marvelous and so do you.
There is a bond between us. Can you feel it?
An almost physical one. I truly believe it to be something else.
Believing something does not make it true.
Then why are you here?
Beautiful creature, is she not?
Remote. Entirely bewitching, but so odd.
Three hearts.
Multiple eyes. White blood.
And a fascinating lack of choice.
I don't understand.
Choice is the seat of the soul.
The one gift God granted us.
Elizabeth...
I have chosen.
Good night.
Elizabeth!
I thought I had failed.
I thought it was entirely over. I thought...
And I thought...
And I...
The symmetry.
God's symmetry. Yes, yes.
Yes.
Placing the battery above the lymphatic system.
I had found the key.
Nothing could stop me now.
Nothing.
No! No, do not take any bodies
from the top or the bottom of the pile unless I mark them.
Ice or rot may have destroyed the tissue.
Look only in the middle.
Abundance can be disorienting unless one hones one's aim.
I'm favoring tall specimens, long limbs.
Scale will make the work easier.
I like that.
Perfection.
And why not, dear Baron?
Indeed, why not?
Look for a head that's intact.
Put that one in the cart.
Set that one over there.
Bring the others.
Oh, good God.
Do you mind?
It is finished.
Herr Harlander!
A storm is coming!
My cane.
My cane!
My cane, in the handle.
Mercury.
- Are you ill? - Thank you.
Is it... syphilis?
Yeah, I'm dying.
One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury.
Isn't that the phrase?
What stage?
Secondary?
We both know the precise schedule.
It starts to eat away my bones,
orbital, cheek, teeth, jaw, skull, exposing my brain.
Tumors, madness, excruciating pain.
One fine morning,
I will start to scream and I will never stop.
I cannot face such a vulgar demise.
Which brings me to my one condition.
Our deal. As agreed, in exchange
for my generous intervention on your behalf.
And as we give life to our new Adam,
I want to be placed in this new perfect body.
No.
- No, no. - Yes.
Not now. Not now!
- Precisely now. - We'll talk about this after, not now.
There is no after!
There is no after.
I gave you everything you wanted!
I give you everything you ask for.
Name it, it's yours.
Even Elizabeth.
Please.
"Please" always helps.
The disease has spread all inside of you.
It's systemic, and you know it.
Every organ in you is polluted.
Your brain, your blood, it's all polluted.
But my money's not, is that it?
It's impossible.
Now, all you need to say is one simple word.
"Yes," no more and no less.
No! Do you understand? No!
What are you doing?
Stop!
Stop.
If we lose that, we have nothing. We both lose.
I will be the eagle that feasts on your liver!
Please, stop!
Herr Harlander. Herr Harlander!
Hold on, look at me!
No! Herr Harlander!
No, no. No!
No, no, no!
No!
No! No! No!
You lied to me.
You lied.
Victor!
No, please.
Look. Same.
Sun.
Sun. Light.
Face it.
Sunlight. The sun is...
The sun is life.
Ah, the warmth. Huh?
Yes! Yes.
Victor.
- Victor. - Yes.
Yes, yes, yes. Of course you are.
Of course you are.
Victor.
The mail, sir.
Letters from the old estate.
Geneva.
- Is there anything from my uncle? - No.
Perhaps we should pay them a visit.
Careful. Look. Look down.
Water. Water.
Water.
Yes, water.
- Victor. - No, I'm Victor.
That's water. Come here.
- Victor. - Come now, come. All right, good.
We're going to take a big step.
We'll do it together. Ready?
This way, like this.
No, not like that. This way.
Oh, no, no, no. Hot, hot.
No, don't touch. Don't touch that.
It's hot.
Sit. Very good. Very good. Yes.
Yes. Now, look what I have here.
Look at this. What is this thing?
What is this strange thing? Careful.
You're very strong.
Yes. And like this. Huh?
Yes, you want another? Yes, this one goes right here.
Key.
Victor.
This will keep you nice and warm.
Nice blanket to keep you warm.
- Victor. - All right.
You stay.
You stay here now.
Stay here now.
I'll be back. All right. Stay there.
Victor.
No, no, no, no, no. It's all right.
I'll come back.
Victor.
Everything was new to him.
Warmth, cold, light, darkness.
And I was there to mold him.
I never considered what would come after creation.
And having reached the edge of the earth,
there was no horizon left.
The achievement felt unnatural.
Void of meaning.
And this troubled me so.
Your men, they wish to go back.
Yes?
Probably.
But the moment we're free, we're setting sails forwards.
No matter the cost.
You share my madness.
Perhaps there is a finer point in me telling you my story.
Whether there is or isn't, Baron...
I'd like to hear it.
Weeks passed,
and as his strength increased rapidly, mine waned.
Alas, no further language or development occurred.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Down, down, down, down.
Yes, there we are.
There we are. Stay there. Stay.
Yes, that's you.
That's you. All right?
Oh, yes, this is healing rather nicely.
I'm tired.
I have not slept.
Not a winky-dinky-doo of sleep for me.
Tending to you.
I've finished shaving you.
No, no, stop, stop.
Let go. No, no, no, no, no, no. Open.
Open your hand. Open. Open it.
What are you doing?
Look. Look what you've done.
You have to listen to me. You have to listen. I said drop it.
Stupidity! No. Stop.
Come here.
- Victor. - No, don't touch me!
Don't ever touch me!
Come here.
I didn't do this. You did this.
The wound.
It's closed.
But how?
All right.
No, no, no.
No.
All right. All right.
I'm sure everything's all right.
We'll be there soon enough.
I know you have thoughts. I know.
I know you do.
Somewhere in there. Somewhere in there you have thoughts.
Hmm? Don't you?
Something you might want to say?
However jumbled, however confused?
Hmm? Something?
Am I presuming too much?
Victor.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
This much we have established.
That is my name. My name is Victor.
Is there anything else that you can say? Anything at all? Hmm?
Anything? Anything?
Um, sun, hmm?
Cold. Rain. Blood. Anything.
Boot. Can you say "boot"?
Victor.
No, yes, no, yes! How about...
How about "hand"? Can you say "hand"?
Hand. Hand.
Oh. Oh, oh. You are afraid of me?
You're afraid of me?
Why? Why would you be afraid of me?
I'm not going to hurt you.
I'm not going to hurt you. I made you.
I'm your maker! Stop it!
Oh.
You're here. You're really here.
Come on, then. Come, come.
I have to tell you. I have so much to show you, Elizabeth.
You won't believe it. It's absolutely marvelous.
Come, come, I'll show you my notes first.
Is my uncle here?
What?
My uncle, is he here?
No, no.
No, I'm alone. He's not here.
- He's... He'll be back in a few days. - You don't look very well, Victor.
Oh, I've never felt better! I've never had a clearer mind! Come, come!
Are you running a fever?
I am just very excited to see you.
I'm exalted. The spirits have lifted me so much.
Absolutely marvelous...
Victor...
Victor. Victor.
Who hurt you?
I have to show you this, William.
Let me organize it for you.
And I have something to show to you.
I've spoken to the Royal Medical Society.
- They're interested in seeing you. - No, no, no, not yet.
I'm not quite ready yet.
I thought that's what you always wanted.
The man.
- The man downstairs. - You saw him?
Is he a patient? A victim?
His wounds. You wounded him like that.
No, no, no. It was the world that hurt him, Elizabeth.
I... I gave him life.
I gave him life.
Up, up, up.
Come on.
There, there, there...
He's still getting used to his surroundings.
It is strong, William.
- You did it. - It's so strong.
You did it.
All its systems are functional.
All healing.
And the healing is erratic, yes.
But exceptional.
Why is he chained here?
For his own safety and for mine,
and it's easy to clean and, uh, maintain it.
And it doesn't know any better.
But you do.
Does Harlander know?
We have to prepare everything for the moment he returns.
- Of course. - And have everything presentable.
Is it intelligent?
Victor, is it intelligent?
I can't fathom how exactly you did what you did,
but its dimension does not escape me.
Victor, did you ever ask yourself,
of all the parts that make that man,
which one holds the soul?
No, I didn't.
There's something so disquieting about that creature down there.
Askew, like a figure peeking around a funhouse mirror.
But animated.
Animated by what?
Does it hurt?
A leaf?
For me?
Thank you.
Isn't it beautiful?
This is for me?
I'm Elizabeth.
Can you say "Elizabeth"?
Elizabeth.
My throat makes sounds.
Elizabeth.
I'm going to go now.
Eliza... beth.
You should not go near it.
"It"?
It. Yes.
I believe there is life in it,
but not the spark of intelligence that I had intended.
Perhaps not as you understand it.
Something went wrong.
A blockage, a suture, a connection.
You, the great Victor Frankenstein, you made a mistake?
The Creature knows but one word, and one word alone.
"Victor, Victor, Victor, Victor."
It just parrots it without rhyme or reason.
Perhaps for the time being that word means everything to him.
What if in being anew, the spirit that animates him is simpler,
- purer-- - Purer?
Purer than that of the common man?
What if, unrestrained by sin,
our creator's breath came into its wounded flesh directly?
Good God, Elizabeth.
If I could force myself to believe it,
it would be my inclination to see attraction in you for that thing.
Understanding.
In those eyes I saw pain,
and what is pain if not evidence of intelligence?
What about my pain?
What about what you have denied me?
What my heart wants...
Your heart?
Of all the human anatomy,
that is the organ furthest from your understanding.
Only monsters play God, Baron.
Purer than the common man, hmm?
And I, somehow, the villain. Mm-hmm.
Your heart is pure?
I assure you it isn't.
I should know. I put it there.
Up.
Let us try again.
Now give me your leg.
Leg!
Give me your leg!
Pain is evidence of intelligence, is it not?
Well, let's test the theory.
Give me your leg!
Leg!
Come on!
Give it to me, you beast!
Give me your leg!
Leg!
Victor!
Victor! Victor!
What is it, Victor?
Come. Come.
I failed. I made a mistake.
- No, you didn't fail. I saw your papers. - I did.
- It's perfect. - The Creature is extremely dangerous.
There's not... Victor.
Let's wait for Harlander and discuss together.
William, there is something you should know.
Something I have to show you.
- Ha-- Harlander... - In a fit of rage, he killed him.
Do you understand now why I was hesitant to share this with you?
And certainly not with Elizabeth.
S... So what's to be done now?
What?
- What's to be done? - "What's to be done"?
You must take Elizabeth back to Vienna.
Tell her something urgent came up and you have to leave immediately.
Keep her in the dark.
For her own safety.
You have to do as I say.
We'll be back in no time. But for now, this is for the best.
Now get in the carriage, please.
The Creature, what's its lifespan, you think?
Brief. Very brief, I'm sure.
I have the most terrible feeling.
What is it?
Turn the carriage around.
You go to Vienna.
Turn the carriage around or I will jump. He's going to kill him.
Say one word.
One word more. Anything.
Make me save you.
- Victor. - Mm-hmm.
Elizabeth.
Victor! Victor!
Victor!
But that was not the end of it.
In seeking life, I created death.
It would seem I need to address my men again.
Don't worry.
They'll listen to me.
No, no, stop!
Do not harm him! I'm here.
Take me.
Go on, beast.
Kill us both. Confirm your maker's tale.
My maker... told his tale.
Then I will tell you mine.
Victor! Victor! Victor!
I called your name and understood I was alone.
- What is that? - Shoot at it!
Shoot it!
Did you get it?
Where is it?
My wounds had healed.
But I felt cold, so cold.
- Can you start the fire? - All right.
And I'll repair the corral as soon as I can.
You all right, then? Did you get it?
Nah, we looked everywhere. Couldn't find that thing.
Though we shot at it two times.
Blood trail died about a mile from here.
All right. Come in. Come in.
We followed it for a while and then it disappeared. Gone.
What was it? Was it a bear?
That was no bear or human. I've never seen anything like it.
Was it a ghost, then?
It was no ghost. We drew blood. It was flesh and bone.
Come, come. Over here.
Tell me more about what you saw.
Anna-Maria, take your grandfather over by the fireplace.
Make sure he's comfortable.
Over here, Grandfather.
We went deep into the forest. Couldn't find it.
We will get it.
- It'll take time. - Yeah.
Anna-Maria, come.
Come, love. Help me outside.
The old man moved me.
And his unseeing eyes were full of wisdom.
These people possessed a sound.
Used it to tell each other
about feelings and ideas.
They called them words.
Pay attention.
What is this?
A boy.
- And again. - A boy.
Very good, my child.
And this?
An... An eye.
- And again. - An eye.
Yeah. Well done. Well done, my girl.
- Eye. - And this one?
The hand.
- Very good. - Hand.
Give us a hand.
Tie a rope around the biggest one back there.
I longed to be part of this family.
We'll need more kindling before the winter.
We'll take a few trips.
To be their benefactor.
We'll need larger trunks for the structure.
All right.
What could I possibly do for them?
Anna-Maria! Father!
Come! Come and see!
Look, Anna-Maria!
Look, there's more! Look!
Who could have done this?
The Spirit of the Forest.
We should thank him.
Thank you.
Say, "Thank you, Spirit of the Forest."
Thank you. Thank you, Spirit of the Forest.
Thank you.
Come. Look over here.
Thank you.
From then on, I became their invisible guardian.
The Spirit of the Forest.
And on occasion, they too extended a small kindness towards me.
Clothes, bread.
And for a moment,
a brief, brief moment,
the world and I were at peace.
Come along. Come along.
In you go. Yeah.
Make sure you close that gate.
Who could have done this?
The Spirit of the Forest, eh?
I got it.
"And in the end, the proud young man
could never find his missing hand."
"It turned to stone, his fortune gone,
and he lost his pride and lost his land."
Very good, my dear.
Beautifully read. Now try this one.
Wolves.
An idea,
a feeling became clear to me.
The hunter did not hate the wolf.
The wolf did not hate the sheep.
But violence felt inevitable between them.
Perhaps, I thought, this was the way of the world.
It would hunt you and kill you
just for being who you are.
The sheep will be sold by the end of the month, Father.
Then I'll take you, Alma and Anna-Maria into town.
We'll go into the mountains,
hunt the wolves and be back at the end of winter.
I pray here alone every winter and this year will be no different.
Please, Father, listen to reason.
You do what you must and so will I.
You stubborn old goat.
It's just you and I now, Spirit.
Just you and I.
And I had formed in my imagination many ways
I would present myself to the old man.
Would he fear me?
Welcome me?
Turn me away?
Who goes there?
With a single step, I entered a different world.
One I had only seen from afar.
Please, who is it?
Answer me.
Tell me.
Why are you here?
Travel.
Welcome, dear traveler.
Do not think me ungrateful for the company if I ask you to procure a chair.
I... I find it difficult being a good host.
Yes.
My... My sight has failed me.
But there is bread and brandy on the table.
Pray help yourself.
Bran... dy?
Your language.
You have a hard time speaking it.
Are you not from these parts?
Are you afraid?
No need to be.
What are you afraid of?
- Everything. - Your...
Your hands are frozen
and you've been hurt, have you not?
Hurt?
Yes. Your hands and face have scars
and you are wearing uniform.
Were you injured in battle?
You were hiding
in the mill gears, were you not?
Ah!
Yeah. Yeah. The Spirit of the Forest.
Yes.
I cannot judge of your countenance,
but there is something in your voice
which persuades me of your goodwill and kindness.
- Kindness? - Mm.
Stay with me.
Share my food and fire.
I would be delighted to share what little I have with you
and would be greatly helped by your companionship.
And you... you could read to me.
- Read? - Mm.
Make this your home and I your friend.
Friend.
Friends.
And it was then that I read my first story,
and it was the first story.
I read about a man named Adam and a woman named Eve,
about their time in the first garden.
I read about the rise of rival cities
and the collapse of a tower
and the wrath of a God.
And I read about men that fought dragons
and men who lost everything.
And time passed
and fell away with the leaves of autumn.
Have you never seen the snow, my dear friend?
It makes the world clean... and new.
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings."
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair."
"No thing beside remains."
"Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare."
"The lone and level sands stretch far away."
"My name is Ozymandias..."
Are there more books than this in the world?
A few more, I'm sure.
Not here.
Last book on the left. Take it.
We haven't got to it.
Paradise Lost, Milton.
Man has questions for God.
Even God has questions.
I think he wanted answers and that is why he sent us his son.
Death probably intrigued him.
Suffering.
I want to know who I am.
Where do I come from?
God took your memory just as I wish he would take mine away.
Many years ago, I took a man's life.
A good man.
And I have been atoning for it since.
Forgive.
Forget.
The true measure of wisdom.
To know you have been harmed,
by whom you have been harmed,
and choose to let it all fade.
But I cannot forget what I cannot remember.
Do you recall nothing?
In my dreams...
...I... see memories.
Different men.
All... pieces.
I...
I remember f... fire and water.
And sand under my feet.
And a word.
A single word.
What is it?
Victor.
Go to it.
The word.
And then I learned it.
The horror of the truth.
I understood that I was nothing.
A wretch.
A blot.
Not even of the same nature as man.
This hurt clung to my mind.
It never let go.
Then I saw it.
Your name.
"Victor Frankenstein."
And where to find you.
No!
You came back.
I found what I am.
What I am made from.
I am... the child of a charnel house.
A wreckage.
Assembled from refuse and the discarded dead.
A monster.
I know what you are.
A good man.
And... you are my friend.
Friend?
Friend.
What is that thing?
The-- The thing from the woods?
What have you done to him?
Don't move.
Quick! Reload! Kill it!
There was silence again,
and then... merciless life.
How long did I die for?
I do not know.
But I saw my injuries healed.
The cold winter air stung in my lungs.
I felt lonelier than ever,
because for every man there was but one remedy to all pain:
Death, a gift you too had denied me.
Envy rose within me
and decided to demand a single grace from you.
My creator.
I would demand... a companion.
I need you to get up.
Yes, of course. Of course.
The wedding will start soon and I want you by my side.
It's hard to believe,
if not for your kind nature.
I've spoken to a few guests about the inquest.
About the explosion.
The majority accept it for what it was.
And what was it, William?
The past, Victor.
A terrible accident.
I intend to sell the estate.
All we have is each other.
I want you to throw the petals everywhere.
Throw them everywhere.
Mm.
Go upstairs and do some more of that.
I know it is bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony.
Only for the groom.
Yes, that's right. Not for me.
Hello, Elizabeth.
I've rarely felt remorse before and now I feel little else. I...
A fever gripped me for so long, but it has passed,
and I see you now as I should.
For whatever it's worth, I... I wish you and my little brother,
who I love more than life, the very best.
You may like to believe you do.
And I dread to even hear it.
On my wedding day, I ask you but for a single grace.
No more lies.
- I-- I want to tell you-- - Leave my chambers now.
- Elizabeth. - Leave!
Come out of the shadows,
if you are here.
Are you here to thank me?
You survived and are intelligent enough to have found me.
I made you well.
I need you to make a companion for me.
One like me.
A com... A companion?
Oh.
I see.
Another monster.
Yes.
We can be monsters together.
I have found sanity at such a cost,
and you here... are madness calling me back.
I cannot die.
And I cannot live...
alone.
In you I have created something truly horrible.
Not something.
Someone.
You made someone.
Me.
Whatever puzzle I am, creator, I think.
I feel.
I have this sole petition...
Make one like me.
And then what?
Procreation.
Reproduction.
Mm...
A home?
A grave?
Death begetting death begetting death.
A race of devils propagated upon the earth.
Obscenity perpetuating itself.
I am obscene to you, but to myself I simply am.
Begone!
Never again will I make something like you, wicked and deformed.
Then it is still all about your will, Victor.
Hmm?
That horrible, horrible will that birthed me condemns me now?
The miracle is not that I should speak, but that you would ever listen!
If you are not to award me love, then I will indulge in rage.
And mine is infinite.
Step aside.
Victor.
What's going on?
You...
It's you.
Elizabeth, move away from it!
No!
It attacked her! It attacked her!
Take me with you.
Oh, my God!
No, let me... I can save you.
I can save you.
From what?
From you?
I fear you, Victor.
No, no...
I always have.
Every ounce of madness and destruction.
The very conflagration that devoured everything.
It all came from you.
You are the monster.
My place was never in this world.
I sought and longed for something I could not quite name.
But in you, I found it.
To be lost and to be found,
that is the lifespan of love.
And in its brevity,
its tragedy...
this has been made eternal.
Better this way... to fade...
with your eyes gazing upon me.
She is gone and I long to follow.
You gave me life unwanted.
I give that back to you.
You thought me a monster.
Now I return the favor.
Kill me! Kill me now, do it!
I will make you bleed.
I will make you humble.
You may be my creator,
but from this day forward, I will be your master.
You hunted me past the forests,
past the mountains,
past frozen horizons,
until there was nothing left.
Just you... and me.
I need ammunition.
Sharpen this.
Three cans of condensed milk, some firewood.
And six sticks of dynamite.
Six?
What are you hunting?
Big game.
No! No! No!
Victor.
You only listen when I hurt you.
This. You put your faith in this.
You think this will unmake me.
Hmm.
Light it then and hope it does, but if it does not,
I will come for you again.
Light it!
Now... run.
So, there you were, broken and discarded.
And I,
alive again.
I could feel my singed flesh regrowing.
The crackling of my bones resetting.
The murmur of my blood pumping through my incessant heart.
And once more finding no mercy,
I had but one path.
And here we are.
Spent and done.
No more in us to give or take.
The blood outside the tent...
It is mine.
All mine.
I will bleed.
Ache.
Suffer.
You see, it will never end.
I am sorry.
Regret consumes me.
And I now regard my life for what it was.
You will go now, creator.
Fade away.
It will all be but a brief moment.
My birth. My grief.
Your loss.
I will not be punished.
Nor absolved.
What hope I had,
what rage...
It is all nothing.
The tide that brought me here now comes to take you away.
Leaving me stranded.
Forgive me.
My son.
And if you have it in your heart, forgive yourself into existence.
If death is not to be, then consider this, my son.
While you are alive,
what recourse do you have but to live?
Live.
Say my name.
My father gave me that name,
and it meant nothing.
Now I ask you to give it back to me...
one last time.
The way you said it at the beginning.
When it meant the world to you.
Victor.
I forgive you.
Rest now, Father.
Perhaps now,
we can both be human.
Weapons down.
- Put the weapons down! - I am responsible for my men.
He can leave.
We are free!
Captain...
What are your orders?
Man the sails.
Turn around.
Do you want to tell the men?
Men!
We're sailing home!