Gods and Monsters DVD (Region 1)

8	Listal rating

Manufacturer : Lions Gate
Release date : 17 June 2003
Number of discs : 1
EAN : 9781588177858
UPC : 003139883322

Drama (1), Hollywood (1), Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar (1), Biopic (1), Filmmaking (1)

Description

Product DescriptionIan McKellen delivers a riveting, award-winning performance as Hollywood horror director James Whale. It's 1957, and Whale's heyday as the director of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man is long behind him. Retired andia semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. Whe Product Description
Ian McKellen delivers a riveting, award-winning performance as Hollywood horror director James Whale. It's 1957, and Whale's heyday as the director of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man is long behind him. Retired andia semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When his dour housekeeper, Hannah (Lynn Redgrave), hires a handsome young gardener, Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser), the flamboyant director and simple yard man develop an unlikely friendship. This powerful and poignant relationship will change their lives forever.

System Requirements:

Starring Brendan Fraser, Ian McKellen, Lolita Davidovich, Lynn Redgrave

Directed by Bill Condon

Running time: 105 minutes

Copyright Lion's Gate 2003

Format: DVD MOVIE
Genre: DRAMA
Rating: R
Age: 031398833222
UPC: 031398833222
Manufacturer No: 71872

One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1998 and winner of several awards including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Gods and Monsters is a compassionate speculation about the final days of James Whale (1889-1957), the director of Frankenstein and 20 other films of the 1930s and '40s, who was openly gay at a time when homosexuality in Hollywood was discreetly concealed. Adapted and directed by Bill Condon from Christopher Bram's novel Father of Frankenstein, the film stars Ian McKellen in a sublime performance as the white-haired Whale, who is portrayed as a dapper gent and amateur artist prompted by failing health into melancholy remembrance of things past. Flashbacks of lost love, World War I battle trauma, and glory days in Hollywood combine with Whale's present-day attraction to a newly hired yard worker (Brendan Fraser) whose hunky, Frankenstein-like physique makes him an ideal model for Whale's fixated sketching.

The friendship between the handsome gardener and his elderly gay admirer is by turns tenuous, humorous, mutually beneficial, and ultimately rather sad--but to Condon's credit Whale is never seen as pathetic, lecherous, or senile. Equally rich is the rapport between Whale and his long-time housekeeper (played with wry sarcasm by Lynn Redgrave), who serves as protector, mother, and even surrogate spouse while Whale's mental state deteriorates. Flashbacks to Whale's filmmaking days are painstakingly authentic (particularly in the casting of look-alike actors playing Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester), and all of these ingredients combine to make Gods and Monsters (executive produced by horror novelist-filmmaker Clive Barker) a touchingly affectionate film that succeeds on many levels. It is at once a keen glimpse of Hollywood's past, a loving tribute to James Whale, and a richly moving, delicately balanced drama about loneliness, memory, and the passions that keep us alive. --Jeff Shannon

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