young frankenstien, zach pedroncelli

Young Frankenstein was the best film I think we have watched up to this point. I did my expectations essay on this film and it met them in many different ways. It was laugh out loud funny with characters that solely their personalities made the film amusing. With scenes ranging from Igor’s ever changing pronunciation to Abby normal brain mix up. This film exaggerates emotion and leaves characters with dumbed down personalities making for a witty and amusing film as a whole. The doctor’s temper and the ditsy attractive assistant make for laughs all in themselves. Although predictable one of the most amusing scenes occurs when the doctor and his assistant go into the cellar with skull models set up showing how old they were then Igor pops up into the display on the final model. The mix between tense or suspicious creepy feeling with constant comic relief is one of the strongest aspects of this film as a whole. I thought the black and white filming of the movie added to the feel and made it resembling in aspects to the original film. The dim lighting throughout also made for a positive addition to the setting. Overall the film was full of laughs and met my expectations from my previous writings. 

Something To Do With Black And White.

     This movie was a different pace than the last couple of movies i've seen in this class, the style was also very interesting. Young Frankenstein was a movie that mostly used folklore as a vehicle to comment on and explore the idea of identity. In the beginning of this film, doctor frederic corrects one of his students on the pronunciation of his name and is very upset about being related to his grandfather and his work. Even eyegor pronounces his name differently to distinguish himself from his father. As the movie goes on, these characters add their own flair onto the classic tale of Frankenstein.

     Each character undergoes a change or crisis of identity in their own way, and they also battle with the idea of destiny and what they feel they have to do in their lives. Even though he was very opposed and loudly rejected his grandfather and his work, Frederic lapses into his grandfather's work fairly easily, seemingly after his nightmare in the beginning of the film. as others have stated, The black and white style of the film added its own characteristic that gave insight to the characters within the film. In a way, it simplified the characters into extremes which the characters did fall into a lot of the time.

     Frederic wore his emotions on his sleeve and lost control of himself quite easily, he was either calm or completely off the wall, he was never in between. This style also presented identity in a similar way, at least from the perspective of children following in their families footsteps; they either follow or they don't, they're successful or they're failures. with frederic denying his grandfather's work, and eyegor wanting distinction from his dad. Identity is the major theme that this movie revolves around, and is basically what it's really about, showing people's true colors. 

Frankenstein 2

I remember watching this film when I was younger, not understanding any jokes or innuendos, and laughing as either a result of the simple slapstick comedy (which is so abundant), or because my older siblings were laughing. Now, I am so glad that I have matured to the level at which I can understand and appreciate the humor in this film. Young Frankenstein has SO much to offer. From its slapstick jokes, of which I mentioned earlier, to its plethora of sexual innuendos (I had no idea what a "role in the hay" was when I was seven, thank goodness), this movie seems to never disappoint. One theme, however, that seemed to be constantly re-occurring was that of fear. Everyone in the film was always afraid of something, with exception to the generous blind man, of course. But no one seems to portray more fear for anything as much as Doctor Frankenstein himself.

We first get a good understanding of Frankenstein's past. Without too much thought, the viewer can easily conclude that this character is, or was, related to the infamous Dr. Frankenstein of old. From the movie, we are informed that the original Dr. Frankenstein is Gene Wilder's grandfather. Of course, new Dr. Frankenstein, or Frederick as I will refer to him for the rest of this blog, is asked about his grandfather non stop. This introduces us to his first fear. Frederick is terrified of his families past. The original creation of the monster has haunted Frederick for his entire life, for some reason. Perhaps it is because he knows that he can do the same.

On another note, we discover another fear when introduced to Frederick's first lover. As funny and odd as it sounds, the audience can tell that Frederick is horrified by this woman. And who wouldn't be?

However, the fears do not yield here. Frederick travels to his grandfathers castle, and ultimately creates a duplicate of his elder's creation, losing a bit of his mind in the process. Why does his make his monster? I don't really know! He's terrified of it! This demonstrates how obsession can lead to demise, I suppose, but I would rather not change subjects. The creation of the monster marks a new beginning for Frederick. It is after the creation that he starts to conquer his fears, the first being the beast. Completely against his common sense, he decides to lock himself in a room with the creature, in hopes of... I dunno. Getting mauled to death apparently. However, he does manage to relate to the "man," and after a while, the fear is gone.

If only it would stay away. Once he exposes his creation to the world, a new fear arises. He is terribly afraid of the public’s view towards himself. So much so that he, instead of learning from it, teaches the monster to dance, in hopes of pleasing an audience. Somehow in the end, it seems that Frederick finally beats all of his fears, but at the same time, he cycles back to the man he was at the beginning of the film, as if the entire experience had no effect on his life. And I suppose a moral is in there somewhere. Perhaps you should not try and beat your fears, as much as try to live and cope with them. Conquering them may be, well, useless.

David Duneman

Expository Writing

Joe Serio

3/31/13

Young Frankenstein

            I can not say I have seen any of the Frankenstein movies that Young Frankenstein is parodying, but I still found this film very humorous. This is probably because they added much more comedy in this movie other than parody. They have many aspects of comedy that make this movie a funny one. It uses many aspects of comedy such as: repetition, surprise, parody, exaggeration and many other devices that are humorous, and they are integrated into the Frankenstein story line.

            I have not seen any of the Frankenstein movies, besides Van Helsing, but from what I’ve heard Young Frankenstein parodies Frankenstein movies very well. I thought it was a good choice of the film makers to do Young Frankenstein in black and white. It gave the film an older feel like some of the old Frankenstein movies, which helped in the parodying aspect of the comedy. Gene Wilder is always fun to watch. Playing Dr. Frankenstein he is always drifting in and out of a German accent which was probably an intended comedic style. The other German accented character, Inga, has a rather hefty accent which at times can get a little hard to fully understand, which also ads an exaggeration aspect to the humor.

            Igor was a great part of this film. His character is rather oblivious to pretty much everything around him, and his outward facing eyes staple that into our brains. When Dr. Frankenstein tells Igor he could fix the hump on his back, Igor replies “What hump?” He is so oblivious to not even notice his own body. I think this plays in his part of being a servant.

            I thought this film was quite humorous but before I would watch it again I would have to check out some Frankenstein films first so I could understand some more of the parody in this movie.

           

Singing Opera With Joy

As a foreigner from a different generation, I never had the pleasure to watch either the 1930's horror classic Frankenstein, or its 1974's parody Young Frankenstein, by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder. As I write, I remember my parents talking about films such as Modern Times and Frankenstein and how they enjoyed these types of films as teenagers. But it always made me question, "how could anyone enjoy a film in black and white." After watching the progression of films in our English 220 class I have been able to appreciate the artistry and though behind these classics. Young Frankenstein is a timeless classic that not only spins the horror of its 1930's inspiration, but also makes honor to the elements of artistry and creativity of James Whale.

Young Frankenstein not only made my Friday night a moment of laughter, but also opened my eyes to the fact that parodies, although sometimes cheesy, can also be of good quality and make honor of an older film. Gene Wilder, and Mel Brooks strive to make out of their comedy a film that reflects the elements of mise-en-scène of Frankenstein. The elements created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931's classic where also used in the Mel Brooks' comedy. The lab equipment, and many other elements in the castle where almost an exact copy in both films. This effort to recreate a classic in such a detailed manner, added to the quality of Young Frankenstein. I not only enjoyed the humor and mise-en-scène, but also the frames and shots that sought to recreate the style of 1930's cinematography.

The shots, transitions, and opening credits not only placed me as a viewer in the 1930's, but also contrasted with the type of humor prevalent during the sexual revolution of the 70's. Fade to black transitions, wipe outs, among others effects reflect the film rhythm of the past and complete the intention of using black and white to reflect the elements of Frankenstein. At the same time, many sexual innuendos reflect a change on the culture during the seventies, where women clearly seem to choose what the find pleasing in an open manner.

Brooks' film not only contains comic text involving sex and good quality mise-en-scène, but also seems to make fun of the serious and sometimes overtly god-like self proclaimed image of the scientific community. In my opinion, the scientific community seeks to control nature and attain life giving qualities, but often times ignores the complexity of such ventures. These intends to control nature are reflected in the destruction of the environment today. Desires of self recognition, mixed with disproportionate greed, are reflected in the environmental dilemma we sleep with today. Just like Frankenstein, we have created a monster that is out of control. A dilemma that is also not only disproportionate in size, but also keeps business leaders singing Opera with joy.

OLD FRONKENSTIEN

            Well my favorite movie finally came up in the list.  I have loved this movie ever since I was little.  Gene Wilder is brilliant in his role as the scientist and grandson of the infamous Victor Von Frankenstein.  His early denial of his heritage actually is comical by the way that he even goes so far to pronounce his name “FRONKENSTIEN”.  As the movie progresses and he slowly starts learning of his grandfather’s work in reanimation, there is a turning point in the movie as he accepts his family name and believes he too can continue his grandfather’s work and he yells out “It’s pronounced FRANKENSTIEN!!”  To continue his wiry hair and loud facial expressions are perfect for playing the part of a crazy scientist. 

            The movie is in my opinion, both plot and character driven.  It is character in the sense that it takes characters to accept who they are and then begin a task and then the movie turns into a plot driven film as many scenes become more oriented on achieving the reanimation and creation of the Monster.  Many aspects of the movie are parodies of the original 1931 Frankenstein movie.  This can also explain why in 1974, Mel Gibson decided to film it in black and white to give the classic horror film feeling.  The film also has a cameo of Gene Hackman who was the mute who just wanted a friend.  All of these additions to the movie helped bring publicity to the movie and no doubt more people went to see it because of them. 

            One of the major themes of the movie that really stood out to me was just the sense of sexuality between all the characters.  Even the grotesque character of Igor gets frisky in many of the scenes when the women arrive into the scene.  Or just jokes such as the fact that Igor states the Monster is going to be very popular due to having an “enormous schwanstucker."  The number of sexual jokes is truly uncountable.  I could go on and on. 

            The type of humor in the film although may be crude in many occasions, is in my opinion the type that you have to be thinking about or at least have subtitles on in order to read and truly understand what is being said and laugh.   

Fronkenshteen

The main character, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, is the grandson of the main character of Shelley’s book, Dr. Victor Frankenstein.  Frederick views his grandfather as a madman for claiming to have created a monster by restoring life to a corpse and chooses not to be associated with him.  He changes the pronunciation of his name to “Fron-ken-shteen” and when people pronounce it the wrong way, identifying him with his infamous grandfather, he angrily stabs himself in his own leg.  However, when he inherits his grandfather’s castle, he, ironically, follows in Dr. Victor’s footsteps, creates his own monster.   This ironic situation creates a comical story full of twists and turns, mocking the original book and movies of the Frankenstein story.  It also alludes to the identity crisis Frederick is in.  He cannot let his name and, in turn, his identity be defiled with the success, or failure, of his grandfather’s creation.  However, when given the chance, he performs the exact same experiment as his grandfather, except that he uses an abnormal brain, on accident.  Mel Brooks then inserts an alternate ending by transforming the stiff moving, dumb monster into an intelligent monster who can dance, sing, reason, and fall in love with the fiancé of Frederick.  Frederick does become successful and famous; however, it is by doing the very thing that he claimed absurd and insane at the beginning of the movie.

The somewhat romantic, somewhat unromantic relationship between Frederick and his fiancé is an interesting thing for Brooks to add to his spoof of Frankenstein.  The relationship is boring at best and little is even seen of Frederick’s plain fiancé.  The film focuses much more of the good looking, not so smart, foreign assistant of Frederick, who he happens to fall in love with and marry at the end of the film.  While Frederick falls in love with his sexy assistant, another interesting relationship is formed between the monster and Frederick’s fiancé.  Brooks steers away from the potential jealousy between the two women who were both at one time in love with Frederick.

Cold Hands

Starting off with a credits roll that comes straight from a 1930's era film, Young Frankenstein would appeal to any connoisseur of early horror films.  The primary message of the story being the unthawing of a clenched, cold and stiff personality, I find it more interesting to focus on how the film uses and then creates its own tropes.

When Frankenstein is riding the train to New York, a husband and wife argue about the behavior of someone they know, possibly their child; the film whirls into a train ride into Transylvania and the exact same conversation appears to happen again, with german sounding participants. The subject is ambiguous, but the meaning of parents arguing over allowing someone (probably their child) do something or not is foreshadowing for the rest of the story. Allowing the beast out or sedating it, allowing your hair to be mussed or being satisfied with a tame elbow touching another elbow.

The running gags of the pronunciation of Frankenstein's name and Frau Blücher's association with horses naying are set ups for use later in the film. They punctuate situations and are self-contained tropes within the film.

A cold hand is presented in the monster when Frankenstein meets a constable and later in the detective's mechanical arm. The detective setting his finger on fire deliberately, a dead piece of wood, while the monster's finger is set alight  and is obviously alive and the cause of pain creates a symmetry that applies to how we live our lives. An overall arc to the story is that we should embrace life, to allow for a little pain along with the pleasures and that if we don't engage with the world around us (even if there is some pain) that there is much more good to be found overall.

Spark of genius

Young Frankenstein is a really hilarious movie that also has a lot to teach us as well.  For instance, the movie has a lot to say about finding one’s purpose, happiness, and fulfillment in life.  Dr. Frankenstein in the beginning is constantly trying to find his identity and separate himself from the infamy of the name Frankenstein, he even “washes his hands” of the name as he expresses his disdain for it.  As the story progresses our Fredrick Frankenstein comes to embrace the name and its reputation.  At this point the notoriety and the prestige of being a scientist means nothing to him.  Fredrick completes his grandfather’s experiment and even comes to perfect it.  This brings point to the old time proverb, “you cannot know where you are going until you know where you have been.” 

Another recurring theme is the difference between lust and love.  This is not only prevalent in the obvious situation of Fredrick’s fiancé and his lab assistant, but also in the in the line of work.  He lusts after making a name for himself, he craves and desires it; that is until he finds his “love” in this case, his grandfather’s work.  This is paralleled in Fredrick’s feelings first for his fiancé, and then later the assistant.  The first was what he desires, it is for show and for prestige, but it is not what he loves.  She will not even let him kiss her at the risk of smearing her lipstick for a party she is attending later.

Each of the main support characters has recurring jokes throughout the film giving them each their own style.  Through out the movie, the sexual jokes and innuendos are plenty throughout the movie, but most of which come from the ditzy assistant.  Through out the movie Inga is either makes a sexual joke without noticing it, or mistakes something someone else says as being sexual.  The next one is fairly obvious, but must be stated.  Frau Blucher has a name that whenever said causes lightning and the horses to become frightened.  Igor is special in that he has two recurring jokes.  The fist of which is the hump moving from side to side on his back.  This becomes more and more comical with each instance as he appears to not even be aware that it is even there in the first place so bringing it to his attention is out of the question.  Igor also frequently breaks the fourth wall and talking to the viewers. 

All these elements contribute to making the film a true comedy that truly has more to offer than meets the eye.

young hunk of a man JK JK

Young Frankenstein was a nice reprieve from the other movies we have had to watch. This movie played on many rhetorical situations as well as a witty humor. This movie was made in 1974 and the director (Mel Brooks) had taken what the country had been through and used it as humor. For example I want to point out the relationship between Frau Blücher and her environment. What happens when you even utter her name, nature screams. Well just the horses but I feel that this was a play on World War II. Frau Blücher was obviously of German descent and it seemed any time she was mentioned the world would cry out against her. I feel Mel Brooks put her in for not only comic relief but to show that the war did not only affect the people but nature as well.

Second this movie was filled with sex jokes, whether innocent or not, they were in there. We see them mostly play on or against women. The one thing that surprised me was that how many penis jokes there   where. It really played on the true fear of every man “having a small penis.” This was something that I did not catch on the first viewing. The majority of the jokes were directed towards women. Inga was I stereotypical blonde women. She was not all there put when it came to sex you could see that she knew what she was talking about. This was an interesting choice for Mel Brooks because this was showing a very open woman about her sex life. Back in that day women were just starting to break out of the veil of not being sexually intelligent.

Names in this movie were of an importance, we see how the Doctor had trouble being associated with his grandfather. This play intensely into the development of the character and how we came to understand how fate made him to be a Frankenstein. This is what I believe the message of the movie is, be who where you meant to be and fallow your dreams. This always relates to the time period that the film was made in. The time was Free Love and what not. Mel Brooks want to stress upon the people that it was ok to fallow your dreams and let them take you to new heights.

The last thing I want to mention is Igor and who his character played a crucial role to the theme of the movie. Igor was the gray area between us and the movie. For example he was the only character to break the fourth wall and talk to the audience. This was very uncommon for that time. I believe that he was the thought of the audience as well. What I mean by this is that he would often say what the audience was thinking. For example when the horses where whinnying at Frau Blücher’s name we see all the characters go inside the mansion. Then Igor emerges and says it one more time and I can guaranty all of would totally mess with the horses. Over all great movie.  

Young Frankenstein

I cannot count how many times I have watched Young Frankenstein on two hands.  This was one of the only movies we had at my Grandma's house growing up.  My brother, sister, and cousins watched it at least 3 times a year growing up.  I hadn't seen it in a long time though; probably 5 or 6 years ago.  But watching it this time around I realized there was a lot more to the movie than I remember as a kid. 
I love all the contrasts Mel Brooks presents to us in this film: evil/good, acceptance/rejection.  Watching it as a kid we basically used to laugh solely at the funny looking characters.  This time watching it I found myself laughing at many other parts and the true satire of the film.  This film has parts in it where most people find themselves laughing, but others would take offense.  Although this movie came out in the 1970's Brooks decided to use black and white.  I think he was trying to set the scene better and also represent older films. 
 Yes this film is a comedy, but overall it was kind of touching is some aspects.  I found myself feeling for some of them at parts in the movie.  He doesn't want to accept is infamous Grandpa's name.  So every time someone says it he pronounces it in an absurd way.  He wants to rid himself of his family connection.  Then comes along Igor.  He tells people that the correct pronunciation is eye-gore.  Igor has accepted what he has--screwed up eyes.  This is the underlying them of Young Frankenstein--accepting who you are, and what you have.  And Brooks does a superb job of portraying this through comedy.  Another theme would be identity.  Igor throughout the entire movie accepts himself for what he is.  Others in the movie, have trouble accepting their identities, and they try to change themselves. 
I think this is one of Mel Brooks best films.  Although this is a comedy, he doesn't stray to far from what he is trying to express and that topic is actually very meaningful and purposeful.  I think I enjoyed this movie more watching it as an adult.  Even though watching it as a kid all those times was great, watching it this time made me realize what it was actually signifying and I totally loved this movie even more.

Young Frankenstein

            Well after years of my friends telling me to watch this movie I finally did. I am familiar with the story of Frankenstein, like the majority of people are. So I was expecting dark humor and to my surprise it was the opposite.

            I am not sure how to describe the humor. It seemed natural and effortless. Like if you had a conversation with someone and they make a funny remark about a subject. The humor was funny without trying too hard. At parts it was exaggerated like when Frau Blücher was playing the violin and replying “yes!” to Dr. Frankenstein as he was figuring out who was playing the violin earlier. It was also unexpected humor. Like when Igor said, “Wait Master, it might be dangerous... you go first. “ When someone says it might be dangerous you assume they are going to take the lead and enter first, but not Igor.

            The theme of identity returns once again. Dr. Frankenstein does not want to be associated with his late grandfather. He changes the pronunciation of his name to try to distance himself from the work of his grandfather. Changing the pronunciation of his name does not mean he can escape being a Frankenstein, since it is in his blood.  Overall, a well done movie.