How do you depict such absence in film? How can we see that the missing mother saturates everything she has left behind? In del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Victor’s mother is introduced to us wearing a trailing red veil. When she goes into labor, she reaches for her son with a bloody hand, marking him. After her death, red creeps into his costumes — specifically in his red leather gloves — everything he touches, we see, is stained with her loss.
Continue Reading on New York Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.