Screen Frankenstein at Cafe' Libri
Posted By: Liz Goodrich
Date Posted: 10/5/2004
Café Libri is open at the Sunriver Area Public Library on October 22 at 6:00 p.m. for a movie screening of the classic tale of an ambitious scientist and the monster he creates. Dr. Karen Huck of Central Oregon Community College will provide an introduction to the film and refreshments will be served. This program is free and open to the public.
Why do we like scary movies? “It depends on who you ask,” says Huck. “Neurophsychologists say getting scared gives us jolt of neurotransmitters. Freud said being scared brings up childhood issues. Aristotle might think that horror films fulfill the role he gave to tragedy – to excite our terror and then release it.” Although Huck claims she doesn’t like to be scared at the movies because “life is scary enough,” she spent much of her childhood reading a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland. Huck is teaching a class in film this quarter at C.O.C.C.
One of Huck’s favorite horror film heroes is Frankenstein. The story made famous by Mary Shelly in 1831 has it roots in the ancient Jewish legend of the golem, a creature fashioned out of clay and tasked with protecting people of the Jewish faith. Huck says the Frankenstein tale also resonates with the “doppelganger” theory explored by Otto Rank at the turn of the century. Rank, who was an early colleague of Freud, explored the recurring “double” figure in European literature, where heroes are shadowed and tormented by their “doppelganger.” Huck also maintains Frankenstein’s continued popularity is because “a good story never grows tired!”
In the 1995 remake of the Shelly’s classic tale, starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh, Robert diNiro brings new dimension and passion to Dr. Frankenstein’s creature. The story itself, a passionate and romantic story, chronicles the young doctor’s experiments with life and the sacrifices he’s willing to make to give birth to an extraordinary force, with potential for good or evil.
For more information about this or other library programs, please call 312-1032.
Page Last Modified Wednesday, March 8, 2023