Del Toro: Innate stupidity is scarier than artificial intelligence
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Guillermo del Toro emphasized during the press conference for Frankenstein at the Venice Film Festival that his latest film is not a metaphor for artificial intelligence, though he holds no fear of the technology.
Oscar Isaac stars as Dr. Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature in the 150-minute adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel. Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, and Charles Dance also appear in the cast.
The Mexican filmmaker explained that he had dreamed of directing a Frankenstein film since childhood: “I grew up in a Catholic family but never understood the saints. Then, when I saw Boris Karloff [in the 1931 Frankenstein], I realized what a saint or savior could really look like. I waited until I could make the film under the right circumstances—both with the artistic reach to create something different and with the scale to rebuild that world entirely. Now I’m in the postpartum depression phase.”
Isaac described the role as a dream come true: “I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe that two years ago we were sitting at a Cuban pork table talking about our fathers and our lives, and now we’re here. I told him, ‘I want to be your Victor.’ Then I wasn’t sure if it was reality or fantasy. It felt like reaching the summit. Guillermo then said, ‘I’m preparing this feast for you; all you need to do is show up and eat.’”
When asked about the struggle between theaters and streaming platforms, del Toro replied: “To me, the battle in storytelling has two fronts. Obviously, one is the size of the screen, but the size of the ideas is just as important—the scale of ambition, the scale of artistic passion you bring to cinema. Can we reclaim the scale of ideas? Can we challenge ourselves? It’s a discourse, a very fluid one.”
He praised his collaboration with Netflix, which has more than 300 million subscribers worldwide: “We embrace the opportunity and the challenge to make a film that calls upon cinema, and then you start by supplying the theaters. For me, it’s been a profoundly artistic experience.”
Del Toro also stressed that the film’s themes remain relevant: “Undoubtedly, we live in an age of horror.” On the subject of artificial intelligence, he added: “I’m not afraid of AI. I’m afraid of innate stupidity, which is far more widespread.”
Frankenstein will be released in theaters on October 17 and stream on Netflix starting November 7.
