Bonnie Anderson
Special to The Morning Star
The Okanagan Screen Arts Society will be presenting Mary Shelley on Monday, Sept. 17 at the Vernon Towne Cinema, starring Elle Fanning as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Stephen Dillane as her father, William Godwin.
In 1814, a 16-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft-Godwin is an aspiring writer who lives in London and works in her father’s bookshop, renowned writer William Godwin. While travelling to Scotland, Mary meets 21-year-old poet Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth).
After returning to London, Mary and Percy unexpectedly meet again and start a torrid relationship despite the disapproval of her father and her stepmother as Percy is a married man with a young child. Mary flees with Percy to live together, as she is determined to assert her independence from her parents and live her own life. Their initial happiness turns tragic by the absence of money, mounting debts and the terrible loss of Mary and Percy’s infant daughter. Broken by suffering and pain, Mary becomes obsessed with the idea of resurrecting dead people.
The idea of Frankenstein is conceived when a challenge is put to all of the houseguests of their friend Lord Byron to write a ghost story. Through this challenge the incredible character of Frankenstein is created by Mary, becoming a part of popular culture for centuries to come.
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At the time, society put little value on female authors and at the age of 18, Mary is forced to challenge these preconceptions, protect her work, forge her own identity, and to claim the novel as her own as Percy had been given credit for being the writer.
Showtimes are 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. A cash wine bar is on site. Enjoy a pre-show intro by resident filmmaker Matt McDowell and live music in the lobby before the early show courtesy of Les Copeland. Advance tickets available at the Towne Cinema box office and Expressions of Time bookstore.
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