Penélope Cruz is all praise for writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal for taking an original and modern spin on The Bride! The Gothic romance film starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale in lead roles is based on the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, which itself is adapted from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The Spanish actor shared how Maggie took a spin on the story in the film. (Also read: Jake Gyllenhaal on working with sister Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Bride: ‘She’s been directing me since we were kids’)
What Penélope said about The Bride!
Penélope said in a statement, “They are not like the obvious monsters that you’re supposed to run away from. It’s very intriguing, and it feels like trouble, but why? And you want to know. They are very attractive, and very attractive together. And you can feel that energy from kilometers away. I feel like that was a very, very smart decision from Maggie, to make sure that you’re also seeing the human in these supposed monsters all the time, and that you’re always seeing their souls.”
Talking about the film’s tone, she added, “Punk—I think it’s a very good word to describe the tone. But the tone is not just one thing. It is very wild, very romantic, very smart. There are so many layers to it, so many colors. It’s not just one thing. But it is punk in the sense that, yeah, it needs to be wild, because what The Bride and Frank are, and what they represent, and in contrast with all the things in society that don’t work, that didn’t work then and don’t work now.”
About the film
Bride! also stars Peter Sarsgaard and Annette Bening. The official logline of the film reads, “A lonely “Frank” (Christian Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Jessie Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!”
The Bride! was distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, and released in India on March 6.