How ‘Frankenstein’ Composer Alexandre Desplat Used a Silver Violin to Unlock the Creature’s Theme

For years, director Guillermo del Toro had spoken of his ambition to bring Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" to the screen, a passion well-known to his frequent collaborator, composer Alexandre Desplat. However, Desplat deliberately insulated himself from the story's cinematic history. Having read Shelley's original 1818 novel—a foundational work of science fiction and gothic horror—he avoided all prior film adaptations. This intentional naivete, he contends, allowed him to approach the project with a fresh perspective, free from the auditory clichés often associated with the iconic monster.

The first major decision involved the score's temporal setting. Del Toro, a filmmaker celebrated for his visually rich and thematically deep gothic style in films like "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Shape of Water," wanted to avoid a sound that felt strictly period-bound. Desplat's initial experiments ranged across genres before he and del Toro agreed on a timeless, classical orchestral approach. A more profound creative puzzle was giving voice to the Creature, portrayed by Jacob Elordi. This iteration is crafted from soldiers who died in the Crimean War (1853-1856), a bloody conflict primarily between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, and Britain. This origin story reframes the narrative, presenting a being assembled from violence yet possessing innate sensitivity. "The core idea was to present a delicate, fragile soul within this powerful form," Desplat explains, a contrast designed to challenge the audience's perception of monstrosity.

To sonically embody this contradiction, Desplat selected what he calls "the most fragile and beautiful instrument": the violin. Thus, the massive Creature is intimately linked with the pure, crystalline sound of a silver violin. The filmmakers enlisted Norwegian virtuoso Eldbjørg Hemsing for the solo performances, whose technique Desplat admired for its precision and lack of overt sentimentality. The Creature's primary theme, carried by this instrument, was the first piece of music del Toro approved, setting the emotional tone for the entire film. This represents a deliberate shift from traditional horror scoring. As film music scholar Dr. Anya Petrova notes, "Using a solo violin for the monster is a masterstroke of narrative subversion. It immediately generates pathos and intellectual complexity, anchoring the terror in emotional tragedy rather than simple shock."

The score meticulously traces the Creature's journey from abandonment to self-awareness. Following his rejection by Oscar Isaac's arrogant Victor Frankenstein, Desplat introduces specific melodic motifs to foster audience connection, including a theme linked to maternal absence that later transforms into a love theme for Mia Goth's character, Elizabeth Lavenza. These themes demonstrate remarkable flexibility, expanding into full, aggressive orchestral statements during scenes of violence, such as a climactic tower fire. Throughout, Desplat's process remained focused on the actors' performances, crafting music that moves in sync with their physicality and dialogue, often receding into silence to highlight pivotal dramatic moments.

This disciplined approach reaches its peak in the film's conclusion. In the final sequence, as the Creature helps free a ship from Arctic ice and gazes toward a solitary future, the score exercises extreme restraint, allowing the visual imagery to stand alone. The orchestra swells only in the last moments, delivering a grand and cathartic resolution. Desplat envisions the entire score as a symphonic arc, beginning with the isolated voice of the silver violin and concluding with a powerful, resonant peace. This musical journey mirrors the Creature's own transformation—from a broken assemblage of war-torn parts into a figure of profound and earned dignity.