Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s ‘Frankenstein’ presents a sci-fi horror story about humanity, monstrosity, and the thin, blurred line between the two. The Guillermo del Toro film revolves around a brilliant scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who is obsessed with defying the laws of nature and God by finding a cure for the malady of death. Thus, he has devoted years of his life to creating machines and means to reassemble parts of dead humans to create a whole being, with reanimated life coursing through its veins.
Naturally, such an endeavor demands resources and support, neither of which Victor can hope to find with the Royal College of Medicine, who deem his work blasphemous enough to warrant expulsion. Fortunately enough, during his ultimate disciplinary hearing, one man with heavy pockets and heavier intentions, Heinrich Harlander, happens to be in the audience. Once an understanding is struck between the scientist and his benefactor, more about the latter is revealed, bringing attention to the mystery of his apparent interest in Victor’s experiment. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Heinrich Harlander is Elizabeth’s Uncle Who Invests in Victor’s Ambition
Heinrich Harlander seeks out Victor in Edinburgh through his brother, William, who is mastering the world of finance in Vienna. As it turns out, the latter is engaged to be married to Elizabeth, Harlander’s niece. This had provided the businessman, who makes his fortune through arms dealing, with the perfect opportunity to make the scientist’s acquaintance. The older man has been interested in Victor’s work ever since he read about it in a publication. Unlike the minds at the Royal College of Medicine, the businessman is able to see beyond the grotesque horror of the latter’s ambitions. For the same reason, he’s eager to strike up a deal with the other man. In exchange for his offer to finance the entirety of the galvanic reanimation experiment, he only asks for a few things.
First, there’s the obvious benefit of witnessing history being made under Victor’s hands and will. Harlander asks for permission to closely record the experiment, feeding his own passion for photography and archiving. His second request remains more intriguing. He asks Victor to allow him a favor that he might cash in at a later date. Despite the ominous nature of this request, the scientist is easily swayed into a partnership with the businessman, thanks to the latter’s willingness to splurge as many resources as the experiment demands. He supplies Victor with the tower, equipment, and his pick of raw material, i.e., freshly dead human bodies. Unsurprisingly, as it turns out, Harlander has a more than justified reason behind his enthusiastic eagerness to believe in the experiment and to fund it limitlessly.
Harlander Wants to Outsmart Death Due to His Own Terminal Condition
Harlander remains acquiescent to Victor’s every demand and desire in service of the experiment. However, soon enough, his patience begins to wear thin. This compels him to give the scientist a deadline of only a week to get his galvanic machine to work successfully, demonstrating the ability ot breathe life back into a patchwork of long-dead body parts. Despite everything, Victor manages to meet this deadline, as a moment of epiphany unveils the key to his experiment. Fatefully, the sky brews with a storm around the same time, offering up lightning for the tower to catch and channel into the extravagant machine. It’s on this very night, when the scientist prepares to move forward with the experiment, that he learns about the true intentions of his partner.
As it turns out, Harlander has a terminal diagnosis of syphilis. So far, he has been hiding his ailment under mercury medication and a well-made wig. However, since he’s in the late stages of the disease, he only has limited time left. For the same reason, he sees a remedy for his demise in Victor’s work. Unlike the latter, the businessman isn’t seeking to dominate death because he holds a self-righteous vendetta against it. Instead, he’s afraid of death in the face of his own doom. If Victor’s machine fails, he has no real alternative hope for survival. Consequently, he’s happy to spend endless amounts of money and resources to fund the scientist’s work just for a fighting chance of survival.
Shortly after Victor learns about Harlander’s ailment, the latter finally tries to cash in on the favor he earned through his patronage. He asks the scientist to use him as his specimen, to resurrect him from the dead, free of his terminal condition. Naturally, Victor remains vehemently against this idea. He has spent months foraging in the gallows and the battlefield, finding and harvesting the right body parts and organs to create his ideal experimental specimen. In turn, Harlander’s body is riddled with the syphilis infection and mercury poisoning. As such, Victor is unwilling to rob his machine of an actual chance at success by setting it up for failure on the first try. In the end, Harlander’s frantic attempts to convince the scientist bring him to his actual demise, much sooner than his disease would have. Ultimately, the businessman becomes another victim who succumbs to his obsessive ambition.
Read More: Frankenstein: Does Claire Die? Did Victor’s Father Try to Save Her?
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