What a strange beast Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is. It is an incredibly strange film that is complex in how it mixes so many different elements into one film. On one hand it is a film filled with nearly wall-to-wall music and on the other hand it is an utterly gruesome and gothic horror movie. The continuous music numbers may turn off some people and others may be turned off the very dark subject matter. I personally found the film to be a healthy mix of both, and some how it blended both together to make one strangely entertaining film.
Now when I say this film has a dark story I really do mean that. It is one of the darker and stranger ones I have seen in some time. The film tells the tale of Benjamin Barker, played by Johnny Depp, a young barber who is falsely imprisoned by the evil Judge Turpin. When Ben returns some years latter he is told his wife took her own life and that the evil Judge Turpin has raised his daughter while he was in prison. Broken by the news he vows to have his revenge on all those who did him wrong. He soon changes his name to Sweeney Todd and begins to enact his revenge. Now that’s not the real dark part of the story, as he waits to get revenge he reopens his old barber shop and begins to kill his customers by gruesomely slitting their throats, as he now feels no one is innocent and every deserves to die. With the help of his new partner Mrs. Lovett, he disposes of the bodies by making meat pies out of them. The pies are then served to the public at Mrs. Lovett's restaurant. Now that's not what I call too lighthearted of a story.
Now do not get me wrong, this is a bleak and dark film in many aspects, but it also is filled with some great black comedy. There were some scenes that I laughed at and was not sure if it was meant to be funny. It was just so darkly funny it was hard to tell at some points. There is a very funny montage of Sweeney killing all of his customers that is so gruesome I could not help but laugh out loud. There is also a very comical scene where Sacha Baron Cohen, of Borat fame, and Johnny Depp test each other’s skills as barbers. There are other little moments of dark humor spread though out the film but not in an overwhelming way.
The music itself I found to be excellent and rather catchy in many scenes. The film itself is based on the famous Broadway musical of the same name, which was written by the legendary Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim is a great writer and his music is more character and story driven than anything else. Other musicals may have a number here or there but this on has music nearly from beginning to end. Most every word the characters speak is in song and through the songs the story is told. The lyrics are often brilliant and sound like poetic verses put to music. Sondheim has an ear for the spoken word and his song are sharp and very smart. People might know him best for his work in West Side Story. The songs are also catchy as well. I found myself humming the songs after seeing the film and more specifically I really liked the song called Pretty Woman.
Johnny Depp in this film gives one of his best performance, which is hard to say because he is usually so damn good or at least interesting in all his films. This film though he proves his talent once again. He plays Sweeney Todd in a grim and moody style that comes across a rather intense. He also plays a good straight man in some comical moments in the film. What really took me off guard about him in this film is how effective his voice is as a singer. His voice is no powerhouse or anything, but he has a strong enough voice that more than gets the job done. Depp is able to express emotion and passion as he sings in this film with his simple but effective voice. I do hope he gets an Oscar nomination for his work here, and I think he will.
The rest of the cast is actually strong as well. Helen Bonham Carter is wicked and funny as the pie maiden Mrs. Lovett. Carter as well has a good voice and plays well against Depp in this film. Alan Rickman as the films villain, Judge Turpin, is good too. Rickman just always seems to be particularly good at playing these kinds of villains and does it well in this film.
Tim Burton's visual style is all over this film, and even though he had nothing to do with the story, it seems like one destined for him to direct. This dark tale is right up Burton's alley and no one can do this kind of gothic material like he can. He creates a grimy and depressed vision of London that seems like it own contained world. The film looks great even with a lack of colors. Burton paints a vivid world with using only shades of grey and black, with a little red blood thrown in there. The lack of bright colors of the film is really visual pleasing and elevates the mood. If you like Tim Burton, I can almost promise you'll like this film.
Now I may see this film pushing some people away if they don't like musicals or horror, or people who don't like the too mixed. Now when I say that I am not saying this film is bad at all, I am just saying that it may not be for the picky film fan. For a real film fan though I think the film willed be liked if not loved. It is a film I enjoyed on many levels and was refreshed by its strange originality. After seeing it and the more I think about it, the more I like it. This film is a sure Oscar contender and on of the best films of 2007. A dark littler Opera, that impressed and entertained me more than most other films this year.
4/4 Stars
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