Sweeney Todd Review
by Sean Lynch
Sweeney Todd - Interview : Timothy Spall
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If there's one thing that Tim Burton does well - it's being a gloomy bastard.
So it's not surprising to see that Sweeney Todd
(one of the few musicals that involve mass murder and the brutal
slitting of throats) has fallen into the hands of the notoriously
Gothic Burton, and 'Thank Christ' is all I can say. Because you simply
couldn't have found a more perfect match for the material.
Put simply: this is the film Burton was born to make.
Johnny
Depp comfortably plays Burton's muse once more in the title role as a
man unjustly sent to prison (it seems Alan Rickman's character has a
hard on for everything Sweeney!) who vows revenge for his cruel
punishment, as well as the devastating consequences of what happened to
his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop,
Sweeney Todd becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who ruthlessly
sets about slitting the throats of every customer who crosses his path
until justice is served.
Make no bones about it, there is enough
blood and gore on offer here to make Freddy Kruger blush. It a mighty
rude shock to the system too if you walk in expecting ballads and dance
sequences, yet somehow Burton makes it work.
Each frame is
like a perfectly composed Gothic painting, melting the screen with it's
varied tones of grey, slightly greyer and 'really' grey. Burton's
unique visual worlds (there is a slight throwback to Edward Scissorhands
with the darkest darks and - the polar opposite - brightest
brights) are truly cinematic gold - and he remains one of the few film
makers in these modern times that can be recognised immediately for
their individual visual flair and consistent tone (Wes Anderson and
David Fincher are the only others that really come to mind).
While
the violence may be off putting to some (the camera never cuts away -
especially in the moments you would normally expect a big budget
Hollywood movie would), for mine, it's the music which really gets in
the way of Todd being one of Burton's finest hours.
"But
it's a musical!" I hear you think. Yep - sure, but for some odd reason
the majority of the ballads really slow the pace of the movie down (as
opposed to speeding up the plot which is usually the point) and often
take you out of the superbly warped world which Burton works so hard to
take you into. The songs seem oddly dated, and besides one or two, are
largely pretty average musical fare. The fact is that most of the light
hearted tunes are completely at odds with the visual tone of film - but
in a way - it works by relieving the audience of the eternal doom which
oozes from the screen.
The greatest strength of Sweeney Todd
(and there are many: Depp's ability to hold a tune, the superb casting
of Rickman & Bonham Carter & Sacha Baron Cohen, the
aforementioned visuals) actually lies in it's humour. The fact is -
it's actually a really, really funny movie. It's truly a testament to
Burton's abilities, who somehow finds comic relief amidst the tense and
often grissly nature of the story of the Demon Barber.
One of
the cleverest and best looking films of the year - and if it weren't
for the singing - could well be one of Tim Burton's most darkly moving
films of his career.
Hairspray this is not.
3.5 out
of 5 Sweeney Todd
Australian release: 24th January, 2008
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall
Director: Tim Burton
Website: Click
here.
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