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| Rated: 5.00/5 | Votes: 2 | Views: 145 |Submitted: 12/24/07 |
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SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
If you want a real challenge, try convincing a guy to watch a musical. I guarantee that getting your buddy to watch Rent is a task even mightier than conquering Everest or figuring out why people still allow Uwe Boll to step behind a camera. But the one flick that might encourage those of the male persuasion to let a little bit of the old song and dance into their lives has arrived in the form of director Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Based upon the Broadway production, Sweeney Todd is probably the darkest, bloodiest, and most sinister musical ever put to celluloid (unless there's a director's cut of High School Musical 2 I don't know about), but in addition, it's one of the most thematically deep and stylish pictures of the year, an ideal antithesis to those movies trying to brighten up your holiday with phony-baloney cheeriness. Set smack dab in the middle of a remarkably gray and overcast Victorian England, Sweeney Todd centers upon the eponymous character (played by Johnny Depp), a barber known formerly as Benjamin Barker who was thrown into jail on a bogus charge, paving the way for the odious Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) to pursue his wife. Sweeney escapes and flees back to London, only to learn from his old landlady, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), that not only is his beloved spouse dead and gone, Turpin has taken Sweeney's daughter (Jayne Wisener) as his closely-guarded ward. Rage having already gnawed away at his soul, Sweeney has now slipped completely over the edge, determined to take out his aggressions on those customers of his whom he deems the dregs of society (by way of his trusty razor blades). Mrs. Lovett becomes Sweeney's partner-in-crime by baking his victims into meat pies that soon become all the rage, but despite her obvious affections towards him, Sweeney's bloodlust consumes him further more, blinding himself as his quest for vengeance threatens to meet a most tragic denouement. Sweeney Todd is a revenge saga of the grandest kind, given the royal treatment and adorned with a magnificent production design, brooding atmosphere, and, most surprising of all, an enriching selection of tunes. That's right, instead of a musical's songs serving as mere icing on the cake as they often do (I'm looking at you, The Producers), the ditties here not only are toe-tappingly morbid (how else to explain getting energized by a number about a cannibalistic menu?), they often play a part in advancing the story and exploring the psyches of the characters. Right off the bat, Depp's Sweeney bemoans a London filled to the brim with unsavory ilk, giving viewers just a taste of the fury stirring inside of him (not to mention contrasting his viewpoints with that of a young lad whose own story becomes intriguingly intertwined with that of Sweeney's). Another sequence involves Mrs. Lovett fantasizing about starting life anew with her revenge-minded companion, his perpetual grimace contrasting hilariously with her visions of going out to the beach and having a picnic on a bright, sunny day. Sweeney Todd masterfully executes this head-on collision of two opposing sensibilities, resulting in a number of scenes so outrageously evil and diabolical, all you can really do is sit back and laugh. Music aside, Sweeney Todd is the sum of a number of insanely brilliant parts. Burton's direction suits the material perfectly, throwing in a couple of artistic flourishes when they fit but also knowing when to hold back and let the expression on Depp's face say everything about what's going on in Sweeney's head. The sets and art direction lend the right touches of darkness and despair to the production, reflective not just of Sweeney's stolen love for his wife but also that of Mrs. Lovett's unrequited love for Sweeney -- in short, this is one sad fuckin' movie. Such sorrow is communicated brilliantly by the actors, from Depp as the tune-warbling, throat-slitting Sweeney Todd to Carter as the frighteningly cheery (and extremely pale) Mrs. Lovett. Rickman oozes assholeness from every pore as Judge Turpin, and Sacha Baron Cohen provides both amusing comic relief and a surprising foe to Sweeney with his character of a shyster barber. A film that crosses multiple genres, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is at once the year's most chilling horror film, the most tragic romance, and the most imaginative musical. Come for the blood-and-gore theatrics, but stay for both the memorable soundtrack and the themes that cut deeper into the soul than one of Sweeney's razors. Quite simply, this is one of the best movies I've seen in ages. MY RATING: **** (out of ****) Reviewer: A.J. Hakari |
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