Johnny Depp is Sweeney Todd in Warner Bros’ Pictures Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, © 2007
Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd is a thrilling and bloody gothic opera. Fans of the musical will be pleased with the performances from the all-star cast and those unfamiliar are in for a terrifying ride.
I first listened to “Sweeney Todd” early last year when I was hunting for a new musical album on Itunes. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that I’m probably the only seventeen year-old that would admit that. I shied away from the title at first; a name like “Sweeney Todd” struck me as something southern, for some reason it reminded me of “Huckleberry Finn.” I looked at the cover art for the album and bought it immediately. I purchased Stephen Sondheim’s new soundtrack with the 2005 cast. I immediately fell in love with the vocals, instrumental music, meat pies, and vengeful antihero. Stephen Sondheim composed the adaptation of the century-old fictional tale about a barber with a grudge and has made the character world famous.
Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) is on a ship pulling into a London harbor after serving a 15 year sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. A young sailor named Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower) assisted him in escaping and the two discuss their feelings of such a place like London. Todd returns to the building with his apartment and Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), the pie shop owner below his apartment, tells him the story of the barber Benjamin Barker that used to live upstairs with his wife, Lucy, and infant daughter, Johanna. She recounts that the barber was the victim of the Lord Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) and was exiled away before Turpin rapes and murders his wife. Johanna (Jayne Wisener) is now the ward of the Lord. Thanks be to God (bad joke, sorry).
Todd’s reactions to the story open Lovett’s eyes in realizing that Todd used to be Barker and his years away have transformed him. Todd moves back up stairs and re-opens under his new identity, waiting for Turpin to come up for a shave…
Director Tim Burton and Stephen Sondheim have collaborated to make a very enjoyable film. The film has a miserable and tortured look to it, a gray London and a hope for anything at all is nowhere in site. Blood paints the rest of the film in all its beauty and sets the tone Burton was hoping for; this is a man who has been wronged and now it’s his turn to point the blade. The opening credit sequence, what one may have expected to be an exciting “Ballad of Sweeney Todd” prelude made famous by the stage musicals, has been exchanged for a moderately acceptable musical score. The score opens with a short set of organ chords from the original 1979 recording and eerie whistling of a high wind instrument. The remainder of that piece sounds as dark and harsh as the recording from 2005, making the piece powerful but still no replacement for any form of the ballad with vocals.
Burton and Depp have crafted a brand new and charismatic Sweeney. Depp’s character feels like a blend of Len Cariou’s misery, a watered down version of Michael Cerveris’ thrasher, and just the right amount of insanity- a new feature for the character courtesy the mind of Depp. It is amazing how Depp can create such unique characters, one never resembling anything he’s previously made. Depp’s makeup and costuming give him the look needed for Sweeney, though at first he seemed like he would be too young. A nice streak of white hair in the black forest on his head is like the yin and yang symbol, reminding us that there is still some good in this dark character. Depp certainly is dark in this film and we even fear for some other characters not being able to see where Todd draws the line.
Carter plays Lovett very well. Even though Carter barely has a singing voice, “Sweeney Todd” isn’t really about the voices, but actually the expressionism of the characters while singing. Carter and Depp have some great chemistry on screen even though their characters occasionally have purposefully apparent barriers between them. The song “A Little Priest” is perfect in every way and is wonderfully directed. Lovett offers Todd the pies in her shop as they gaze out the windows looking at different people passing by. Depp and Carter dance with each other across Lovett’s pie shop with knife and rolling pin in hand as Todd realizes her genius.
The supporting characters offer fairly good performances, but unfortunately Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin does not live up to his reputation as an actor. His performance is so similar to his Snape character in the Harry Potter films, you actually think are watching a Harry Potter film, especially because of the presence of Timothy Spall. His singing voice somewhat redeems his character, as the “Pretty Women” duets he has with Depp are something to look forward to.
Though “Sweeney Todd” is lacking in a few elements, it offers a very fun, musical, bloody-disgusting good time.
Rated R for graphic bloody violence. Oh yes, it’s bloody.