Christopher Bond's 1973 play Sweeney Todd marked the first time the character was given a motivation other than greed or psychosis for the murders. Bond decided that the crimes were done by a man wrongly imprisoned who was seeking revenge. This is the notion that composer Stephen Sondheim and writer Hugh Wheeler picked up on in creating the 1979 musical. Now Burton has added his own twists for the film adaptation.
Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter (Paramount)
The story involves Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) who is falsely imprisoned by a corrupt magistrate (Alan Rickman) named Turpin. Tuprin covets Barkers lovely young wife and frames Barker in order to get to her. When Barker emerges from prison years later he's told that his wife and daughter are dead. This leads him to assume the identity of Sweeney Todd and to seek revenge on Turpin. But to bide his time until Turpin arrives in his special barber chair, Todd slits the throats of a series of unsuspecting customers and gives the bodies to his landlady and sort of lover Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) to make meat pies.
Sweeney Todd provides a delicious example of the gruesome excesses of Grand Giugnol. The term is derived from the name of the Paris theater, Le Theatre du Grand Guignol, that shocked, horrified and delighted audiences for more than sixty years. The term has come to mean any work that deals with macabre subject matter and features over-the-top graphic violence. And Burton certainly takes delight in such excesses. When the first victim is dropped through the barber's trap door and lands on his head with a bloody splat the audience gasps in both horror and glee. This is not violence that's meant to be taken seriously. In fact, Burton employs unrealistic, fire engine red, poster paint blood that sprays like broken hydrant across the screen. In the drab, nearly monochrome bleakness of Burton's England, this brilliant red blood is ironically the only vibrant sign of life and it always marks the death of someone. But the violence is so over the top and extravagant that it bears no connection to the real world.
Johnny Depp has Alan Rickman just where he wants him (Paramount)
In an odd way, Burton and his creative team have made Sondheim's play visually darker but somehow emotionally lighter. By that I mean you never really feel deep concern for the characters or feel much distress over the deaths of the victims. As in Burton's Sleepy Hollow (which dealt with a very different kind of serial killings), Sweeney Todd is more interested in the mechanics of the murders (check out the animated open detailing the making of the meat pies) than in finding any emotion or humanity in those involved. This may offend some but its sure to delight others.
Burton is helped considerably by the talents of production designer Dante Ferretti (who has worked with Fellini and Scorsese). Ferretti creates a dank, dark and dirty Fleet Street where the likes of Jack the Ripper would feel quite at home. There is a wealth of detail in the production design to keep the eye amused and engaged. Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski delivers the near monochromatic visual look that Burton has become known for. He's allowed a splash of sunshine in the flashbacks of Barker's happy life, and he's allowed to go wild with red. Visually, the film is impeccable.
I loved the look of the film, the perverse story and the splendid performances. But I forgot how much I hate some of Sondheim's music. I've liked his work in collaborations with others ( West Side Story ) and his first solo project ( A Funny Thing Happened to me on the Way to the Forum ). But after that I just found his work grating and pretentious. In the case of Sweeney Todd , there's this sense of look how clever I am mixing such a brutal tale with Broadway show tunes. So Burton's Sweeney Todd is a film that I love except for all that annoying singing. I wish Burton had just kept the story and jettisoned the songs. If I get this on DVD I'll watch it with the sound turned off.
Johnny Depp as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Paramount)
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Johnny Depp once again immerses himself in a role and delivers a fine performance. At times he even finds some shreds of humanity in Todd even if the film itself is rather cold blooded in its treatment of characters. But the performance doesn't surpass the work Depp did with Burton on Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands, which are works of near perfection. Alan Rickman is fairly wasted in the part of Turpin while Sacha Baron Cohen (a.k.a. Borat) is so self-conscious in a small role as a rival barber that he pulls you out of the film. But his appearance brought squeals of delight from the audience I was with. Helena Bonham Carter is grossly appealing as Mrs. Lovett. She and Depp reveal pleasing singing voices but I doubt either could impress on the Broadway stage with their pipes.
Sweeney Todd (rated R for graphic bloody violence) left me torn. There were so many elements that I loved but then there were those constant, annoying songs. One thing's for sure, the film will certainly provide Goth fans with a new costume and look for next Halloween.
For more on Grand Guignol theater, check out my feature about Sledgehammer Theater's Seven Crimes.
Companion viewing: The Green Butchers, Delicatessan, Sweeney Todd (look for a 2001 TV movie with Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and a 2006 BBC TV version with Ray Winstone as Sweeney Todd), Cry Baby (where Depp charmingly lip synchs all the songs)
