Directed by Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a breathtaking (or should that be gasping) adaptation of Steven Sondheim’s musical. The film tells the story of Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) who returns to London as Sweeney Todd after being absent from the city for 15 years. Unjustly sent away by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who then proceeded to rape Sweeney’s wife and keep his only daughter hidden from the world, Sweeney seeks revenge. He re-establishes himself as a barber in his old room above Mrs Lovett’s (Helena Bonham Carter) pie shop which are renowned as the worst in London. But both their fortunes change when they go into partnership, Sweeney sets out to avenge those that have done him wrong and Mrs Lovett gains a new meat supplier.
In true Burton style, the set, the costumes and the sound effects do not fail to impress. The studio created 19th century London, created by production designer Dante Feretti and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski is wonderfully spooky and presents an image of a bleak and depressing London perfectly suited to the needs of this film. Depp and Bonham Carter are both gaunt and tatty in appearance and the whole film is drained of colour. Tim Burton spares no gore. Enough blood is spilled to fill an Olympic swimming pool and all is seen by the audience. Accompanying each murder are the sounds of blood gushing followed by necks breaking and skulls cracking as Sweeny’s victims fall from the barbers chair onto the stone floor below in the cellar. Somehow, even by the end of the film you are not immune to then graphic depictions and every time a murder occurs the audience feels themselves recoil.
The cast is impeccable. In his fifth film working with Burton, Depp appears born to play the part of Sweeney Todd and proves himself as a competent singer. Depp and Carter work terrifically together. He is the impulsive one and she is the realist. He is caught up in plots of vengeance whilst she brings him back down to earth. Together they interact in a disturbingly comical way. Carter plays the part in such a way that Lovett’s psychopathic tendencies are subtle and thus completely believable. Lovett’s love for Sweeney is central to the story and the audience is led to relate to her. She is a woman so desperately in love with a man who does not return her affections that using his victims to fill her pies appears a completely logical solution. A wonderful dream sequence is used to present the extremity of her love for Sweeney where she imagines them getting married, adopting street urchin Toby and living happily together. Although throughout it, Sweeney appears un-reactive and completely void of feeling for her.
The rest of the cast also appear completely suited, Sacha Baron Cohen is hysterical as a jealous barber who plans to blackmail Sweeney. Alan Rickman’s monotone voice is perfect for the evil and incestuous Judge Turpin. Timothy Spall is effective as law-enforcer, Beadle Bamford causing the audience to cringe at his unpleasant appearance and teachers pet attitude towards judge Turpin.
Burton is not known for his characterisation skills and when you go to watch his films you expect to be blown away by the atmosphere and not by the in-depth workings of the characters minds which this film certainly delivers. However, it may have been beneficial to the film if the psyche of Benjamin Barker was further explored. Furthermore, throughout the film we are introduced to the pursuit of Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower) to win the affections of and then save Todd’s daughter, Johanna (Jayne Wisener), from the clutches of Judge Turpin. However, the audience is never shown the outcome of his pursuits and I felt a little robbed of a happy ending.
In all, Burton has created a film that is ironically beautiful and horrific at the same time. It is wonderfully edited and the cast were perfectly suited to their parts. The wonderful thing about this film is that it can be enjoyed by all (as long as you are over the age of 18), whether your partial to a bit of gore or more akin with a good romance. The two hours that the film occupied were an absolute delight.
Sarah Rating 9/10
Photographs courtesy of www.imdb.com
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