Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as seen through Tim Burton's eyes becomes more sinister than Steven Sondheim could ever have intended for his little musical. I'm not going to be a purist - I understand that when Hollywood gets her grubby little hands on someone else's little girl, she's not going to look the same when she walks out the back door. There are some films I walk away from wishing that the filmmaker wouldn't have sullied a spectacular story. I have learned that it's best for me to go into the theatre (or my living room) without expectation or a subjective pad and paper to note all the mistakes. You must allow the story to breathe and another artist to show you his perspective. Also, remember Sweeney Todd has been an urban legend and his story retooled by many different artists.
Yeah, Burton pared away some great Sondheim moments, but he took something I always thought a little cheeky and gave it teeth. He drug Sondheim off Broadway and threw him into an Edward Gorey cartoon/Edvard Munch painting, and maybe threw in a little Saw IV while he was at it. It would be unlike me if I did not admit my favorite OMG moment was with the first kill, how the head bounced off the concrete; I didn't cringe, I laughed maniacally. If you are actually reading this, then not only do you have too much time but you already know that I'm a sick puppy alongside my "spread love and happiness" taglines.
The singing? Come on, this is more rock and roll than Broadway and the singing falls in line. I will not fault Depp or Bonham Carter - I think they really sell Burton's idea of a story line that's been told for over a hundred years, through Sondheim's lyrics. Alan Rickman? Who cares that I'd rather hear...well anything other than his voice...he embodies Turpin in all his sliminess. Plus, I've had a weird hard on for him for years. Bittersweet. Oxymoron. Can't ever figure it out because he can be really gross but an abundantly talented turn on. AH?
I would be remiss if I didn't mention "By The Sea". The rendition and it's accompanying visual was like a pure sugar rush. If you turned your head, you missed it and missed out (and how the color sneaks in and grows!) I'm not a real big HBC fan, so to send a nod her way, well, she's just a real smudgy dirty cute little doll in this vehicle. And Timothy Spall, he's plays the greatest little creeps.
Yes, I know it appears that I believe Burton can't go wrong. Wrong. He can. And has. I will always tip my hat in favor of such a unique artist, despite the fact that he took over the Anne Rice crown (she lost it quite a few years ago and I can't be the only one who's tossing my lunch over the whole "I want to use my talents to spread God's love and his word" bullshit. I met the woman, I'm not buying it.) I hated those little vampire kids that hung out on Decatur. What posers and phoneys...which really plagues and gives the goth crowd such a bad name.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment