'Sweeney Todd' rates as a cut above
Just in time for Christmas, a movie featuring multiple murders, cannibalism and lechery. And it's all set to music. Merry mayhem, everybody.
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" has as much in common with the mellow musicals of yesteryear as Fred Astaire does with Fred Krueger.
This isn't a family-friendly, toe-tapping, sing-along frothfest. It's a pitch-black dark, gory musical from the grand guignol school of entertainment. And that's part of its warped appeal.
Clearly, "Sweeney Todd" isn't for all tastes, so to speak. Moviegoers who appreciate a good bloodletting, however, will be ecstatic. Ditto for aficionados of the twisted films from the twisted mind of director Tim Burton. If he made a musical, live-action version of his "Corpse Bride," it might have resembled his "Sweeney," although "Bride" is much more upbeat.
On the other hand, fans of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical upon which the film is based might be a bit annoyed at the song cuts from the movie. Others may question the decision to cast actors with little or no singing experience in lead roles. Ironically, the only cast member who is a professional singer, Laura Michelle Kelly, warbles only a few notes in the movie.
While stars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter shouldn't quit their day jobs, they can carry a tune, and they most definitely can act. Few thespians do dementia like Depp and he gets to pull out all the stops as the title character. "Todd" marks his sixth film with Burton. Carter, who happens to be Burton's partner, has no trouble expressing abnormality either as anyone who saw her as Bellatrix Lestrange in the last "Harry Potter" film will testify.
While yours truly would have appreciated stronger lead voices, Depp and Carter make a perfect couple of singing psychopaths. Depravity has never been so melodic.
For that we can thank Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the show's music and lyrics. The film provides a showcase for the genius of this composer, who holds the rare distinction of having won an Academy Award, a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Pulitzer Prize.
This critic has always felt that Sondheim's lyrics surpass the quality of his music, and that's the case here. He can still write marvelous songs. Case in point, the absolutely beautiful "Johanna." Sondheim's best work, or at least his best-known work, has been as a lyricist, specifically for "West Side Story" (music by Leonard Bernstein) and "Gypsy" (music by Jule Styne). Sondheim enthusiasts will likely want to boil me in crude oil for criticizing their god. Fine, just take note that the previous film versions of Stevie's own musicals, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "A Little Night Music," didn't exactly wow the populace.
"Sweeney Todd" at least has a better chance. The film tells a tale of revenge and obsession, and how both can be bad for your health. When the movie opens, Sweeney Todd has returned to England after escaping from an Australian prison where he had spent 15 years on trumped-up charges. In happier times he went by the name of Benjamin Barker. The person who leveled those charges is one Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman, who could turn dour into an Olympic sport). It seems the judge has his lecherous eyes on Barker's beautiful wife, Lucy, (Kelly), and concocts the charges to get Benjamin out of the way.
When Barker returns as Todd, he has vengeance on his mind and his mind doesn't seem particularly stable. Losing your wife, baby daughter and 15 years of your life for no good reason will do that to a man. He splits company with shipmate Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower) and meets Mrs. Lovett (Carter), a widow who runs a pie shop with more cockroaches than customers. Her aria where she bemoans the quality of her pies provides the film with one of its few comic moments.
Todd discovers that his wife has poisoned herself and that Turpin has adopted his now teenage daughter, Johanna (Jayne Wisener), and imprisoned her in his home. That doesn't stop Anthony from falling in love with her after seeing her in a window. When Turpin discovers Anthony has designs on Johanna, he threatens him and has his henchman, Beadle Bamford (a wonderfully loathsome Timothy Spall), beat him. It seems Turpin now wants Johanna for himself.
In the meantime, Todd has reestablished himself as a barber after besting a a tonsorial charlatan named Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen, more amusing than mirthful) in a shaving duel. Todd sets up a barber shop on the second floor of Mrs. Lovett's shop and the two hatch a scheme where he gets to give customers an exceedingly close shave and she gets a fresh filling for her meat pies. Providing a conscience to these grisly proceedings is Pirelli's young assistant, Toby (an excellent Edward Sanders).
In case you had any doubts about the film's bleak nature, Burton sets the tone by draining the screen of light and color - with the exception of blood red. Kudos to cinematographer Dariusz Wolski. Only the flashback depicting Barker as a happily married man receives warm hues. Even the makeup evokes the macabre. Pasty, pale faces abound, eyeshadow gets a workout and the hairstyles would send Vidal Sassoon into shock. Todd's mane displays a swath of gray reminiscent of the 'do Elsa Lanchester showcased in "The Bride of Frankenstein." Mrs. Lovett's locks, meanwhile, look like they were attacked by a band of hyperactive bats.
The story of Sweeney Todd has been told before - on stage, on television and on film. Sondheim's version opened on Broadway in 1979 with Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett and Len Cariou as Todd. The basis for the musical comes from the play by Christopher Bond, with Hugh Wheeler providing the show's book and John Logan the screenplay. We should note there's debate about whether Sweeney Todd is based on a real serial killer.
For all its vocal shortcomings, "Sweeney Todd" succeeds as a morose morality tale with a penchant for perversity. With many of the lines sung rather than spoken, the film also has an operatic feel to it. Instead of high Cs, we get treated to lowlifes. But what fascinating, passionate lowlifes these are. The film will get under your skin even as it slices through it.
Let's put it this way, after seeing "Sweeney Todd," you may sweat a little in the swivel chair if the barber takes out a straight razor. And if he starts singing about London, pray you're wearing a neck brace.
"Sweeney Todd" opens Friday, Dec. 21.
Bob Tremblay can be reached at btremblay@cnc.com or 508-626-4409.
*******
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Starring Johnny Depp and Helene Bonham Carter
Rated R (graphic bloody violence) 116 minutes
Directed by Tim Burton