Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
by Jessica Verderame
You can always count on the holiday season to bring certain things: family, frustration, and the beloved movie-musical to take you away from the two. During the past few years, especially around the holidays, the movie-musical has made a comeback with 2004's Phantom of the Opera; 2005's The Producers, Rent, and Walk the Line; and 2006's Dreamgirls. Hollywood did not disappoint this year, bringing us Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. However, this is not your typical glitzy Hollywood musical.
Directed by Tim Burton, this film brought something different to the table than the usual musicals that make it to screen. This isn't one that will have 12-year-old girls obsessing over and listening to the soundtrack on repeat for the next three weeks like many other recent releases. And yet the pairing of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton yields magnificent results; the New York Times even went so far as to say that Sweeney is "close to a masterpiece."
Taking place in London in the Victorian era, the plot surrounds Sweeney Todd (Depp), the man formerly known as Benjamin Barker, and his return to London after being deported by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), because the judge wanted to steal his beautiful wife. The London that Todd returns to looks how the film feels: dark and gloomy. Rats run rampant as Todd returns to his former home, where a Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) has set up a terrible meat pie shop below. She reveals to him that his beloved wife poisoned herself and his daughter Johanna is now his Judge Turpin's ward. After finding his razors under a floorboard from his career as a barber before he left London, he decides to resume his job, while planning revenge on Judge Turpin. After an attempt at blackmail by an old acquaintance, Signor Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen), Todd's faith in man is completely lost. It is with Signor Pirelli that Todd adds murderer to his resume, and hundreds of Londoners unknowingly add cannibalism to theirs, as the dead bodies that fall to the basement to be made into pies by Mrs. Lovett.
Like many Hollywood movie-musicals, the lead roles in this film weren't filled judging on vocal talent - acting talent and celebrity come first. When I first learned that Depp was going to be in a musical, I didn't expect to be impressed... but I was. Depp's singing isn't the mellow-dramatic voice of a Broadway singer; it is subtle, yet powerful and raw. His acting performance was almost impeccable as well, but he seems to do well in any kind of out-of-the-ordinary fantasy role. Helena Bonham Carter's voice didn’t impress me much. It seemed weaker than her character was, and the squeaky nature of it seemed more irritating than effective. With that aside, however, Carter's Mrs. Lovett was very well played, and she added a bit of a lighter quirk to the movie to counter-balance Depp's Todd. I was skeptical at first of the fact that the movie was going to be a star-studded affair, but with a cast of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Sacha Baron Cohen directed by Tim Burton, how could you go wrong?
I wish I could say that I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the movie, but I was far from impressed with the performance of Jamie Campbell Bower, who played Anthony, the sailor that accompanied Todd back to England. His performance was decent, if not a little annoying, but with his long hair and bright red lips he seemed better fit in a teenage romantic movie. Perhaps he would be a suitable Romeo. The second major problem I had with the movie is the amount of gore, but that's just me. Sure, the violence was not meant to be very realistic-looking - the blood looked more like bright red paint (from what I remember when peeking through my fingers that were covering my eyes) than blood, but it didn't stop me from hiding like a child whenever one of Todd's razors were even in a frame. Personal preferences aside, it was actually very well done in keeping with the fantastical, gothic style of the movie. For most people, it would not take away anything from the movie; on the contrary, it would enhance it.
Sweeney Todd will keep you paying attention as it builds and builds to the very last second. Tim Burton has rounded up some of the most talented people of our generation and turned this classic theater piece into a beautifully intense piece of film. It is definitely worth it to see.
