Over the years, I’ve tried to be pretty even handed as to what types of films I’ve written about in my column. While I’ve overwhelmingly covered Action films, I’ve also tried to cover a share of dramas and comedies as well. Thinking about it this weeks, the musical really has yet to be represented, though Rocky IV almost counts, considering nearly half of that film is musical montages. Now to be fair, the biggest reason that musicals have been underrepresented in this column is that for the most part, it doesn’t really fit with my format. Talking about Sonny Chiba ripping a dude’s eye out one week and Oklahoma the next doesn’t really jive with what audience I may actually have.
Another reason would probably be that in my own personal experience, I’m not really overly familiar with the genre. Like a lot of people, on the surface I just find the idea of musicals to be rather silly. People singing and dancing spontaneously is such an unrealistic notion that it takes a lot for me to get past this. This is in addition to the heightened emotions and performances that the genre calls for, making the experience one that can become grating. A musical has to be really exceptional to be able to break down these barriers for me so I’ll pay attention.
That’s not to say that I don’t have any appreciation for the films. Fiddler on the Roof’s story of a family trying to stay together despite the atrocities of Stalin’s Soviet Union is an epic and inspirational story. The WWII context of The Sound of Music is a terrific setting for the sprawling tale that takes place in Nazi occupied Europe. Finally, Singin’ in the Rain, with its infectious numbers and genius script dealing with Hollywood’s transition from the silent era to talkies contains so much energy and is so much fun, that I would consider it one of the 15 best films ever committed to celluloid.
This though, other than the animated films of my youth, would really be where my expertise in Musicals kind of comes to an end. The genre’s resurgence in the last few years has not really been helped by my patronage, though I enjoyed the energy of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!. Other big screen musicals have not been attended by me for the most part, and yet for these past few weeks, I’d say my favorite film of the holiday season was probably Sweeney Todd.
Though I’ve considered him a brilliant director at times, I think Tim Burton’s work in the last few years has been way below his abilities. For everything Burton got right in Planet of the Apes, such as the look of the world and the actions of the apes themselves, he failed with an equal number of other elements. Anything to do with the humans was woefully constructed. Big Fish felt like a film that was trying to appeal to the masses, but lost a lot of the qualities that make a Tim Burton film his own. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Corpse Bride seemed to be an attempt by the director to return to his familiar style, but both ended up quite unmemorable.
When I saw the trailer for Sweeney Todd, I was excited, but it was tempered with trepidation. The movie seemed to have all the elements of one of Burton’s films (Johnny Depp, gothic setting, penchant for tongue in cheek gore), but would this have the life that his earlier films possessed? Well I’m happy to say that after much anticipation, the movie is everything it should be, and Tim Burton has finally got a surefire winner on his hands.
Sweeney Todd Starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Directed by Tim Burton
I wonder at what moment Tim Burton decided that his onscreen avatar would be Johnny Depp. Through six films, Burton and Depp have teamed up to make films that are solidly in their own voice and no one else’s. Just like Scorsese and De Niro or John Woo and Chow Yun Fat, the Burton/Depp team up is a perfect combination of director and actor, one beginning where the other one ends.
Though many might contend that Depp’s best work may rest outside of his work with Burton, whether in Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, it is with his favorite director that Depp not only lets loose the most, but also does his deepest work. I admire that Depp normally stays away from your regular Oscar bait, as I don’t ever expect him to be in a film the same temperament as A Beautiful Mind. Even Chocolate has a quirkiness about it, and he gets to lay his personality out in the film. Sweeney Todd though is unhinged, unadulterated Johnny Depp. We get to see his whole range of emotion, while seeing him do his characteristic disappearance into a character, and the results may end in another Oscar nomination for the actor.
Still, while its probably no surprise that Depp’s dramatic chops in the film are amazing, its his singing that manages to blow you away. Apparently with no formal training at all, Depp tackled Stephen Sondheim’s music with amazing results. What I love about the performance is that while Depp’s voice isn’t a big, Broadway baritone, it never seems overly theatrical either. Too often a voice will sound so clear and perfect that it manages to take away from the performance you’re watching, because the voice won’t match the character. Depp’s never ever feels like this. In fact this goes for most of the cast, most especially, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.
Thankfully, it seems as if Burton managed to cast his actors first and singers second. Almost everyone top to bottom is nearly perfectly cast, as I love side characters like Sacha Baron Cohen’s Signor Adolfo Pirelli and Timothy Spall‘s amazingly slimy villain, Beadle Bamford. Each seem to inhabit and thrive in this world that Burton has created for them, letting their costumes, music, and makeup transform them onscreen.
Also thriving is Alan Rickman, who could make any villain memorable, but who gives real soul to Judge Turpin. What really could have come off as a two dimensional villain is a man who seems beset by the life he has created for himself. He’s done and continues to do absolutely wicked things, but there’s a definite sadness to Rickman’s character. He seems to truly love his ward, Johanna (Jayne Wisener) who is also Todd’s daughter, and seems to think that making her happy could be some sort of salvation, but when his love is spurned, he’ll do anything to punish her until she bends to his will. Listening to Rickman and Depp’s duet on “Pretty Women“, you get a sense of a real love for Johanna that Judge Turpin possesses.
Thankfully, Burton manages to keep the entire production rather small in scale, which is very atypical in these types of films. I think the revenge aspect of the movie is heightened by how intimate the proceedings are, as Burton apparently cut all numbers that featured some sort of choir part. What’s left are numbers that manage to really allow you to get to know these characters and afford Burton some screen time for his ironic wit. Most never feature more than two singers in a room together, and the music never seems to get too operatic, save for maybe the comical “By the Sea” sequence, which really is taking place in the head of Helena Bonham Carter’s Mrs. Lovette.
I also love how the musical numbers allow for characters to play with certain cinematic rules. Often times, the two singers seem be having a conversation as they sing, as when Todd and Mrs. Lovette sing together in the hilarious “A Little Priest”. Then again, the songs also allow for characters to have a sort of inner monologue, almost spontaneously, such as an instance where Todd sings about revenge RIGHT IN FRONT OF JUDGE TURPIN during “Pretty Women”. Yet because it’s a musical, we simply buy it and keep going.
The more I think about it, my favorite number in the movie in the piece is probably the reprise of “Johanna”, in which we see the continuing search by the film’s young love interest, Jamie Campbell Bower’s Anthony Hope for his love to be, as well as Sweeney Todd himself descending into madness. Most of the song feature Depp’s barber, singing a gorgeous song about longing to see his daughter, who is in the clutches of his arch enemy, all the while slitting the throats of innocent victims. The sequence is a perfect example of why Tim Burton would want to do a film like this.
I think more than any other film this decade, Sweeney Todd is Tim Burton reveling in being Tim Burton. Between the wit, the songs and the blood of Sweeney Todd you get to see a cast and film maker at the peak of their abilities, and really there’s not much more you could hope for in a movie. Yes, many may stay away because not only is the film a musical, but one that is about cannibalism and vengeance, but those looking to truly be transported could hardly do better in theaters right now than this amazing piece of cinematic art.
