While “nightmarish” is a word you often see used in the context of Tim Burton’s films, Sweeney Todd is the first Burton film I’ve seen that’s literally given me nightmares. And what beautiful nightmares they were! Stephen Sondheim’s musical tells the story of a barbarous barber and a cannibalistic pie baker with a wry sneer and an implied comment on classism and conceptions of justice. The horror is largely intellectual. In Burton’s hands, though, we lose a lot of that satirical feel in favor of an entirely visceral experience that skips the brain and goes straight to the gut. The sly sense of humor is largely gone, the innocents’ roles are diminished, and everything is streamlined to provide the maximum horror for your dollar. As in the play, a lot of the unease comes from how sympathetic these characters are. Songs like “Pretty Women” and the almost painfully sweet “Not While I’m Around” (sung by Mrs. Lovett and the little shop boy just before she tries to kill him) manage to make sociopathy downright romantic. Unlike the awful Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd’s source material becomes something amazing through the lens of Burton’s signature style— truly the scariest movie I’ve seen all year. I left the theatre humming, and hours later woke up screaming.
by Megan Weireter | Source:
26 Dec 2007 1:55 PM | Submit Comment
