SWEENEY TODD
THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

 

"I shall have vengence"

Fifteen years ago, Benjamin Barker had everything, a successful Barber business in Fleet Street, a beautiful wife and an adorable baby daughter but whenever someone has everything they want someone else will want to take it. That man was Judge Turin (Rickman), who controlled the law and could make anyone disappear at his own bequest. Charging Benjamin with a crime he did not commit, after fifteen years in prison he returns to London a changed man. Driven by revenge after discovering his wife had taken her own life and his daughter was now the ward of Judge Turin, he transforms himself into Sweeney Todd, the best barber in all of London but motives become all the more sinister when plan for retribution starts to play out with bloody consequences.

Transforming successful stage musicals into motion pictures has taken off at the box office again but can 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' get a large slice of the financial pie or will it cut its own throat?

After the critical and financial success of musical adaptations such as 'Chicago', 'Rent', 'Hairspray' and the 'Phantom of the Opera', studios were looking at Broadway and the West End in London for the next possible adaptation that would turn into box office gold. No stranger to musicals after gaining success with 'A Nightmare Before Christmas', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'The Corpse Bride', Tim Burton was the obvious choice to bring Stephen Sondheim's musical version of the 'Sweeney Todd' story to the silver screen. His passion and uncompromising vision for the darker characters that inhabit this world and the ones we can only imagine make him perfect for this adaptation but while he creates a visual and artist spectacle it is the songs from the original stage play that lets him down.

The success of any musical relies on the strength of the songs that tell the story and set the tone of the film. With 'Sweeney Todd', you can instantly tell that this is a stage musical with more operatic overtones than your usual screen adaptation making this more 'Phantom' than 'Hairspray'. Characters almost constantly sing with only brief moments of spoken dialogue, especially for the first act of the movie. While this is all well and good, the cavalcade of songs soon blends into one continuous, unrelenting tone with no real standout song amongst them. Yes they have to be dark because of the subject matter but it doesn't mean to say that you can't write a song that says with long after watching the movie.

As you'd expect from a Tim Burton movie, the visuals are astonishing. The dark streets of 19th Century London and the even darker people who inhabit them are vividly brought to life in an amalgamation of blacks and greys. The film only adds a faint hint of colour during the flashback sequences showing Benjamin Barker's happy life and when Mrs Lovett dreams of a better life with her beloved Mr Todd. The dank, murky and gloomy world does have a spluttering of red when Sweeney adopts his murderous ways as bucket loads of blood literary cover the sets.

In casting the movie, Tim Burton has mixed new talent, with the best of British and some old stalwarts. Jamie Campbell Bower and Jayne Wisener make a real splash as Anthony Hope and Johanna. Both of them has stunning voices and have a big future in musical theatre both on stage and in film. While their romance takes back stage to Sweeney revenge, they still have a pivotal role to play. Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen are excellent as Sweeney nemeses Judge Turin, Beadle Bamford and Signor Adolfo Pirelli, the men who drive him to murder. All of these British stars are on the top of their games and really have fun with their songs. What Tim Burton fans have been waiting to see however is how his usual players, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter cope with the musical aspects of the movie. The good news is that the pair grab the characters with both hands and make them sing. They do this surprisingly well, which is good as the whole movie relies on their performances as Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett.

'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' is a visually stunning and well performed musical that is let down by the most important aspects of musical theatre, the plot and the songs. With no real stand out songs and a very simplistic plot of revenge, this is still Tim Burton's best movie since 'Sleepy Hollow' and one that his fans will revel in. Unfortunately, while musical theatre fans will be clamour at the splendour, even they will struggle to enjoy all of the songs. Not quite the cut above we were hoping for.

Commentary By Tim Burton
Musical Mayhem: Sondheim's Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd Is Alive: The Real History Of The Demon Barber
Sweeney's London Recreating Fleet Street
Grand Guinol: A Theatrical Tradition
Sketchbook

A Nightmare Before Christmas

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2008