Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Movie Review
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: A
Rating: R
Released: Friday, December 21, 2007
Directed by:
Cast:
I devoutly believe Stephen Sondheim is the greatest songwriter in the history of musical theater (note I do not say "most hummable"), and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is one of his best works, a darkly comic and truly horrifying tale. Yet though I've seen some great live productions of it, I've never seen the show's rich themes brought to life as vividly as in Tim Burton's new film version.
Burton nails it, starting with the casting (Johnny Depp as Sweeney? Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett? Perfect!) and continuing with the cold, desaturated colors of Dariusz Wolski's cinematography and the fantasy-nightmare version of 19th-century London as reconstructed by production designer Dante Ferretti and set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo. Heck, let's mention Colleen Atwood's deliciously grimy costumes and the hair and makeup staff, too! When Mrs. Lovett has a sunny daydream about her and Sweeney relaxing on the seashore, their pale, powdery faces make them look more ghoulish than usual -- a subtle reminder that they do not belong in a place so cheerful. They belong in hell.
But look at me, talking about sets and costumes as though I were writing a theater review! Burton's version is not theatrical; it is cinematic through and through, with swooping cameras and color schemes that would be impossible to create in a live setting. And while a live production is limited by logistics and good taste in how much fake blood it can use when the demon barber slits his customers' throats, Burton goes all out. You think "Sweeney Todd" is a bloody story? You have no idea. At least a dozen people meet their maker in that fashion, and Burton shows us every single one of them, never bothering to cut away discreetly or merely hint at the gore involved. His goal is to horrify us not just with the idea of Sweeney's deeds but with the actual sight of them.
John Logan's screen adaptation is very faithful to the stage version (songs by Sondheim, dialogue by regular collaborator Hugh Wheeler), with no changes to the plot and only a few musical numbers trimmed or omitted. Sweeney Todd is the name assumed by Benjamin Barker, once a happy London barber with a wife and baby daughter but now a hardened, bitter man. It seems the evil Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) coveted Barker's wife and trumped up some false charges to get Barker shipped off to prison. Now, 15 years later, Barker's wife is dead and his little girl Johanna (Jayne Wisener) is a ward of the judge, who keeps her locked away and plans to marry her himself.
Sweeney wants revenge on the judge and on the Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall), the slobbering lackey who does Turpin's bidding, and if he can get them into a barber's chair, he can use his razors to do the job. He finds his old barbershop has a new downstairs neighbor in the filthy Mrs. Lovett, who sells meat pies that are, by her own admission, the worst in London. Meat is hard to come by, and while her competition is rumored to use the neighborhood pussycats, Mrs. Lovett would never stoop to such -- well, OK, the cats are just too fast for her to catch.
She recognizes Sweeney for who he really is and fills him in on what happened to his beloved wife and daughter, barely hiding her own budding affection for him. Sweeney is too focused on revenge to notice. He soon realizes that once you decide you're capable of murder, you find there are a lot of people who deserve it. He has to bide his time until the judge visits his barbershop, so hey, maybe every man in stinking, rotten London deserves to have his throat slit in the meantime. Or every man in London who won't be missed, anyway. (You can't go killing a guy whose wife knows where he went and expects him home soon.) Lucky for Sweeney, Mrs. Lovett has a swell idea for disposing of the bodies that pile up. Soon her meat pies are the most popular in town!
There is devilish humor in all this, of course. Burton knows better than anyone how to dance merrily on the line between the macabre and the disgusting, and Depp and Carter are truly inspired choices to play the leads. What two actors are better at playing funny, bizarre lunatics?
It should not escape the viewer's notice that Sweeney is ultimately no better than the evil judge he so reasonably wants to destroy. Both are consumed by their own selfish desires -- Sweeney for revenge, Turpin for Johanna -- and both demonstrate a cold indifference to human life. In a throwaway joke new for the movie, we see Turpin sentence a little boy to death at the gallows. It's a bit of morbid humor, but it also parallels something we saw earlier, when Sweeney was willing to kill Toby (Ed Sanders), the young boy who works for Mrs. Lovett.
The story is ultimately about unfulfilled desires. Sweeney wants to avenge his wife and daughter, which he can never truly do. Mrs. Lovett wants Sweeney for a husband. Toby wants Mrs. Lovett to be his mother. Judge Turpin wants Johanna, and so does Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), a young sailor who sees her singing in her upstairs window. Tim Burton swirls all of this into a fantastically haunting tale, a nightmare musical of cannibalism and revenge that's gripping from the first minor chord on the organ to the bloody, inevitable resolution.
Grade: A
Rated R, a little profanity and a whole lot of bloody throat-slitting
1 hr., 57 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 35 comments
December 21, 2007 at 11:35 am
I've been looking forward to this for months, as an avid Burton fan. I was expecting this to be fantastic, even though I wasn't really blown away by Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And I was a tad cynical about Depp and Bonham-Carter's singing, since Sondheim's scores are so operatic. But... Hooray! I can't wait to see it now!
December 21, 2007 at 11:29 pm
It's been 10 hours since I finished watching this one and images of it continue to haunt me. I was a little nervous about this one - Sondheim has been my hero for at least 10 years now. But, it was a fantastic film and its messages of justice and revenge have quite possibly changed my life. I'm still in shock. Drop everything you're doing now and go see "Sweeney Todd."
December 22, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Well, I´m from Mexico and I´m really sad, becasue I really want to see Sweeney Todd. But what can I do? hehehe, i really hope it to be a really great movie!
December 22, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I've seen it twice already. Absolutely brilliant film. I'm usually very critical when it comes to Tim Burton films. This is, without a shadow of a doubt, his best film to date. The film ties with No Country for Old Men as the best film of 2007 in my opinion.
December 22, 2007 at 9:48 pm
I was rather bored watching this movie, despite being a great fan of Depp (what a delightful misanthrope he was, as Wonka) and darkly cominc stuff. Maybe the reason why I was not thrilled is that I rather dislike the musicals - the bad lyrics, the trite story and so on.
December 23, 2007 at 3:51 am
I think Sondheim is a genius, and "Sweeney Todd" is my favorite of his shows (bad lyrics? trite story? you've made my soul cry.) - so I went into this show with some rather high expectations.
And I was blown away.
The acting (especially the two leads plus Edward Sanders as Toby) was universally fantastic. The directing, the set design - well, it's Tim Burton. You may not like him, but you can never accuse him of having bland set design or direction (or maybe you can - if people can think "Sweeney Todd" has bad lyrics and a trite story then people can think anything.)
And the ending. The ending! I suddenly wasn't in the least upset by the exclusion of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd". That was an absolutely perfect ending, with an unforgettable and haunting final shot. I've never been so deeply moved by the last fifteen minutes or so of the show as I was while I watching this version.
This is by far my favorite film of 2007.
December 23, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I'm torn on whether or not to see this one -- can you all give me some guidance?
I WANT to see it -- I love the musical, love Johnny Depp, love Tim Burton. However, I am extremely squeamish. To give an example, I watched a birthing video in college and fainted dead away. It took me about an hour to get the strength to walk back to my dorm again. I also faint when I give blood, and get dizzy whenever I walk near people who are giving blood, because I can smell the antiseptic chemicals.
But I'm OK if the blood is all pretty fake looking. Is it just ridiculous-looking gushes of candy-apple red juice, or does it really look like throats getting slit all gruesome-like? Because I don't want to pass out in the theater. It is fun for nobody.
December 23, 2007 at 5:50 pm
The blood is incredibly fake looking(on purpose), so you should go. Have yourself a ball. Best film of the year.
December 23, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Oh, and milkshake, if you consider Sondheim's lyrics to be bad, what do you consider to be "good" lyrics? Surely if you say Charles Hart or Lynn Ahrens, I might have to kill you. But, then, at least I'd know that you have no taste and I'd be satisfied that your opinion means nothing.
December 23, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Hey now, Brian. Lynn Ahrens isn't ALWAYS bad. Charles Hart on the other hand...Ooh, I enjoy this game. Bad lyricists. Those fine gents that wrote "Phantom" come to mind...(Someday the world will wake up and realize that "The Music of the Night" is four minutes that mean NOTHING.)
December 24, 2007 at 3:12 am
The throat slashing is pretty theatrical, it can hardly make anybody to pass out. There are some other gruesome things (a giant meat grinder filled with assorted body parts, and also a finger in a meat pie, Wendy's style) but it is completely over the top so not very ross-looking like the woodchipper scene in Fargo.
I would like to explain that I hate all musicals, not just Sweeny Todd. And in this case we did not suffer too much as we stayed in the cinema to see Charlie Wilson's war right after and it was fun.
December 24, 2007 at 6:21 am
Just kidding. Charles Hart is one of those fine gents that wrote Phantom...I knew Richard Stilgoe was one of the lyricists but I mixed up Charles Hart with somebody completely different...Oy vey. Anyways, Hart and Stilgoe. Dreadful.
December 24, 2007 at 8:52 am
True, Lynn Ahrens is only mostly bad. I've actually been very moved by some of Ahrens and Flaherty's music, but their shows are rarely put together very well. And, don't even get me started on Stilgoe. Blegh!
December 24, 2007 at 10:39 am
If you hate musicals, why would you go see "Sweeney Todd"? And then why would you bother to tell everyone you hated it when you yourself knew you would hate it before you even saw it? What's the point of any of that?
Now Que Sarah, I'm going to disagree with these others who are telling you the blood and gore is theatrical and over-the-top and silly. It's not highly realistic, either, but someone who is squeamish like you seem to be is likely to be horrified at how much there is and how frequently it's seen. There's also the bodies landing head-first in the basement and someone being burned alive. Again, it's not hyper-realistic, but I don't think it's cartoonish, either.
December 25, 2007 at 3:52 pm
sorry I did not want to offend anybody - I wanted to point out that even when one is a great fan of Depp and Burton movies as I am (and has seen the impressive trailer) he should also consider if he enjoys musicals that much. So that he does not make the same mistake as we did. I am not making a judgement on the movie quality.
December 26, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Eric, I really wish you had mentioned the bodies landing head-first in the review. I am one of those squeamish viewers who loved the music enough to see the movie and just cover my eyes when I knew someone was going to be murdered. I did not expect the simple sliding of the bodies into the bakehouse to be so horrific.
December 27, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I've seen this movie twice now. The first time I saw it, it was fun to be horrified. The second time, it was fun watching everyone else squirm. The blood didn't bother me at all, but it did bother my dad when I saw it with him. There was a lady next to us in the audience who looked like she was going to pass out or throw up, whichever came first. Just a warning.
December 27, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Well, it's no "Pushing Daisies," that's for sure. As this is the first Burton film since that Burton rip-off started airing (erring?) on TV, I'm so glad it's also about a pie-maker!
And I agree that it's probably the best Burton film to date.
January 2, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Ahhhh I love this movie like WHOA. Haha, I thought it was a fantastic movie, and I was pretty sure it was going to be even when I first saw the previews to it. The bloody-gorey stuff didn't bother me at all, but I could see how it would affect some people. I did think the blood looked a little theatrical, but like Brian said, it's supposed too. Anyway, I loved it, and I've been trying to convince other people to go see it too, but some people just have something against Tim Burton movies.
January 3, 2008 at 4:32 am
Great movie! I knew I would love it because I love musicals and violence. I've never seen it live but I'm glad to hear they didn't change it from the live version. I liked Hairspray. but the few changes they made bothered me being such a fan of the live musical.
January 4, 2008 at 11:12 am
I must say every review I've read across different sites loves this movie. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't great. Pretty good at best. It's just didn't expect this to be a musical. I had no clue and it threw me off so bad. I hated some songs like Johanna, and it was repetitive. However, the movie was good and that's hard to deny. It just isn't as great as the whole world is saying it is in my opinion. And I have seen good musicals, so it's not that I hate musicals.
January 5, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hey Eric,
My daughter, Hailey turned me on to your site----great! I have seen Sweeney Todd two times in the theatre---once on Broadway and once with a local acting troupe, but they always keep the blood to a minimum. I am also one of these people that hate the gore in movies, but have found that I can usually cover my eyes and it is fine. I loved the look of this movie, the acting and the singing, (well, Helena was a bit breathy) but was a little put off by all the gore----even if it was a bit over the top... (or so my husband told me) I thought that there were quite a few funny parts and laughed out loud at the macabre humor, even though no one else in the theatre did! I did like the choices that Burton made in directing his actors, but would have liked to have Depp a little bit more tongue in cheek when he was maniacally killing everyone... Don't get me wrong...I loved the film and am so happy when musicals are done right-----YAY!! Let's do more!
January 13, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I recently read A.O. Scott's article "Take the Kids, and Don't Feel Guilty" in the New York Times. In it the film critic recommends taking your children to certain PG-13 and R-rated movies. He took his son to Sweeney Todd and his son loved it.
So, yesterday I took my son to see Sweeney. (I had already screened it beforehand, so I knew exactly what he was in for.) My son loved it! (His first rated R movie! Such a rite of passage.)
To me, the movie is artistic enough that it warrants being viewed by certain children. (FYI, I would never show this to my daughter. She is way too impressionable.) But, I knew that my son could stomach the gore and appreciate the music and the tragic themes. In some strange way, I feel like it prepped him for Shakespeare. Hamlet, here we come!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/movies/11scot.html?em&ex=1200373200&en=63273d3ea8ac8c93&ei=5087%0A
January 14, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I saw this movie last week and it keeps popping up in my head. Help! Will a second viewing make it better?
I hope so. It was brilliant the first time.
January 20, 2008 at 11:08 am
Hi... haven't seen the movie yet (I'm in the UK and it has only just started previews) but I can't wait. I am a musical director and I have conducted seven different productions of this show (including the Dutch premiere in Amsterdam!) - it is my favourite show ever. I'm not scared of the fact that Depp and Bonham-Carter don't have great singing voices - give me an actor above a great opera star any day. The story is what is important.
Oh...and as for lyrics: Sondheim is the greatest, end of discussion, as far as I'm concerned. As for some of the others: I think Lynn Ahrens has done some great work too. Other favourites are David Zippel, Sheldon Harnick and of course Hammerstein II.
Charles Hart, Tim Rice and Nan Knighton, on the other hand, are pretty dire.
January 24, 2008 at 1:28 am
I LOVE this movie!!! I always suspected Johnny Depp must have a lovely singing voice because his speaking voice is so marvelous, but even I was unprepared for it. MAny times during the film I caught myself nearly closing my eyes the better to hear his voice, but then stopped because I wanted to watch the movie!
I got the soundtrack for Christmas but couldn't listen to it until about two weeks ago. Now it is my constant companion. I have in on even now! My favorite is "My Friends". I believe this is the song that truly displays Johnny Deppp's phenominal voice. (Of course Epiphany is amazing too. I love the way he sings the line "We all deserve to die!". It sends chills up and down my spine!)
I can't wait to see it again!!! My sister is a manager at a theater, so I get to see it for free, but she doesn't like to re- watch movies, so I have to nag others to come along! ^-^
(I'm so tempted to start typing all the lyrics I'm listening to right now!)
Well, I've gone on long enough. Johnny for the Oscars baby!!!
January 26, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I don't mean to encourage free things, but there's a quick-loading DIVX-encoded stream of the movie at http://tv-stream.org/external/sweeney-todd1.html
It's really as simple as one click. This one is amazing quality. I clicked around to different points to make sure it works. I recommend the middle link - the only one that worked for me.
I don't have the stomach for this one but I hope the rest of you enjoy it.
January 27, 2008 at 5:03 pm
It's not the second one anymore - you'll have to watch it fragmented between multiple files now, but some of the links are still the same quality.
February 4, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Does nobody love Alan Rickman? I was hoping for at least one comment on him. Of course Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are among my favorite actors, but I thought Rickman did a fantastic job portraying Judge Turpin especially at the "you gandered at my ward" part. Also, did anyone else notice that Depp was using his Jack Sparrow accent?
February 28, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I am so glad to see someone else who is a Alan Rickman fan too!! I'd watch him reading the phone book!! I loved the duet between Sweeney & Turpin. The only disappointment I had with this movie were the actors playing Johanna & Anthony. I didn't care for either of their voices. Of course, I've had the song "Johanna" spoiled for me, because I've heard it done by an amazing voice..Josh Groban. So it didn't work for me in this movie. LOVED Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett. Her "By The Sea" song was the highlight of the movie for me.
April 4, 2008 at 9:42 am
I tried watching this movie a while ago and only made it maybe half an hour in before turning it off. I was really hating the music, have to say I'm really not a Sondheim fan. I also just wasn't enjoying the singing - Depp's cockney or whatever accent annoyed me when sung, Carter sounded a little quiet and ... well I don't know exactly what I didn't enjoy about it, and that stupid Johanna girl's voice was just unneccessary, shrill and breathy, the worst kind of soprano. And that's as far as I got in the movie, I was hating every minute that I watched so figured I should just quit now while my love for Depp and Carter is still strong.
However, I can't help but wondering if I just wasn't in the mood for it when I watched, I mean - I love all the actors, I love musicals, and I just love dark humor, and Burton is just great, loved all his stuff. So now I think maybe I should give it another chance, see if Sondheim really annoys me as much as I think he does. Maybe I can push past that first half hour ... but then, I might now. I really don't like Sondheim's work ... oh well, we'll see.
April 6, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I must say I was impressed with Depp's voice. However, the real shock was Alan Rickman. When they both sang together, it was amazing. Rickman needs to be in musicals.
June 1, 2008 at 4:33 pm
This movie is amazing! Loved the singing...Depp is surprisingly good and so is Carter and Rickman! The blood is kinda fake looking but there are times when it looks realistic. This movie is kinda age appropriate...i let my younger sister watch it and she still liked it (10 years old!). Just as long as we closed her eyes for all the slitting. She still opened them though...
The ending was great and yet very horrific.Tim Burton is the king of dark-humor and this is his darkest film yet (no clay figures here!!)...
Singing was good. Depp, Carter, Rickman: Great!
Cohen (a.k.a. BORAT), girl who plays as Johanna: Not the best...but O.K. to me for the most part...
An overall great movie one of my favorites!
July 1, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Okay, maybe "The Music of the Night" IS four minutes of no-meaningness, but it's pretty beautiful no-meaningness.
August 28, 2009 at 1:20 am
I have never had any interest in musicals whatsoever and almost slit my wrists halfway through when an ex girlfriend made me watch "Cats" with her. However this movie was pure genius from start to finish. Any sort of doubt I might have had melted away after just 5 mins. I was sucked into it the same way you can get sucked into a good book, the real world fell away and there I was in the gloominess of London feeling the pain, hatred and all the underlying sadness of the characters. One of the best movies I've ever seen.