Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
by Donna Cooper, Jr. Copywriter
I’m not opposed to musicals. I just don’t make it a habit of watching them. It’s not at the top of my list of things to do, to say the least. I mean, I’ve seen a few musicals hear and there. Enjoyed them, even. To me, though, musicals seem to mostly be bubbly and have usually had some type of happy ending.
So, imagine my surprise when I went to the theater to see Johnny Depp singing his heart out as Sweeney Todd.
Now, my knowledge of the musical went so far as knowing he was a barber who killed people. I was surprised to learn, however, the story behind his killings and the overall darkness of the piece.
I expected there to be a comical aspect of it. Disappointed as I was, I enjoyed the unusual nature of this movie. With Tim Burton producing and directing his tag team of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, it was a great flick no matter what your thoughts were going in. Most people, I gather, were under the same veil of ignorance about the Broadway Musical and were surprised once the lights dimmed and the opening scene unfolded.
The film was dark, with beautifully designed scenes and outstanding camera work. After spending some time immersed in the scenery, the viewer is thrown into a surreal fantasy that it’s bright and colorful—which has the air of something more sinister behind it—and then thrown back into the dark reality of the movie.
One of the most compelling aspects of the film was—of course—Johnny Depp’s character, Sweeney Todd (aka Benjamin Barker). The man was wrongfully accused of a crime just so the Judge (played superbly by Alan Rickman) could steal his wife. When that didn’t work out, he took Benjamin Barker’s infant daughter instead and raised her as his ward until she was old enough to marry him.
Once Benjamin Barker was released 14 years later from his false imprisonment he returned to London as Sweeney Todd to seek out his long lost family. Only upon his return did he learn that his coveted wife was no more, and his daughter was raised by the man who ruined his life. Possessed by revenge, and encouraged by Mrs. Lovett (Bonham-Carter), Todd sets up shop and starts practicing for his intended target.
This macabre string of events turned into the ultimate tragedy when Todd realized that his all-consuming quest for revenge—and the realization that Mrs. Lovett had betrayed him—cost him everything he so desperately wanted.
With an impressive list of acting talent, this film delivered in performance and believability, to the point where you actually felt bad for all the characters—even the bad ones. Each one of us can all relate in some way to what motivated these characters—Love, Hate, Loneliness, Revenge, Envy.
Overall thoughts: Great movie, but a little hard to watch at times. Tim Burton didn’t spare us the graphic details of Sweeney Todd’s murderous rampage.