Sweeney Todd

Note: This was originally on my old blog, and is being re-posted here for archive purposes.  Sweeney Todd.

Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 5:30 PM at the Angelika Plano

Ah, Sweeney Todd. Modern Shakespeareanesque tragecomedy. In song.

Fifteen years ago, a “foolish” barber, Benjamin Barker, was wrongfully incarcerated by Judge Turpin. Now, in Victorian London, he returns, but this time as the darker, vengeful Sweeney Todd. With the help of his neighbor, Mrs. Lovett, he seeks to repay the cruelty and injustice of Judge Turpin and all the people of the world.

I regret to say that I am not familiar with the musical, as I am not much of a theatre person. One aspect of musicals that have always made me nervous was when a character apparently has a lot of important stuff to say, and the melody transforms into speaking in pitch (kind of like Shoenburg and Sprechstimme…Pierrot Lunaire…anyone?) and I think “Where is this going?!” Of course, again, it may be that I don’t have a very musical ear. I do, however, have a particular fondness for movies of retribution a vengeful nature, thus I am an unreliable source of unbiased opinion because of said fondness, my resulting eagerness to see the movie and my enthusiasm for the cast. Moving on…

Initially, I had to adjust to the fact that it was a musical, considering I do not frequent the theatres in search of musicals. At first I found it slightly corny.

Jamie Campbell Bower as the young Anthony Hope acted with success. I thought his voice was relatively rich, and effeminate, and somewhat musical. He did a good job establishing the role of a desperate, naïve and in-love youth. The character of Anthony Hope is important, though a minor one. He does introduce several elements of irony into the plot that move it forward.

The title character, Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) is obviously a tormented man, often troubled by conflicts between his desire to even the score with Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) and opportunities to realize his goal. Depp’s vocalizing (sorry, I’m having trouble coming up with another word for ’singing’) is half the time somewhat thin and watered down, but the rest of the time good enough. Then again, maybe that particular tone is intentional - after all, it would appropriately reflect the character. That is, single-minded, only half-heartedly focused on the present. Some of the approaches to certain pitches made my brother think of David Bowie, if that makes any sense. I had to agree.

Mrs. Lovett is an obsessive, eccentric, yet endearing character in the movie. Though, after listening to the original Broadway cast recording, I’m pretty sure she’s supposed to come off more sinister. I have to wonder if her character was intentionally altered. Even so, Helena Bonham Carter does an all right job. The accent is kind of inconsistent when she sings.

Jayne Wisener, the actress portraying Johanna, belongs in a theatre. That is, her singing ability is out of place - immediately I thought of Snow White or any number of Disney heroines singing to birds and their freedom to twitter. Too much for this particular movie. Er. Beyond. The movie didn’t do much character development with her at all. I understand that certain elements of the original musical had to be cut out for length or whatever, but I didn’t care for or understand her as well as maybe she should have. Her character, that is.

I was impressed by the strong voice of Ed Sanders, the actor for Toby. I think he’s 14, and that’s pretty good…he just belts out the goods, you know. Though, in the musical he’s surely older, whereas in the movie he is a prepubescent squirt. One of my favourite characters, because he’s the only truly dynamic character. Signor Pirelli as played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Funny, very exaggerated voice. Ha ha ha ha ha. Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford was an excellent casting decision. His voice, singing and otherwise, is appropriately greasy. Alan Rickman, a natural creeper with his voice and character (still I hold him in high regard as an actor) had a distractingly thick singing voice that was obviously his own.

My favourite part of the movie in the ‘Johanna - Reprise,’ where the film juxtaposes the bittersweet melodies with a series of arterial-splicing, blood-gushing slit throats. The music most appropriately befits the context, as it does in all musicals, but this particular scene I find particularly harmonious.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a well-executed mixture of tragedy, comedy and musical. The story itself is predictable (the significance of the beggar woman was very clear from the beginning) and “very British” as my brother described it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The melancholy and macabre atmosphere encompassing all aspects of the film from the harmonies, the script, the cinematography, the set, etc. appealed greatly to my aesthetic. I love ironic situations - to me, they are beautiful and the furthest and closest thing to reality.