Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

	Directed by: Tim Burton	COUNTRY USA/UK GENRE Musical/Romance/Horror NORWEGIAN TITLE Sweeney Todd – demonbarbereren fra Fleet Street RUNNING TIME 116 minutes
	Produced by: John Logan Laurie MacDonald Walter F. Parkes Richard D. Zanuck
	Written by (based on the play and musical by Christopher Bond, Stephen Sondheim and Hugo Wheeler): John Logan

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Sweeney Todd	Johnny Depp
Mrs. Lovett	Helena Bonham Carter	½
Judge Turpin	Alan Rickman
Beadle Bamford	Timothy Spall	½
Signor Adolfo Pirelli	Sacha Baron Cohen
Anthony Hope	Jamie Campbell Bower
Beggar Woman	Laura Michelle Kelly	-
Johanna	Jayne Wisener	½
Toby	Ed Sanders

Review

The Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaborations should be familiar by now. This one is the sixth in line, and it bears resemblance to many of the others. Stylistically, both Burton and Depp retain their theatrical influences, with Depp's puppet-like mannerisms and Burton's dense but crisp colour palette and distorted proportions coming to life. None of this should come as a surprise when the story of Sweeney Todd, the stage musical based on an English legend, is finally brought to the screen after twenty-odd years of planning. What is a surprise, however, is that Burton and Depp are able to recreate the magical feel they hadn't quite been able to emulate since Edward Scissorhands.

The secret lies in combining the sweet and innocent with the macabre in a delicate and intricate way. In many ways, the story bears resemblance to the early works of Peter Gabriel (especially Harold the Barrel, and other texts from Nursery Cryme) in that stiff and formal aspects of British etiquette are linked to tragic outcomes of unfulfilled romance and oppressed love – all told with a distinct gleefulness by the storyteller. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter capture this trait brilliantly, because they are both so apt at portraying quirky and unnatural characters while still being able to convey their sensitivity.

As a musical, Sweeney Todd succeeds with a crucial challenge for this genre: it manages to incorporate the musical numbers smoothly into both the narrative and the dialogue – sometimes even overlapping. As such, the songs never come off as distractions, but simply as integral, elegant parts of the story (check out Dreamgirls for an example of the opposite). Burton's achievement in this department gives the film class and consolidates the timeless nature of the story.

In contrast to other recent musicals, the orchestral arrangements in Sweeney Todd are toned down to give more resonance to the vocals. This is another wise choice, because it evokes both the frailty and the strength of the characters. The singing is beautiful, especially from Depp, Ed Sanders, and Jamie Campbell Bower (the latter incidentally resembles the aforementioned young Gabriel), and the lyrics combine clever wordplay with the emotional resonance of a good tragedy. For the first time in a while with the Burton/Depp collaborations, Depp's character doesn't become too dominant, but rather fits perfectly in with a moving and fascinating story.