Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetThey say before embarking on the path of revenge, dig two graves; in lieu of a spade, a silver razor will suffice, as is the case with "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp). Returned to London from a period of fifteen years of exodus for a crime he did not commit--circa late 19th century, during the dirty, Industrial Revolution--the forgotten barber virtuoso, Benjamin Barker comes for revenge against the malevolent Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), under the alias of Sweeney Todd...a black song on his lips, a white streak in his hair, and a glimmering blade in his hand, ready to give rubies of blood up to its dark master.
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Directed for the screen by Tim Burton--and adapted from the musical of the same name by Stephen Sondheim--Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a dark and bleak tale of revenge, something which seems like an odd duck for the Broadway musical. It deals with a range of unsavory content, from serial killing, rape, cannibalism, child abuse, and more--one has to squint to see any who could be perceived as the moral center of the story. The world of Sweeney Todd is painted black because those who inhabit the cold, dark recesses of its squalor do so not only from a combination of misfortune and destitution, but also because they have sunken into the darkness out of their own weakness. Sweeney Todd's downfall is just as much a result of Turpin's villainy as is his own collapse in the face of his own willingness to judge--and execute--those he holds in contempt. When Todd arrives back in London, it is with a sardonic sneer on his lips. His view of London is one of a dank pit, where contemptible people--like those who destroyed his life, or sat idly by while it happened--thrive, and he has had to live like an animal. Surely, a grave injustice was committed against him and his loved ones; his daughter, Johanna (Jayne Wisener) has been kept as a ward by the lecherous Turpin, who spies on her jealously, awaiting her ripe age to taker her as his, just as he took her mother. Turpin angrily turns away any whom she sees as a means to her escape, like the sailor, Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), who pines after the sweet girl. Todd returns home to plot his revenge, discovering that his residence has been commandeered by a eccentric--yet pragmatic--purveyor of meat pies, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), whose shop has the unfortunate distinction of serving "the worst pies in London". When Mrs. Lovett discloses the dreadful fate of Todd's wife and daughter to him, they enter into an arrangement--a business that serves their mutual ends--and through their endeavors gradually sink deeper into the pit of darkness, becoming monsters not unlike Turpin or his cruel minion, Beadle (Timothy Spall)--not rising above the filth of their environs, but becoming masters of its corruption.
Sweeney Todd is unquestionably a tragedy; not simply because of the plot-related series of unfortunate events which occur, but because the players whom we wish to triumph are brought low by their own weakness. Sweeney Todd reminds me a good deal of Hamlet, as the title characters share the same kinds of affectations, an inability to act with directness. Whereas Hamlet hesitated to act because he felt Claudius would not receive appropriate punishment in the afterlife following his perceived penitence thus saving his soul, Sweeney Todd fails to take his chance to wreak vengeance upon Turpin during their first meeting, because he begins to feel the swell of ecstasy for killing within him, and his joy at desiring death distracts him from his true purpose--he pauses, because he has already become a demon, and Benjamin Barker is already gone. Sweeney Todd is deceptive, because we want to sympathize with our main character, because he has been so horribly wronged; and yet, he is a victim of another kind of monster--his own rage. He cuts a swath of red across London, luring in those he considers to be nothing more than animals. Mrs. Lovett obliges his sinister urges, and--the shocking opportunist that she is--she considers that rather than making some feeble attempt to dispose of the bodies in a conventional sense, she utilizes the meat in her own business, a literal manifestation of "you are what you eat". Lovett and Todd share their diabolical secret only with themselves, refraining from revealing their recipe to the grateful lad they rescued, Toby (Ed Sanders), from an abusive, pompous rival barber, Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen). Before long, Sweeney Todd has lost all control, and is reckless with his lethal blades, concerned only with inflicting death upon those he believes deserving of it--which seems to be everyone. There is a moment when Turpin regards Todd as a "kindred spirit"; he does not know of Todd's secret identity--only that they share small talk about the glories of beautiful women--but we sense that this is yet another tragedy that has befallen Todd on his path of revenge: he has become the thing he hates. Todd regards his straight razors as his "friends", because he has become so misanthropic that he cannot truly see people as people anymore, regarding only that which can kill in his hands as "human". He even comments that when he holds his razor, his arm is once again "complete"; made of silver, he might just as well consider his blades as divine instruments, meant to slay the monsters that are his quarry. Loathsome as Turpin and Beadle are, Todd is hardly cautious upon who the turns his blade, save one fortunate soul who happened to bring his own wife and daughter along with him. Although the film carries the subtitle of "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", Sweeney Todd is never actually referred to as a "demon"; rather, this title is for the benefit of the audience, since we discover that ever since Todd returned in place of Barker, he has already been cast into Hell, and salvation for him will remain forever out of the reach of his bloody blade.
Recommended for: Fans of the style and presentation of a Broadway musical, with the overall theme and horror of a tale not unlike that of Jack the Ripper. This might be the most gruesome of Tim Burton movies, but it also stands out as one of his best...if you have the stomach for it.
Sweeney Todd is unquestionably a tragedy; not simply because of the plot-related series of unfortunate events which occur, but because the players whom we wish to triumph are brought low by their own weakness. Sweeney Todd reminds me a good deal of Hamlet, as the title characters share the same kinds of affectations, an inability to act with directness. Whereas Hamlet hesitated to act because he felt Claudius would not receive appropriate punishment in the afterlife following his perceived penitence thus saving his soul, Sweeney Todd fails to take his chance to wreak vengeance upon Turpin during their first meeting, because he begins to feel the swell of ecstasy for killing within him, and his joy at desiring death distracts him from his true purpose--he pauses, because he has already become a demon, and Benjamin Barker is already gone. Sweeney Todd is deceptive, because we want to sympathize with our main character, because he has been so horribly wronged; and yet, he is a victim of another kind of monster--his own rage. He cuts a swath of red across London, luring in those he considers to be nothing more than animals. Mrs. Lovett obliges his sinister urges, and--the shocking opportunist that she is--she considers that rather than making some feeble attempt to dispose of the bodies in a conventional sense, she utilizes the meat in her own business, a literal manifestation of "you are what you eat". Lovett and Todd share their diabolical secret only with themselves, refraining from revealing their recipe to the grateful lad they rescued, Toby (Ed Sanders), from an abusive, pompous rival barber, Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen). Before long, Sweeney Todd has lost all control, and is reckless with his lethal blades, concerned only with inflicting death upon those he believes deserving of it--which seems to be everyone. There is a moment when Turpin regards Todd as a "kindred spirit"; he does not know of Todd's secret identity--only that they share small talk about the glories of beautiful women--but we sense that this is yet another tragedy that has befallen Todd on his path of revenge: he has become the thing he hates. Todd regards his straight razors as his "friends", because he has become so misanthropic that he cannot truly see people as people anymore, regarding only that which can kill in his hands as "human". He even comments that when he holds his razor, his arm is once again "complete"; made of silver, he might just as well consider his blades as divine instruments, meant to slay the monsters that are his quarry. Loathsome as Turpin and Beadle are, Todd is hardly cautious upon who the turns his blade, save one fortunate soul who happened to bring his own wife and daughter along with him. Although the film carries the subtitle of "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", Sweeney Todd is never actually referred to as a "demon"; rather, this title is for the benefit of the audience, since we discover that ever since Todd returned in place of Barker, he has already been cast into Hell, and salvation for him will remain forever out of the reach of his bloody blade.
Recommended for: Fans of the style and presentation of a Broadway musical, with the overall theme and horror of a tale not unlike that of Jack the Ripper. This might be the most gruesome of Tim Burton movies, but it also stands out as one of his best...if you have the stomach for it.