|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Storyline
Based on the 19th century legend of Sweeney Todd and the hit Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd a.k.a Benjamin Barker returns to London after being sent away by Judge Turpin with the help of a sailor, Anthony Hope. He opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop were she sells "the worst pies in London." With the help of Mrs. Lovett, Todd tries to rid of all the people who have ever done him wrong and hopes to be reunited with his daughter, Joanna, who is now Judge Turpin's ward. |
Backdrops
The Director
 Tim Burton
Timothy Walter "Tim" Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an
American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is
famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward
Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse
Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and for
blockbusters such as Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Batman Returns,
Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in
Wonderland, his most recent film, that was the second
highest-grossing film of 2010 as well as the sixth highest-grossing
film of all time. Among Burton's many collaborators are Johnny Depp,
who became a close friend since their film together, musician Danny
Elfman (who has composed for all but five of the films Burton has
directed and/or produced) and domestic partner Helena Bonham Carter.
He also wrote and illustrated the poetry book The Melancholy Death of
Oyster Boy & Other Stories, published in 1997, and a compilation
of his drawings, entitled The Art of Tim Burton, was released in
2009.
Burton has directed 14 films as of 2010, and has produced 10 as of
2009. His next films are a film adaptation of soap opera Dark
Shadows, which is slated to begin production in January 2011 and a
remake of his short Frankenweenie, which will be released on October
5, 2012.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Tim Burton, licensed
under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
User Reviews
|
Reviews of the Past: Sweeney Todd by Tim Burton - An Odyssey of Weird
|
|
|
|
|
From December 26, 2007:
For those of you who read this blog, first off, thank you. Second off, you probably have come to realize that I'm somewhat of a musical theater geek, what with all the time I spend in theater. I'm not a hardcore musical theater geek, though. If I were a hardcore musical theater geek, I would think that Stephen Sondheim is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I do not think Sondheim is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I admit that he is a lyrical genius, and many of his plays are fresh and interesting even when they are decades old, but I find that many of his melodies sound the same within shows and from show to show. I also find that the clever wordplays of his lyrics can get old by the end of the second act.
Still, there are some Sondheim musicals I really enjoy. While Into the Woods is probably my favorite, one such musical that I sort of adore in all of its base quirkiness is Sweeney Todd. It's violent and dark and challenges the viewer to grow to like someone that takes extreme, unlikable measures to avenge his wrongs. It's, in short, kind of weird. At least, I thought it was weird. Then, I saw Tim Burton's stage-to-screen adaptation, and I started to revise my thinking.
The story: Mr. Todd aka Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp, sigh) was a happy Fleet Street barber, married to the beautiful Lucy and doting over baby daughter, Johanna. That is, until, the usurping, seedy Judge Turpin (the wonderful Alan Rickman) covets Lucy to the point of raping her, ordering the local Beadle (Timothy Spall) to arrest Barker and ultimately convicting him of a crime he didn't commit. He sentences Benjamin to 15 years in prison and adopt...
View full review
|
|
|
|
reviewed by Pippin2010 (Filmaster.com) on the 31st of January 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See one scene of this movie and you've seen them all. One-note performances from all involved. Then again I'm not one for this kind of music.