Tim Burton's lovely "Corpse Bride"

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2005)

Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" bills itself as a supernatural romantic comedy (much in the same avenue as his own 1993 effort "The Nightmare Before Christmas"), but upon closer inspection is revealed to be something much more touching. Co-directed by Burton himself and Mike Johnson, it's a tale of lost love and what is truly meant to be, and, as usual, Burton takes a macabre spin on the material, in this case it's the phrase "It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."
The Corpse Bride of the title does have a name, and it's Emily (Helena Bonham Carter). Yes, she is dead, dead as a doorknob. She's a walking, talking, rotting corpse, with bones falling from her body, her wedding gown is torn and faded, and a friendly maggot has taken up residence in her right eye socket and from time to time offers her advice much in the same vein as a conscience.
As the film opens in some unspecified time in what is presumably a Victorian-age England, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is about to be wed to Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) in an arranged marriage. The two of course have never met, and both have the wedding-day jitters. Victor comes from a rich family, and his parents (Tracey Ullman and Paul Whitehouse) are supportive their son is getting married. Victoria and her parents (Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney), however, come from a poor background. For the two to get married, Victor would have family and Victoria would find her way into money. The two are happy to be getting married, but is it meant to be?
However, Victor is such a nervous wreck he can't even remember his vows at the rehearsal ceremony. The priest gets fed up with his ineptitude to even recite a simple marriage vow and sends him out to memorize them. He wanders into the forest, practices and finally gets them right, even going so far as to use a tree limb as a woman's ring finger. But when he does slide the ring onto what he thinks is a branch sticking up from the ground, what emerges from underneath the dirt is the Corpse Bride.
It turns out that in the Land of the Dead (which is populated by those that look like they didn't make the cut to appear in Halloweentown), and because he was able to successfully recite his vows and place the ring on the bride's finger, Victor's marriage to Emily is legitimate. So Victor and Emily are in an unlikely but legal binding. The idea of the story is not to make Emily an object of horror, but of sympathy: she was murdered the night before her own wedding, so by being with Victor, she is given a second chance for wedded bliss that she could not obtain while alive.
If you know Burton, you know he specializes in freaks, and their acceptance more or less into normal society. Very often, said freaks are the heroes while "normal" individuals are evil. If you've seen "Batman" (1989), "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) and "Ed Wood" (1994), you'd know this. Here, in "Corpse Bride," it's no different as romance and tragedy become the centerpieces of Burton's tale.
The previews may mislead people into thinking "Corpse Bride" is a comedy, which is a stretch considering there are a few laughs but most are spare and have a macabre tone to them. The focal point is the theme of lost love, which is what should stick with viewers. The music and songs, by frequent Burton collaborator Danny Elfman, sometimes also help to drive home these points and even partially expresses Victor's newfound predicament: How can he be married to two different women at the same time? Mistakes happen, misunderstandings arise and hearts are broken in "Corpse Bride," but that's love, isn't it?
In a time when CGI rules everything around us, it's good to see a film take advantage of the old cinematic stop-motion techniques. I've seen enough computer-enhanced blockbusters this year to last a lifetime, and "Corspe Bride" comes as a lively, refreshing change from what is quickly becoming the norm. Tim Burton's imagination was obviously on overdrive here but in the right spot, and "Corpse Bride" may very well be his most touching film yet.
8/10