Can the Living Marry the Dead?

Rating: 7/10 (15 February 2006)

Once again producer/director Tim Burton has successfully created a work of unique cinemagraphic art. From the title alone, The Corpse Bride, one might conclude this film too frightening a horror flick, but fans of Burton know this is rarely the case. He has truly painted a masterpiece in this stylized animated film. Fans of all ages will surely enjoy it.
It has been over fifteen years since the release of Burton's first macabre but amusing animated film, A Nightmare Before Christmas. Both of these whimsical Gothic fairy tales were made in the near antiquated art of stop action animation. Each and every character puppet, prop, and piece of scenery was crafted or sculpted by an artisan. The pieces are set up in a scene, much like a still life painting, and photographed. Each frame of the movie is a single shot with subtle changes such as the movement of an eyebrow or slight turning of the head. All of these progressions and facial expressions are done by hand, not computer, which is the norm in animation today. The puppet actor's lips and emotions must match what the live actors are saying. The work is tedious, time consuming and the end result may not be as streamlined as CGI, but every nuance and attention to detail, such as the subtle movements of fabric in the bride's veil, is ethereal and beautiful.
Like most directors, Burton routinely collaborates with the same amazing talents in his films. The Corpse Bride is no exception, even though this was a relatively low budget project. The actors lent their skill just for the sake of art itself. Johnny Depp has worked with Burton on a number of films, including Edward Scissorhands, and Sleepy Hallow. Other famous voices include Helena Bonham Carter (Big Fish), Joanna Lumley (James and the Giant Peach), Albert Finney, Christopher Lee and Tracey Ullman. Danny Elfman wrote the musical score elegantly. Elfman's style is similar in all of Burton's movies, but this time Victorian harpsichord music washes you into the creepy world of German Expressionism with cold cavernous foyers, slanty pointy imagery and demands an emotional response. Sometimes jazzy and vibrant, sometimes contradictory, the words of the songs tell parts of the story, perhaps not as well as in Nightmare, though. Elfman himself is the voice of Bonejangles, jazz-man and underworld storyteller. The song he sings detailing the demise of the title character is based on a Cab Callaway song. One must also appreciate the bride's maggot friend, a nice if somewhat obscure tribute to horror character actor Peter Lorre.
In The Corpse Bride, a story of unrequited love is true to Burton form. He brings together clashing worlds, the natural and the supernatural. Victor, a man from the "upstairs" land of the living, accidentally marries the corpse of a dead bride from "downstairs" or the land of the dead. As soon as he unknowingly puts the ring on her bony finger, the tragic angel rises from the dead and claims her groom. Right away viewers will notice the vastly opposite and topsy-turvy reversal of worlds. "Upstairs", where Victor (Johnny Depp) and his intended bride Victoria (Emily Watson) live is a repressed and rigid world of arranged marriages, formality, and greedy aristocratic parents. Life is more dead than alive, and Burton has shaded this world in frigid shadows and drabness. "Downstairs" on the other hand, is a world of blessed freedom, festivity, and vibrant color, more alive than dead. It is a welcomed departure from the horror of the mundane.
A Corpse Bride is bittersweet and sentimental from beginning to end, a seemingly silly love triangle with a bit of necromancy. As Bonejangles says, "What a story it is. A tragic tale of passion, romance, and murder most foul." Victor must choose his one true love between the lovely, shy, living, breathing Victoria or the giggly, but melancholy dead girl whose parts keep falling off. Does everything go according to plan? Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. This movie, like life (or death), is not perfect, and as most fairy tales go it is a bit predictable. All in all, one can forgive its flaws; enjoy its accomplishments and just delight in Burton's vision.