Tragically Beautiful...Visceral.

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2008)

Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" encourages its viewers to lick their lips at the prospect of this work as the ideal treat, and perhaps we should. In the remaking of this story, going half way will bring nothing to the work; nothing to the world, and Burton seems to realize this, as he goes nowhere if not all the way. He not only walks up to the theoretical bell, but he rings it, unabashedly.
Hailed as the bloodiest musical in the history of the stage, it now becomes the bloodiest adaptation of a musical to film in history, and it isn't a joyful gambol. This is a dark telling of deeds driven by heartbreak, filled with a desperate chaos and (pardon the awful and probably often-used pun) bloody good meat pies. But fans of the work know all this from the start, and we feel endeared that Burton keeps the story close to the source; a fact which, for those hapless members of the viewing audience who have no prior exposure to this twisted historical story, promises no happy ending for our characters.
In all actuality, the audience receives a much better ending than a mere banal happiness could convey; no cavorting romps through fields of wildflowers for them! It receives the only ending possible because Burton does not attempt to rewrite history in his telling. Contributing along this twisted Memory Lane are beautiful darkling performances by Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Ed Sanders, and Alan Rickman, with the demented silhouettes of Dariusz Wolski's cinematography, and a diabolical (and slick) production style by Dante Ferretti. Each of these lovely elements comes together to allow Burton to conjure the visceral essence of a 19th century London reflected so aptly by Henry Mayhew's "Labour and the London Poor," a serious influence over famous Dickensian works, which assumed the sad and often disgusting job of reporting on London's more seedy "Cheep Side."
The heart-beat of the story itself is so strong as to lend a palpable pulse to this work. The (anti-)heroes are forged of the heartbreak of life itself; its villains are made villainous by life itself, and they all waltz to the Death March played wistfully on the flute of that same life, which has forged their very beings. The acting is so poignant that it enrolls us as subscribers to this diabolical tale. And even as we gasp and cover our mouths in shock, there is the hint of a sardonic smile at the corner of our mouths, as the dark humor does not escape its target.
Burton lovingly creates this musical with a near lover's touch, with vocal performances which are intimately offered, softly whispered, lovingly delivered. These darkly delicious Sondheims are filled with despair paired with a desperate longing for a world untouched by the evils of man. They are plot-driven and carry the story, rather than interrupting it.
In reality, this film works as pseudo-history. It is not meant that we should take it as fact, but that it delivers the story without resorting to tongue-in-cheek camp. This is a completely beautiful balance; delicate and even fragrant, and Burton never fails to stop to point out its beauty in an incongruous way. This is a tragedy, in which Johnny Depp delivers a near-Biblical performance. The surprise is that instead of taking Helena Bonham Carter with him, she walks along beside him on her own tragic, but capable path.
All in all? I loved this work. It is darkly wonderful, and our two stars never missed a mark. This is suitable for watching on Friday/Saturday nights, but NOT by an audience any younger than 18 without fear of mandatory life-long therapy. But I love it.
It rates a 9.8/10 from...
the Fiend :.