The film that may do to pies what Psycho did to motel rooms...

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2008)

In the late 70's, Stephen Sondheim's gruesome masterpiece "Sweeney Todd" debuted on Broadway. It polarised its audience in a way that few musicals ever had before, nor ever have done since. With such rich source material, it would be hard to make a bad film version of such a landmark of the musical theatre. On the other hand, it would be equally as difficult to make a film version that italicises everything that made the stage version such a masterwork. Congratulations Tim Burton, you've performed the latter. The story, well-known to most thespians, tells the tale of Sweeney Todd (Depp), loving husband and doting father, transported for a crime he didn't commit by a sinister and ambitious Judge (Rickman). He returns to London to enact his own brand of revenge on the Judge and anyone else standing in his way. Along the way he partners up with Mrs. Nellie Lovett, his land-lady and owner of the meat pie shop (Bonham Carter) who suggests that people would make good edibles, marking one of the films turning points where she and Sweeney undertake a delightfully demented dance over the thrill of wondering what different people taste like. With a plot line as unsavoury as this does the film still stand up as a tasty morsel? You bet it does. By the way, there's blood. Lots of it. And singing. Lots of it too. Got it? Good. It is extremely rare to find anyone so closely matched to the source material as Burton is to Todd. It almost feels like this film was made to be directed by him. His Gothic, twisted sense of humour closely parallels the humour prevalent in Christopher Bond's story and the subtle innuendos implied in Sondheims lyrics. Likewise, his colour palette of mainly black, white and red, juxtaposed with the blindingly vibrant colours of the dream sequences create a feast for the eyes that is as satisfying as that of the ears. Equally as perfectly suited to the film is Johnny Depp, who plays Sweeney as a simmering cauldron of hatred and contempt for his fellow man. His is a character who has suffered so much and encourages so much pathos from the audience, that, in a sense, it makes it easier to digest his evil deeds. He's practically emotionless. It's almost as if he dares the viewer to explore his tortured soul through his cold, dead eyes. Equally as affecting is Carter, who's Mrs. Lovett is anything but the incarnation of either an Angela Lansbury or a Patti LuPone (both women who have played the role on Broadway). Carter finds the humour in every moment and her dry delivery of some of the films witty one-liners offer the perfect ying to Todd's yang. While Sweeney's motive is revenge, her motive is love: A love for Sweeney that is never reciprocated and a desire for a family. It is her heart that beats in sync with the heart of the film. She's spellbinding. Rickman does what Rickman does best, playing the twisted Judge, replete with his rumbling bass voice, while Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the highlights of the film in a small cameo as Adolfo Pirelli. Vocally, as well as physically, each performance is perfectly-pitched. For a musical so often in the repertoire of the highest-ranking opera houses in the world, it is hard to imagine Depp or Carter being able to out-sing some of the vocal giants that have played their roles. They don't. But they both act the roles so well it's hardly at the forefront of the mind. In the true style of Sondheim, the songs become like internal monologues, giving us an insight into the characters thought processes. Not one bit of this film feels stagy. The songs are interwoven so seamlessly through the dialogue that you hardly notice it's a musical. Rarely has a film understood exactly what the original author had intended, yet Sweeney achieves this admirably. Sondheim, himself, gave this film his tick of approval. Throughout his career, Burton has been at the forefront of innovation. Taking us to places beyond the average filmmaker. Not unlike Nellie Lovett, another enterprising salesperson, Tim Burton manages to lure us into his world and make us buy what he's selling. Let's be clear, Sweeney Todd is a difficult sell. The Depp fan-boys won't like the singing and the Depp fan-girls won't like the blood. It's too campy for the horror genre, and too horrific for the campy genre. But it's a masterpiece. Consider it sold.