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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Just thought I'd put up a thread to say that I am REALLY excited to see Tim Burton's movie version of Sweeney Todd, which comes out on the 21st of December. Oh man, you guys have no idea how stoked I feel. 
I've been a fan of the original musical and of Sondheim works in general for years now. I think West Side Story is the only other movie adaptation of a Sondheim piece that I've ever seen. The last Sondheim piece to be adapted into a movie was A Little Night Music, back in 1978, so he's long overdue for another work of his to be adapted. And what better to adapt than one of his most popular (and what must be his darkest) works of all?
Here's a summary of the plot from IMDb, for those who don't know it already: "Benjamin Barker, a skilled barber with a lovely wife who is pregnant with their child, suddenly loses everything. He is sent away on a trumped-up charge to prison at Botany Bay, by the nefarious Judge Turpin, who has designs on his wife. Fast-forward some years later, when Benjamin escapes with help from the steadfast friendly sailor Anthony Hope. Returning to London and taking the name Sweeney Todd, he seeks to find out what has happened to his family. Mrs. Nellie Lovett, the widow who ran the bakery downstairs from Barker's shop, (and always had a crush on him), tells him of their horrible fate, which sends Barker/Todd over the edge into madness, consumed by the thirst for revenge against the Judge. Ever-practical, with the possibility of murder and mayhem afoot, Mrs. Lovett thinks of a fiendishly clever way that they can both make a killing...literally. But she hasn't been forthcoming about everything, unbeknownst to her new partner, and the engines of Fate begin to grind and roar, bearing all the parties involved to an unexpected and devastating denouement..."
I was dubious at first of seeing Burton's usual visual style in the early promotional photographs, and I didn't really like how "fake" Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter looked in their costumes and make-up. But now, after seeing the trailer, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and long clips of the music, I am far more pleased with the work that's been done for this movie. My worst fears are gone - Johnny can actually sing, the lead actors don't look too young for their roles, and the Burton style really works for the material better than I initially thought. The art direction and cinematography look spectacular, and there seems to be a TON of thought behind every decision made from the costumes to the sets to the make-up to the way characters are portrayed. I also now realize that the reason behind everyone looking a little bit "fake" is that they were trying to emulate the look of characters from silent horror films, which I think is really smart now.
The most heartening thing that I've heard, I think, was Stephen Sondheim himself praising the work that Burton has done. Also, he stated that he much prefers "actors who sing rather than singers who act," so he's probably not that put out by the fact that some of the singing voices (HBC's especially) are a little less than spectacular at points. So long as the soul of the character comes through strong and passionate, a little flat singing here and there won't hurt.
In short: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGSWEENEYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!111!1!!!ELEVENTY111!!!!!
I've been a fan of the original musical and of Sondheim works in general for years now. I think West Side Story is the only other movie adaptation of a Sondheim piece that I've ever seen. The last Sondheim piece to be adapted into a movie was A Little Night Music, back in 1978, so he's long overdue for another work of his to be adapted. And what better to adapt than one of his most popular (and what must be his darkest) works of all?
Here's a summary of the plot from IMDb, for those who don't know it already: "Benjamin Barker, a skilled barber with a lovely wife who is pregnant with their child, suddenly loses everything. He is sent away on a trumped-up charge to prison at Botany Bay, by the nefarious Judge Turpin, who has designs on his wife. Fast-forward some years later, when Benjamin escapes with help from the steadfast friendly sailor Anthony Hope. Returning to London and taking the name Sweeney Todd, he seeks to find out what has happened to his family. Mrs. Nellie Lovett, the widow who ran the bakery downstairs from Barker's shop, (and always had a crush on him), tells him of their horrible fate, which sends Barker/Todd over the edge into madness, consumed by the thirst for revenge against the Judge. Ever-practical, with the possibility of murder and mayhem afoot, Mrs. Lovett thinks of a fiendishly clever way that they can both make a killing...literally. But she hasn't been forthcoming about everything, unbeknownst to her new partner, and the engines of Fate begin to grind and roar, bearing all the parties involved to an unexpected and devastating denouement..."
I was dubious at first of seeing Burton's usual visual style in the early promotional photographs, and I didn't really like how "fake" Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter looked in their costumes and make-up. But now, after seeing the trailer, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and long clips of the music, I am far more pleased with the work that's been done for this movie. My worst fears are gone - Johnny can actually sing, the lead actors don't look too young for their roles, and the Burton style really works for the material better than I initially thought. The art direction and cinematography look spectacular, and there seems to be a TON of thought behind every decision made from the costumes to the sets to the make-up to the way characters are portrayed. I also now realize that the reason behind everyone looking a little bit "fake" is that they were trying to emulate the look of characters from silent horror films, which I think is really smart now.
The most heartening thing that I've heard, I think, was Stephen Sondheim himself praising the work that Burton has done. Also, he stated that he much prefers "actors who sing rather than singers who act," so he's probably not that put out by the fact that some of the singing voices (HBC's especially) are a little less than spectacular at points. So long as the soul of the character comes through strong and passionate, a little flat singing here and there won't hurt.
In short: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGSWEENEYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!111!1!!!ELEVENTY111!!!!!
Comments
Plus I'm really looking forward to this movie too. I love most of Tim Burton's stuff.
I didn't know that was coming out this weekend. Unfortunately, I plan on seeing The Golden Compass first. It looks pretty damn cool, and I'm all about the sexy Daniel Craig. ^_~
Also, from song clips I've heard on the official site and the Amazon soundtrack listing, the kid they have playing Toby sounds fantastic, and so sweet!
I am a little dubious of the choice to not use Danny Elfman music, but I'm sure the music from the stage show will be great (as I have not heard any of it yet). I am also really really interested to see how Tim Burton films a musical, it is something that he has never done before.
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZcHNmFdiuQ
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYXpVu3R8rw
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVmZWp1W9Pk
OMT I'm not the only one! *does the para-para.*
I'm glad you didn't hate the movie, at least. From your comments, I can tell that I'm probably still going to enjoy it as much as I enjoy the stage show since your major complaints lie with things that don't bother me, personally.
Overall, I was more than satisfied with this adaptation. It's visually beautiful, the orchestration is magnificent, the acting is fairly good, and the singing really grew on me, especially now that I see it set against the characters in motion. "Pretty Women" still bugged me the way it always did in the stage show, but I was surprised that Anthony's "Johanna" solo didn't bug me at all since they trimmed it down, I think.
My biggest issues with the movie were with how fake the bloody parts were (Kill Bill-style gore doesn't really seem to fit with the style this movie's going for), and how the thing with the Beggar Woman was a bit too easy to spot in this version. Including her at the very beginning after Todd and Anthony get off the boat the way it happens in the stage show and including her funny prostitution bit would have done wonders for her character in the movie. Oh well, at least a bit of her prostitution gag is still on the soundtrack.
But anyway, on the whole, I still loved it, and I don't think its faults are big enough to really knock off any points with me, personally. Go see it, everyone!
Sorry, I like noticing things, so just ignore this.
Holy crap! A Tim Burton movie WITHOUT Danny Elfman?!
An anomaly has been created! You CAN divide by zero!