My Sweeney Todd review
First it has to be said that I stood my friend up for the movie. She said we’d meet at the Drexel Campus theaters and I read “Arena Grand.” I checked and the email still said Drexel Campus and I still read Arena Grand. I’ve decided to write appointments down on my whiteboard not as a means of keeping track but as a means of making me actually read messages instead of scan them as I am wont when they’re on email because I scan my 100+ daily messages as my standard operating procedure.
Now on to the review.
Honestly I think this is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The content was perfectly suited to Tim Burton’s cinematic style and significantly, the content was worthy of his skills. I love Sweeney Todd. I love the story but I adore the music and I think it was a perfectly crafted stage production (you can catch it on DVD) and I think this was a perfectly crafted film.
Yes, it was gory (really gory) and it left me feeling like I was carrying a brick around in my stomach for about two hours after (it also made fair Columbus seem like a pit of despair) so it’s one of those movies that I’d say absolutely you should go see it but prepare to take it with you when it’s over. Very effective.
Johnny Deep is terrific — I liked his take on Sweeney as an automan powered by grief and revenge and let’s face it, even in full make-up and a fright wig the man still has wondrously slim hips. Helena Bonham Carter is swell, too. Alan Rickman, the kid who plays Toby — everyone is perfectly cast. Except … well, they can’t sing. Oh sure, they can stay on-key (there were only a few places where I caught notes being “dumbed down” — most significantly in “Green Finch and Linnet Bird.” But they sing breathy and soft and you can tell that production has to amp them up (with the exception of Toby). Whenever Sweeney needs to get intense he starts piping the music through his nose so instead of opening up and getting bigger, his voice gets smaller and more consolidated.
I found it aurally painful every time they started to sing. Honestly. It hurt my head. Sweeney Todd is such a beautiful score and it was like hearing one sour violin in just about every song.
The interesting thing about Sondheim is that he’s open to not having great voices in his shows as long as they’re great singers. I mean, Elaine Stritch? She’s no Julie Andrews but then Julie Andrews is no Elaine Stritch. (Watch her bring down the house singing her Sondheim signature The Ladies Who Lunch — hell, she messes up the first note.) But you have to understand the music to bring the character out in it and I got the feeling that Johnny Depp has a terrific grasp of the character but not so much with the music. (Helena was painful, too, with a breathy soprano that even produced all to hell could barely compete with the instruments.)
I hear the guy on Fresh Air talking about the movie (he loved it, too) and he pointed out that the big bombastic style of a blow-off-the-rafters Broadway veteran wouldn’t work in the intimacy of the movie and I agree. But Johnny Depp can’t sing at all. I’m not dissing Johnny — I thought he was terrific and I can see why they left him in despite the singing and I think he could win an Oscar for it.
The movie was otherwise, I think, perfect. And if you’re not familiar with the original (or the recent revival) I think maybe you won’t be as pained as I was. The film was so damn effective despite the singing, which really speaks to how good it was. I just hope that if folks like the movie and if they love the music (as they should — man, it’s SUCH a beautiful score!!) that they’ll treat themselves to the Broadway recording.
(My favorite scene? I have to say at the end of “A Little Priest” where Mrs. Lov
ett and Sweeney frame themselves in the window as a tribute to the poster for the original show. Least favorite part? Toby being recast as a boy just about Noah’s age. Yowch. But again, very effective if hard to watch.)
Side by side comparison (and this will let you see how perfectly gorgeous, perfectly suited, perfectly designed the movie is) courtesy of YouTube. If you don’t like stage musicals the musical version will look way too musical-y to you but listen to them sing. George Hearn has a beautiful, beautiful voice plus — and this is one of the things I really love about musical theater — this is absolutely unproduced, live talent. Fantastic.
Johnny Deep and Helena Bonham Carter singing My Friends (this has stills from the film but little action)
George Hearn and Angela Lansbury singing My Friends (bonus, this guy uploaded the whole DVD)
Bonus: I was so happy to find this on youtube! It’s the great Sondheim himself teaching people how to sing his songs and this is him teaching My Friends. Pretty fascinating. If I remember correctly, he teaches singers to sing and then actors to sing. If you’re a writer you’ll appreciate what he says about the lyrics.
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This post originally appeared at this woman’s work. You can comment at the original post.
I loved the movie so much that I play the music in my kitchen and my kids sing it with me. My daughter and I do the window seen on key(I think). We own “I own I want you bleeders shirts”and my other daughter has “Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pies - serving people since 1824″ We’ve watched it about 8 xs. Big JD fans and I’ve been told I resemble Helena. Good or bad who knows. Well anyway, I have 3 children ages 4(boy) 9(girl)-big Sweeney fan - going to be Mrs. Lovett for Halloween and 13 (girl). My 13 year old didn’t want to see it (doesn’t like blood) and now she adores the movie. We are also big Disney fans.
Anything else about Johnny or Disney keep me informed.
Lora