depp does sondheim proud in sweeney
Sunday, 10 February 2008 | | |
Depp does Sondheim proud in `Sweeney Todd'
By Rito Asilo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:32:00 01/19/2008
"Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
D: Tim Burton
S: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron
Cohen
MANILA, Philippines--How far would you go to avenge the loss of your
family? For Sweeney Todd, the answer is easy: Till the last drop of
his blood--literally!
With "Sweeney Todd," this year's worthy recipient of the Golden
Globes' Best Picture in a Comedy/Musical, visionary director Tim
Burton expands his foray into the movie-musical genre--which began
with 2005's acclaimed animated gothic romance, "Corpse Bride"--and
delivers a brilliantly realized albeit compressed big-screen
adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's popular 1979 stage
musical. The darkly brooding, unapologetically bloody musical couldn't
have fallen into better hands!
Set in 19th century England, the production follows the story of
barber, Benjamin Barker (played to tragic perfection by Johnny Depp,
who also won Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy at the Globes), who, with
the help of young sailor, Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower), returns
to London 15 years after he's banished to Australia by evil Judge
Turpin (Alan Rickman) for a crime he didn't commit.
During the barber's exile Down Under, Turpin rapes Barker's distraught
wife, Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly)--who consequently poisons herself
with arsenic, leaving daughter, Johanna (Jayne Wisener), in the care
of the opportunistic judge.
Thirsting for revenge, and with the help of his former landlady, Mrs.
Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), and her loyal errand boy, Toby (the
talented Ed Sanders), Benjamin--now called Sweeney Todd--opens a
barber shop, where he lures and kills his victims, whom he considers
"conspirators" of London's corrupt aristocracy (among them arch rival,
Signor Adolfo Pirelli, played with over-the-top gusto by Sacha Baron
Cohen)--and makes them the "main ingredient" of Mrs. Lovett's' most
scrumptious meat pies!
Burton creates a maleficent world swathed in gothic gloss and cruel
beauty. In his clever hands, Sondheim's quick, syncopated music,
acerbic wit and adult humor become an intimate, expository medium used
to "explain" character motivation--without compromising the power of
Sondheim's discordant notes and dissonant musical beauty.
Depp's voice may not be suited for the stage but, on the silver
screen, his full-bodied baritone makes Sweeney Todd's unfortunate fate
and vitriolic craving for vengeance throb with life and terror.
If you loved Adam Shankman's marvelous film adaptation of "Hairspray"
for its verve and show-stopping savvy, "Sweeney Todd" is at the other
end of the musical spectrum--its gore and violence will remind viewers
that the world is no playground. And that the film's protagonist is a