Sweeney Todd is a tragedy in every sense of the word. Don’t see it because you expect a classic horror piece, unlike the novel it is a classic revenge tale set as a musical. It is a haunting nightmare experienced awake. However you should be able to stomach blood, otherwise you will find it horrifically overplayed.
I have decided not to write a traditional movie review of Sweeney Todd. My original interest in this movie was all the buzz from the theatrical performance and novel. I now know I must to attend the Stephen Sondhiem musical as part of my own collection of life experiences. This screen version doesn't feel at all like stage and works perfectly, so to get yet another feel for this illicit story is something I will not miss.
What is compelling about this sad and tragic story is the love story behind it despite Sweeney Todd’s nefarious lifestyle. Where this stands on its own is that it gives Sweeney Todd a motive to kill that you accept as a moviegoer. Perhaps you must personally have some romantic tragedy in your life to appreciate this story (not the killing). I understood the sting of what happened to Benjamin Barker from my own life’s sudden tragedies. In that I mean the story begins with a character being “naive” and paying a terrible price for having done no wrong.
The story of Sweeney Todd is a intensely dark tale. The title character is brooding at his most optimistic moments. Sweeney Todd is portrayed here by Johnny Depp and filmed in the same surreal dark artistic manner Tim Burton first made a name for himself with in his own trademark stylized Edward Scissorhands, Batman and Beetlejuice movies. Yet I was drawn to it more as a musical.
I thought I was prepared for the gore and horror as it is aptly titled… Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I was forced to did turn my head many times as this was just too violent and realistic when depicting some murder scenes. This comes partially because in my own life, my brother took his life and I don’t look at death in movies with the same disconnect I once had. I can handle over the top silly gore such as zombies but when something looks real, I don’t react the same way.
The story is not quite as simple as some may explain it. So I’m going to spoil some of the front end for you as this is not simple a movie review.
The story begins with Benjamin Barker returning to England by ship. He answers in song to a youthful and innocent sailor that the world is not so kind and he of tells how when was a young man with a beautiful wife his life came took an abrupt change into hell. His crime? There was none. Unless being married to a beautiful woman is a crime. My having been married to a young and beautiful woman, I can tell you that many men covet what you have. This is the case in Benjamin Barkers life. His equally innocent wife was desired by another man whom had the power to craft his world around him.
Sweeney Todd sings that upon his return to London …Benjamin Barker is dead, he is now Sweeney Todd. While he spills out his sililoquy of how innocently he loved his wife this other man had him falsely arrested and taken away quickly leaving his wife with no one. What made it all possible was the other man held the position of a judge. He was a judge corrupted by power. While I don’t think in real life judges are corrupt, I know that judges are people too and they are just as prone to being fooled or worse yet… swayed by emotions. This judge wasn't just corrupted by his power... he was evil. In this movie there is one scene where the judge casts down a decision of death and “no mercy” to what I assume was a thief, because in this era it was common to punish thieves with death. Test me on this and you’ll find it is true. What gets a laugh from the audience is ironic. The camera cuts away to the bandit and he is a mere child. It is odd that in an effort to caricaturize the judge, the film makers stumbled onto historical accuracy. Judges often sent children to the gallows too. The details get long here so I won’t bore you.
It’s been 15 years and now Sweeney Todd’s daughter is the ward of the Judge, beautiful in her own right and by the way.. his wife was drugged and raped then apparently poisoned herself in protest to the judge those many years ago so that she may never face his further advances.
All this and there is no blood or gore in the story. So far all I see is the sadness in this man’s life. Totally screwed out of everything and having done nothing to earn such a fate.
The score is haunting and thematic. Haunting in that as characters such as Sweeney Todd are committing murder, he is singing of beatuiful women. That paradox is harmonic indeed. While that no one piece feels full, characters have their own themes to sing by and are tied to each other harmonically. The flow of some conversations are musically cute as they communicate back and forth. The cast is superior to their singing which you would conclude logically from actors. The vocals are by no means bad; I had no issue accepting Johnny Depp’s vocals.
For a time you think what is to happen next will be pleasing. It’s a story of vengeance and where you see a plan coming to fulfillment it is derailed at the apex. As a moviegoer this is what you want; twists and suspense. Were it not for the giveaway of the title and previews… what happens next would hit you like a pile of bricks.
If you are keen you see Sweeney Todd with one single pathos vision where everything around him has no meaning other than his target of revenge. He wants to settle the score with the man that took his life, the judge. Because the judge has so many pass through his chambers, Sweeney Todd is just another face. And I should add that to say he is settling a score sounds like a game. Perhaps you have to be truly screwed in this life to appreciate the drive and pain this character exhibits. You see Sweeney Todd, is left void of his will to live or love. Benjamin Barker did nothing wrong and spent 15 years of his life in a prison. When Bengjamin Barker sailed back to London (presumably from Australia) he had but a small glimmer of hope that his wife is to be found, let alone love him when he returns. When he meets a Mrs. Lovett’s whom now runs a meat pie shop where his home once was…. Shequickly ascertains that Sweeney Todd is Benjamin Barker. In fact she knew he was Benjamin Barker. Mrs. Lovett breaks the news that his wife swallowed poison in protest. His infant daughter is now grown with no recollection of a father. Now as Todd he never even attempts to find her as he has no bond with her so his heart is empty. But at this point he has not become the demon barber of Fleet Street. He wanted revenge with just one man, the judge …and his accomplice a Bailey.
Now wouldn’t you know it there is that beam of light that hope and naive sailor that happens to glance in a window to see Sweeney Todd’s long lost daughter, the ward of the judge. The judge sees the boy sailor and his thug accomplice rough him up telling him to show up again will result in a life in prison. This plays out and I won’t ruin the story for you.
But as his planning comes about to fruition… the judge escapes Todd's blade…
Now things get ugly. I won’t go on any further as I don’t want to destroy the movie if you decide to see it. But what takes place through-out is an intense tale that in the dark of a theater was disturbing enough I had to look away quite often.
Where Sweeney Todd refused to have any hope in any other outcome other than his one vision, he was now left with none.
The story throughout had the tone of one of my favorite stories by Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights. Now I’ve seen the classic version with Laurence Olivia and Merle Oberon (No I didn’t have to Google those names), and I’ve read the book. There is a dark brooding that disturbs you as you read it or watch the movie. You can’t shake it off. You demand some happiness take place but it just won’t happen. I feel confined in a prison of hopelessness in Wuthering Heights and that strong element is what I got from watching this story unfold.
In today’s world of big in movies, or the infamous Hollywood ending… I took a bit more from this than the usual moviegoer. It’s not one of my favorite films yet as a morbid tragic romance it did hit me square in the eyes and have impact. It was definitely worthwhile on a number of fronts, you just have to be a specific type audience member to appreciate it I suppose.
Was there a Sweeney Todd? I don’t think so although writer Peter Haining painstakingly archived crime history (dating 1785) in an effort to claim there was such a madman barber. Here is a little tidbit for you… according to Haining, the real Sweeney Todd (if there was one) didn’t slit the throats of his victims in his barber’s chair. The fall from dropping them through the trap door usually did the trick, eliminating any blood from his floor or someone walking in on a kill. He only slit throats in the basement if the fall was not enough. Makes it almost believable huh?
From my research I’ve learned that like the stories setting in the Victorian era (middle 1800’s). It is a story produced from an amalgamation of works. First Sweeney Todd was written as a character in 1846 by unknown authors (published in installments hence penned by multiple authors) and published by Edward Lloyd whom produced the Penny Dreadfuls; magazines featuring knock off or “pirated” versions of more popular writers. This story is rich in colloquial description (words such as: cacchinatory) and dated when you read it. But still worth reading. It is gripping and will put you on the edge of your seat.
The demon barber who’s victims became meat pies was written in a separate short story, “The String of Pearls: A Romance” (some title huh?) (Want to read it in full? Here: http://www.victorianlondon.org/mysteries/sweeney_todd-00.htm) A playwright then staged the short story by Thomas Prest claiming it was factual which gave it publicity boost as if it needed any considering the times. The proof or existence of Sweeney Todd is hard for me to authenticate but in an account by Haining where the actual trial of Sweeney Todd took place in 1801, he was convicted of only one of over 150 murders by way of a string of pearls. You see a young sailor made the ill-fated mistake of walking into Todd’s shop with them. From the alleged historical accounts, Sweeney Todd was the most notorious serial killer ever.
The first performance on stage was a year later in 1847. Later in 1850 it was published yet again as an extended version! The book itself vanished until printed again in 2005.
Yet in 1979 it did become a musical written by Christopher Bond (1973) with music by Stephen Sondheim. What I find most alluring about the music is that it contrasts with the dark and harsh environment the characters live in. It should be obvious but works perfectly in harmony with its subtlety.
As you may suspect the musical which I’ve outlined my review from pulls characters from the novel. The contrast in the book is worth reading if you like this movie as the motivation of Sweeney Todd is less human than the theatrical or screen performances. They are radically different in fact as he is even more bruital in the written form. The story is driven from the point of view of Johanna Oakley, where the screen version puts Sweeney Todd front and center, bigger than life. In this screen version you should get Benjamin Barkers motivation and at least understand why he is driven to such (pardon the pun) barbary. You have the much needed empathy for him, strangly enough. I should add the ending of the book delivers. Now if you really dig… you will find that an earlier tale was written in 1825 about a Paris barbershop and bakery where the deed of murder and meat pies may have originally been penned.
I'll see you at the stage performance next.
