Thursday

I should preface my remarks on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by saying that I have little patience for musicals. I went to see this movie, however, on the understanding that it was a very un-musical musical, and because it was directed by Tim Burton. He's a director that I initially liked, but have come to be suspicious of. Are any of his movies actually any good? Ed Wood, perhaps, is remarkable, but it stands as a rare example rather than a general trend. Anyway, this is a subsequent issue. The singing starts within about thirty seconds of this film beginning, and thus immediately I was on edge. Perhaps what irritates me is the singing of unspectacular lines. I don't mind songs at passionate, dramatic moments, when a character is in tension, but when a character sings 'I'm walking down the street', or something equally mundane, I am tempted to punch them. I was, however, gripped by the plot (this coming from a play by Christopher Bond), and tried to engage with the characters. The stage design, as always with Burton, looks far too artificial, and the speeding camera shots through the East-end streets were unnecessary, annoying, and failed to give the film the scope or size intended. It still felt like a series of solitary sets with nothing tying them together. The songs kept slowing the pace down. Towards the end, however, as the inevitable conclusion drew nearer, the film does pick up, and the finale is satisfyingly grim. The performance of Depp was appropriate, but he is hardly doing anything innovative here. Overall, what was interesting about this movie came from other sources. Of course it is well made and produced, but I don't think it is a good, lasting film, and it's been significantly over-praised in the media.