Running Time: 116 minutes
A man with a sweet tooth for revenge and a woman seeking a new ingredient for her meat pies. Stephen Sondheim's musical about a vindictive barber with a plan to slit his enemy's throat--even if it means going through every other throat in London first--and his lover, who is all too happy to conceal the evidence in savory crust has been remade again, this time by acclaimed director Tim Burton, the man behind Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. And if those dark, quirky films are any indication, Burton's personality is probably the best to take this twisted musical and actually make it work on the silver screen.
Benjamin Barker was a mild-mannered barber, married to a beautiful young woman with a beautiful baby girl. Yet, tragically, Benjamin Barker was also naive, and believed the world to be his box of chocolates. Never did he imagine that there might be others who wanted a piece of what he had, and when Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) accused him of a crime he'd had no part in, he had nothing to say to the life sentence he received. Torn from his lover's arms, Barker was exiled to prison, never to return.
Fifteen years later, a sailor finds a man floating on the tides and reels him in. He sports a rather scattered appearance--his hair sticks out wildly, a white streak breaking through the otherwise oily black forest upon his head. He introduces himself to the boy as a fellow traveller--name's Sweeney Todd. Life has not been kind to Mr. Todd, and his brooding personality and harsh tones accentuate this fact.
Sweeney finds his way to Fleet Street, home of Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies. He steps in, shocking the frazzled patron. Quickly, before he can escape, she forces him to try one of her pies--"these are probably the worst pies in London," she admits--and something strong to wash it down with. He inquires about the room above her shop: apparently, it's haunted by the ghosts of those wronged in it fifteen years ago. Benjamin Barker was his name, a man wrongfully accused, his wife poisoning herself after having been raped by the local magistrate only to leave her daughter in his clutches.
Todd's reaction to the news confirms Lovett's suspicions--"Benjamin Barker?"--to which the dark figure replies that that man died long ago. All that is left within this shell of a man is the clawing need to have revenge on the man who has taken everything from him.
One day Lovett and Todd are in town and they see Signor Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen), the self-proclaimed "King of barbers and barber of kings." After enduring Pirelli's attempt to sell of some miracle hair-growth elixir Todd steps forward and challenges Pirelli's claim to being insurmountable in his trade. He deftly defeats the Italian and wins a sizable sum from him. The following day Signor Perelli arrives in Todd's barber shop with a threat: he recognizes Barker, and would hate to have to reveal his identity to, say, a certain judge. Half of Sweeney's profits from now on would probably stop him from making such revelations though.
Cornered by fear and anger, Todd grabs a nearby kettle and swings it into Pirelli's head, bludgeoning him continuously until his blood has all but stained the wooden floor. And so begins the bloodbath. Indeed, a movie with a serial killing barber slitting throats would be rather ridiculous without a proper amount of crimson flow, and as Todd promises his silver blades--his "lucky friends"--they will soon drip rubies. Lots and lots of rubies.
A series of events prevents Todd from successfully slitting Judge Turpin's throat upon his first appearance in Sweeney's chair, resulting in a furious "epiphany" of sorts. "There's a hole in the world like a great big pit / And it's filled with people who are filled with s--- / And the vermin of the world inhabit it / But not for long . . . / They all deserve to die!"
Thus begins a downward spiral into what becomes senseless murder, deception, and cannibalism. How murdering people will help get the judge back into Todd's shop doesn't seem to be an issue--all he cares about is revenge: "Not one man / No, not ten men / Nor a hundred / Can assuage me." With no idea how he will go about getting this revenge, Todd vows to "practice" on lesser blokes.
It should be mentioned that most of the vulgarity of this movie is not in the murders themselves. The blood was apparently orange (so that Burton could darken and de-saturate afterward) and although the spurting seems quite realistic (the penultimate throat-slashing douses Todd and the walls behind him in warm, spewing liquid), they are done just stylistically enough that you probably won't find yourself on the brink of vomiting at any time (except, perhaps, when the "meat" is shown in all its glory). No, the true horror of Sweeney Todd is the way in which Todd and Lovett become possessed by the crimes. What begins as a perhaps justifiable attack on the unfair, inhuman class system that allows a man such as Turpin to wield power unjustly against the poor below becomes a warped series of logic jumps--"For what's the sound of the world out there / Those crunching noises pervading the air / It's man devouring man, my dear / And who are we to deny it in here?" is how the pair justifying baking victims into pies. The final scene is so brutal in a psychological sense that it is impossible to leave the theater with an ounce of the laughter evoked throughout the movie by the incredibly witty dialogue.
However, just because Todd ends on a sour note doesn't mean it's off-key. Plot-wise, the musical is ingenious and inspired. The social commentary it offers behind the bloody veneer is one that all can relate to, even if the cramped locale of Fleet Street tends to exacerbate the tension a bit. Musically, it's amazing how well these non-vocalists perform. Admittedly, you might find a few of the younger cast members to be slightly annoying (young, British kids usually are) however the songs are clever and catchy.
The movie definitely deserves its 'R' rating, but for those with the stomach for it Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is an exceptionally tight, brilliant musical. Throw in talent like Johnny Depp and directing gold-mine Tim Burton, and you've got one bloody good show.
Links:
~Sweeney Todd on IMDb
~Sweeney Todd trailer on Apple Trailers
~Sweeney Todd official site
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