As some of you may know, Sweeney Todd: The Movie will be coming out in January 2008. It stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, amoung others. It is directed by Tim Burton.
Now, for those of you who don’t know, I am a fan of the musical, and in particular a fan of Stephen Sondheim who wrote he music and lyrics for the show.
The point of this post is to give my vies and hopes for the film.
For those of you who don’t know, the musical is about a barber named Sweeney Todd who comes to London to seek his family. He learns that his daughter is the ward of the judge who sent him out of the country unfairly and his wife has apparently killed herself after being raped by the said judge. Sweeney meets a pie maker in London, Mrs. Lovett, who makes “The Worst Pies In London.” Her shop is where his barber shop used to be. She tells him that he can use the upstairs part of her shop to do his barbering business again, while he tries to get revenge on the judge by killing him. In the meantime, he kills every person who comes to his shop and Mrs. Lovett makes pies out the them to get rid of the bodies. The story unfolds from there…
I think that this musical should be rated 16 (or American “R”). Tim Burton said so himself that he was aiming for an “R” rating. Whether the studio (Warner Bros.) will allow this remains to be seen. Since the film has already been shot and is currently in post-production, we might see an “uncut” version on DVD if it ends up being rated PG-13 for cinemas.
There are many people rooting for a PG-13, though (mostly those who are not yet 16). They seemed to forget, however, that the Judge’s “Johanna” song will HAVE to be in the movie, and that song alone can take it to 16. The Judge is seen flogging and pleasuring himself by watching his adopted daughter undressing through the keyhole of her bedroom.
That, and the fact that cannibalistic acts are witnessed in the musical, should push it for 16. If it is not 16, then this musical would not be done justice. One’s audience might be smaller, but the quality and story would be better.
Besides the rating, I am concerned about Johnny Depp. Firstly, because I don’t want to see screeching fan girls in the row in front of me giggling about how hot Johnny Depp is. Secondly, because this is probably the most difficult singing part in in musical theatre, and Johnny has no singing experience whatsoever. I heard that Sondheim auditioned him, so we’ll wait and see.
I am also a little scared for Tim Burton. He is a fine director, but he will attract these emo-pre-teens with black dyed hair to the movie. That is the last thing that this film needs. I don’t want to sit with fan girls in front of me and goth-wannabe-nightmare-before-Christmas-tee-shirt kiddies behind me.
Helena Bonham Carter. She’s a fine actress, but her singing voice is a little weak for Mrs. Lovett, if Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride is anything to go by.
Anyway, I won’t judge this movie before I at least see a trailer. We don’t even have a poster yet. The one above is a fan-made poster.
Hope they don’t mess too much with it. Sondheim’s work is perfect as it is. One doesn’t mess with perfection.
