First Look - Sweeney Todd Review

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 8:25am

From Roger Friedman at FoxNews.com:

Last night, at Rose Hall in Jazz at Lincoln Center, a lucky few of us got to see about 25 minutes of footage of “Sweeney Todd.” This is the long awaited film version of Stephen Sondheim’s magnificent 1981 Broadway musical, directed by Burton and starring Johnny Depp as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, his accomplice.

The Oscar race just got officially really, really interesting.

The three set pieces we saw were, in a word, spectacular. They were also just enough to light a fire and suggest that Paramount Dreamworks has a potential Best Picture nominee in “Sweeney Todd,” and maybe even a winner.

Both Depp and Carter sing, as do Sasha “Borat” Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and three important newcomers: Jayne Wisener, Jamie Bower, and Ed Sanders. Of the three, we only got to hear Bower besides Depp and Carter. But young Bower turns out to be a winner. His rendition of my favorite number from “Sweeney”—“Joanna”—just knocked out the crowd.

And just a hint of what Depp does in this film was demonstrated in a number called “My Friends,” in which Sweeney sings to his recovered barber tools after returning from 15 years in prison. The number was breathtaking.

Unfortunately we won’t know more about “Sweeney Todd” until November 29th. Burton told me last night that’s the first possible day he can screen it as the movie is still being edited! “We will deliver a ‘wet’ print straight to you,” he said.

This much I can now confirm: as Stephen Sondheim said in this column a few weeks ago, the film version is shorter and a little different than the stage musical. The main song, “Attend the Tale,” has been removed, as have a few others including some interstitial material. “I had to let the movie and the story stand on their own,’ Burton said. “Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd framed it for a theater audience. And we’ve actually added a lot of music back into the show.”

Fans of the show needn’t worry, though. The instrumental score remains intact, and you can hear bits and pieces of the excised songs in it. As a “Sweeney Todd” buff, I can tell you that the movie seems very true to the stage version. There doesn’t seem reason for worry.

What there does seem reason for is celebration. Burton may have pulled off a great theater to film transfer. He’s retained the grisly aspect of the show, of course: Sweeney slits a lot of throats and ‘there will be blood,’ even more than in the movie of that name. It spurts and squirts in quantities.

But this is what we also got from seeing this footage: Johnny Depp can sing, and he makes for an impressive Sweeney. The look and attitude are right. The performance should earn him an Oscar nomination as well. Carter, who specializes in playing “off’ types, makes an excellent comic and romantic foil for him.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311781,00.html

Sounds promising!

[kasim]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 8:40am

Nice review.

It sucks that "attend the tale" isn't there ... but that does make sense. That song really wouldn't work as well for a movie.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 9:42am

1981????

[Elphie3]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 9:52am

I hope they do an homage to it at the end of the film - maybe over the credits. But hey, as we've all learned, better do a GOOD adaptation for the film medium then throw the whole show on screen and have it not work.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:08am

I was there last night, and I agree: the movie looks spectacular.

The Ballad isn't in the film, but after Depp finishes "My Friends" (and, yes, he can sing), the camera pans away while the score of the ballad echoes powerfully. It's not sung (just instrumental) but it's very effective.

They also showed "Epiphany" and "Johanna Act II". Depp is great in "Epiphany". He's angry, he's impulsive...exactly what you'd expect. His interaction with Lovett is very sexually charged. Intense stuff.

"Johanna" is...simply stunning. And it's bloody as all hell. The audience actually screamed the first time Sweeney slashed a throat. It's very graphic - from the slicing of the throat (you can actually see the skin being torn, and there's lots of blood), to the sights of the bodies falling violently to the lower floor. Very intense. Depp's performance during this scene was very impressive: his is a detached, cold, hopeless Sweeney. It's a very understated performance, and I for one was thoroughly impressed with his choices.

All 3 scenes were very loyal to the spirit of original stage production. The hardcore Sweeney fans will be pleased, and the average moviegoer who's never seen or heard the show will be enthralled.

If the footage is any indication of what the film is as a whole, then I'm very optimistic.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:18am

That makes me so happy coming from you, Chica. And wow, what intense scenes to screen.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:28am

I was a bit bothered that "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" was not going to be included. But the instrumental will be there and for all of us who know it, it will still be nice to know that at least included in some form.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:40am

Cannot. Wait. And thanks for the heads up about the graphic violence. I am a giant baby and appreciate such forewarning.

[NJluvstheatre]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:14am

Sweeney song leaked from screening. Johanna. Listen quick before it's pulled. Go to "that" site and after .com type:
/watch?v=9izBfG6gL2o Hurry, quick!

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:19am

Now I'm even more excited

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:41am

I want to point out that there's laughter in the audience, but a lot of that was that was a reaction to how sudden and bloody the murders are. The first one, especially, just happens, and you almost don't expect it (even if you ARE expecting it). And then it happens, and it's SO graphic, that people screamed, squirmed in their seats, and, yes, some laughed. I didn't get the sense people were mocking it, and the scene's certainly not played for laughs. But I can't really fault people for having that reaction, because it's so sudden and graphic.

And later one, there's genuine laughter at the "Oh, this guy brought his wife and child along, so, damn I can't kill him" scene. Which IS funny.

I think the song sounds great, and Depp's voice is fitting to the character.

[Mythus]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:49am

They're also laughing because it's funny...the gruesome killings matched with such a sweet song. It's supposed to be funny.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 12:10pm

It can be funny depending on the staging, and audience's dispositions. But I disagree that the song itself, or the contrast between the violence and sentiment, is supposed to be funny. It's probably the most emotionally charged song in the entire piece. I'm not saying it's entirely devoid of humor - because Sweeney is a very, very funny show. But to interpret this song as funny because it's a man singing about love and loss while committing heinous crimes is, I think, missing the point. There's a fine line between tragedy and comedy - but the most effective way to interpret this song (and certainly Sweeney as a whole) is as tragedy, with some elements of comedy. Not the other way around. That's obvious to everyone who knows the show, but the average moviegoer doesn't. So it's important to convey the emotions in a way that's effective, without veering into melodrama. And I think the film does it remarkably well.

I'm not surprised some people laughed, as audiences seem predisposed to find gruesome deaths funny (why they so often laugh at horror movies). But I got the feeling Burton isn't really going for laughs here, and Depp certainly isn't in his performance. They play it straight, and the violence isn't so much funny, as poetic. However gruesome it may be.

ETA: Also, it wasn't really thunderous laughter. Just a few chuckles here and there (which is to be expected). I was mostly responding to some friends' (private) comments over the laughter they heard on the clip on the forbidden site, which they assumed was the audience responding negatively to the movie. On the contrary, all 3 clips had overwhelmingly positive response.




Updated On: 11/15/07 at 12:10 PM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 12:15pm

I got to attend. I'll post my review soon. I'm speechless.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 12:48pm

This makes me so haaaaaaappy.

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 12:59pm

The good kind of speechless, I hope?

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 1:22pm

Umm... yes, yes, YES!

Everyone sounds FIERCE! What did we do to deserve this?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 1:28pm

The second act "Johanna" is supposed to be funny. Part of the genius of Sondheim and Wheeler to give the audience the relase mechnism of laughter during one of the most violent scenes in the musical.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 1:52pm

On the New York Philharmonic CD and the DVD, you can hear the laughter during Johanna. The revival was different because it didn't show all the extraneous murders (they didn't have the ensemble members to spare :-P), but that scene had always gotten laughs in productions before when you see the chair in action.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 1:58pm

I've seen numerous productions of Sweeney Todd from pretty much all over the world, including the original version with Cariou. The song has never, not once, struck me as funny. There are funny moments in it, sure, but as a whole, it's just never resonated as being humorous in tone. Of course, Doyle's revival is the only version where there's absolutely no room for laughter in the song (and, personally, as beautiful as it was, I missed the lighter side of this song in that production).

Of course, a lot of one's perception is subjective, and just because I don't find it funny, by no means it was not the intention. But that's just my personal relationship to the piece; its dramatic elements far outweigh whatever comedic "release" the song offers in the show.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 2:30pm

Crap, what happened? did my computer eat my review? Updated On: 11/15/07 at 02:30 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 2:31pm

Chica,

You may not personally find it funny, but the humour has always been there. There is pronounced, purposeful laughter in both the commercially available television broadcast with George Hearn and on the several live videos of the Broadway production at TOFT /Lincoln Center archives.

If SWEENEY had no room for laughter, it would be unbearable. John Doyle's revival may not have had the funny moments in "Johanna" but it found humour in other unexpected places.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 2:35pm

This was written for Aint it Cool, so sorry if its over-explainy

SWEENEY TODD CLIPS

THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD

The clips were of the songs "My Friends," "Epiphany," and Sweeney's rendition of "Johanna" (my favorite moment in the show). Each were presented in their entirety. Nothing has been cut from the original songs as far as I could tell. Sweeney has long been my favorite piece of theater, and let me just say, if the fifteen minutes or so I saw was any indication, this is a nearly perfect adaptation in every way.

*My Friends: This is the same bit as was shown in Venice. Sweeney has come home to find his wife poisoned herself and his daughter has been adopted by the villainous pervert Judge Turpin, who sent Sweeney to prison. Lovett brings out his "friends," his razors. I'm happy to report that Johnny Depp, as he sings to his razors, is not an awful singer. He's not great, but he's going to pull off the role with no complaints from me or theater purists. He sounds a bit pop-ish in held notes, but he's really quite decent.

There are some beautiful shots here, with Sweeney and Lovett reflected in the razors. This ended with a wonderfully bombastic instrumental version of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," which has been cut from the film, but it seems like it will have a big presence in the score after all.

*Epiphany: This is the song when Sweeney REALLY loses it. Having just lost the opportunity to kill the man who wronged him, he actually grabs Lovett and puts the razor to her neck as he sings. This bit was not in any production I've seen and I was quite shocked by it. If the clips are any indication, Lovett's infatuation with Todd is going to be brought to a whole new level of tragedy and misguidedness in this film.

We cut to Sweeny roaming the grey, desaturated streets of London. He sings threateningly to the passerby, who don't notice or see him, swinging his razor in the air. This is all rather brilliant, though I thought that Depp might let loose a little more than he does in this scene: this is the craziest that Sweeney gets. It's his big explosion. It's when he decides that he's going to start killing innocent people ("And I will get him back, even as he gloats, in the meantime I'll practice on less honorable throats"). He falls to his knees at the end and there's a beautiful aerial shot as the camera pulls back away from Sweeney on the street, swarmed by people who don't see him.

We then cut to Sweeney in the same position, in his shop. He has fantasized the whole thing. Mrs. Lovett quips a classic line from the show: "Well that's all very well, but what are we going to do about him?", indicating Pirelli's corpse stuffed in a trunk.

*Johanna: This is my favorite scene in the show, and looks like it may be my favorite part of the movie as well. In this song, we see how lost Sweeney is becoming in his quest for revenge, losing himself and losing sight of why he's doing all this in the first place—for his daughter, Johanna ("And though I'll think of you, I guess, until the day I die, I think I miss you less and less as every day goes by, Johanna). Part of what makes this so brilliant in the original production and in this film (though not in the recent Broadway revival, which was great in its own way) is that as Sweeney is singing this sweet, sad song, he is killing and dispatching victims through his trick barber chair (the trap door leads to the basement, where the victims are cooked and turned into meat pies).

And these are some good killings! I mean, we all knew it was coming but it was still shocking and elicited gasps, laughter, and applause from the whole audience. The first throat slit somehow comes as a surprise, if because it is SO graphic. Burton seems to have fun with coming up with new ways to show people's throat getting slit. Slowly, suddenly, messily. One particularly cool one features a shot from behind the man's neck. We see blood beginning to spurt out of one side, then the camera pans to the other side of the neck as we see Sweeney finishing dragging the razor across the throat. When the victims are dispatched through the bottom of the chair, we get to see them slide through the chute, and, something theater-goers never got to see, land on the hard basement floor. The first time a victim lands on the ground like a rag doll, Burton adds a loud cracking sound and there is a general response of "oh-no-he-didn't-go-there!" from the audience. It's brilliant.

This song also features the one thing about this film that looks less than perfect to me—the characterization of Anthony, the sailor. Maybe it's the actor, or maybe it's the truly bizarre girly haircut and outfit they gave him, something feels very wrong here. Anthony is the one heroic character in the show—he's a strapping young man with good intentions and a good heart. He's the only good example of a male in the piece. A classic hero. Here he's not only creepy, he seems incredibly gay. I don't know, every time it was his turn to pine for Johanna in the song, I winced a little. He wanders through the streets and a typically Burtonesque cemetery before winding up and Jonas Fogg's asylum, where Johanna is being held.

The song also features the Beggar Woman, ranting crazily, her face covered in shadows. She looks rather unrecognizable. The show's major surprise should be preserved for new audiences.


Other notes about the clips: Most importantly, this movie is BEAUTIFUL. This looks like the dark, twisty Tim Burton movies of the early 90s done on a huger budget (although from what I understand it isn't all that huge). It doesn't look glossy like some of his more recent movies; it really looks classic and timeless. The blood spurts are all clearly done on-camera (one of them hits the camera). Helena Bonham-Carter looks totally different from Angela Lansbury's spunky Mrs. Lovett, or, more recently, Patti Lupone's flip and vampy Mrs. Lovett. She actually seems much more sincere, almost innocent, a victim of the times. This will make her song, "By The Sea" and her ultimate fate so much more powerful. December 21st can't come fast enough.

Updated On: 11/15/07 at 02:35 PM

[Eos]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 3:08pm

Depp doesn't sound too bad at all. I'm so excited for this!!
Thanks for the reviews!

Updated On: 11/15/07 at 03:08 PM

[notabb]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 4:11pm

I was there and loved what I saw. I can't wait for the movie.