So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
#1So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 1:53pm
Yeah, yeah, "don't judge it 'till you've seen it", but everyone in the Sweeney movie, especially Anthony, looks like they have cholera OR the black plague or some kind of disease for bad singing (I kid, sort of). So...Sleepy Hollow with "music"?
Updated On: 11/14/07 at 01:53 PM
#2re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 1:55pm
Maybe because the same director is behind the helm, and this is the visual look he is going for?
Also, this takes place in London in the 1800's, not Miami in 2007. There was less color back then. I see no the same ghaslty shade of white on Sweeney's face in the Angela Landsbury version.
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."
#2re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:00pmAre we really defending Tim Burton's bad habits? I am a Burton fan but come on.
#3re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:00pm
Have you actually seen anyone who has cholera? I'd say that they look more like they have scurvy, which wouldn't have been uncommon in London at that time.
But of course, its all about the look of the film. Its all in very drab colors - except for the blood, which is very copious and very, very red.
#4re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:02pm
I kinda like that goth look. Arden's Sweeney, Thom Sesma was a dead ringer for Lon Chaney!!! Scared the water out of me !
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Updated On: 11/14/07 at 02:02 PM
#5re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:04pmIt seems appropriate for the color palate they're going for. Everything seems to be on the drab side. I think it's perfect.
The Overture is part of the show, people. Please shut your pie hole.
#6re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:06pmI'm a scared of this movie!
WOSQ
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
#7re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:43pmCholera is the new black.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
#8re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:47pmit's Love in the time of cholera!
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#9re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 5:19pmThese are not wealthy characters, times were hard, and it is not unlikely that they would not be very healthy.
#10re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 5:38pm
"These are not wealthy characters, times were hard, and it is not unlikely that they would not be very healthy."
Wow. Thanks for that expert analysis.
-Benjamin
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
#11re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 5:39pm
Yeah but scurvy? That usually makes your legs bowed. How does it affect your skin tone? I just figure they were all anemic, like they were wasting away skeletons. Sweeney just got back from years in Prison. Mrs. Lovett, skidrow poor and Anthony is an orphan right? So these people never get to the beach. Part of Mrs. Lovett dream fest right? To be in the Sun look all tan and healthy like? Ah Sea Bathing was such a rage back then!
Too much rain and fowl weather in London to please me. I rather think Prince Charles looked that way for some time before he and Camilla started globe trotting?
#12re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 5:42pm
Previous versions were hardly the image of good health.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#13re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 5:49pmI loved Patti's wig
-Benjamin
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
#14re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 5:58pm
Why do they have to be playing instruments? It takes away from the set and scene. This kept me from the SF show on Tour. More like going to a Jazz Club than Theatre. Though Patti looked good. Not quite like I would imagine Mrs. Lovett appearing though?
Looks a little more like Cabaret from that picture to me. The look takes away some of the nostalgia of that era and story in my eyes at least. I'm sure the talent was good.
#15re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 5:58pmThese just seem like excuses for Tim Burton's directing habits...
#16re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 6:02pmWhy does everyone in the movie version of Mame look like I need glasses?
#17re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 6:07pmI said nothing about Tim Burton. If you're going to take issue with this specific aspect of the movie, it applies to Hal Prince and John Doyle as well.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#18re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 6:20pm
It's a macabre tale with a macabre look. What were you expecting? Bulging biceps, boob jobs and fake tans? While Burton is know for having a macabre flair, not all his films have the same appearance. The Batman characters looked pretty normal with the exception of a couple of the villains, who either purposely wore makeup or suffered physical abnormalities. None of the characters in Edward Scissorhands look particularly sickly other than the title character. Most everyone seemed to be healthy in appearance in Big Fish, Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Mars Attacks. And the apes looked exactly as they should in Planet of the Apes. Do you believe the characters in Sweeney Todd should appear differently?
I just don't think the argument about Tim Burton's "directing habits" holds much water.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#19re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 6:29pm
I think Burton has the right look for this Movie. The glamor is in the wardrobe. Since it is so far into the past I like the idea that I am being haunted by ghosts of wicked era. It didn't look like he used the effect throughout the Movie. Just in parts he felt were dark and dismal. I love Directors who use color to convey the mood. If they get it right, you can turn off the sound and still get your story across to the audience.
Since Burton is an artist, I enjoy his eye for color and how he uses it to his advantage.
#20re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 6:41pm
The flashbacks to Sweeney's youth and the Judges "party" are infused with color, as is Mrs. Lovett's By the Sea.
#21re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 6:43pmTimes is hard! With times as bad as they are, who's in good health?
#22re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 6:45pm
If we were all eating human meat pies, I don't think we'd look all that hot either 
I recognize the addiction to being alive.
#23re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 7:08pm
Yet, I agree with the person who said "What does cholera look like?"
Anemia seems more accurate to me: pale, pasty seems to be what they are . . . and isn't that a typical look in London, particularly in those days?!
And hey, I resemble this remark as I am of an Irish/English background. Thus, no offense -- and people have to put on sunglasses when I wear shorts -- to not become blind from my glowing white legs!!! SPF 45 and above is a lifestyle for me! The only way I'd be whiter is if I had baby blue eyes. Luckily, my tan Serbian father gave me brown eyes . . . the rest from "whiter than the driven snow" Mom!
Love and Stage Lights,
Angela Theresa
#24re: So Why Does Everyone in the Sweeney Movie Look Like They Have Cholera?
Posted: 11/14/07 at 7:16pm
Well, I'd think we would be rather healthy, all of that protein, really everything a body needs but it could affect our conscience some I would hope? Though memories of ancient plays where eating someone's heart, bones and liver, sans Dr. Lecter, was a common theme in days of yore!
whose in good health? me neither but unavoidable in my case.
My Son too. Alas poor boy but freckles help a lot.
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