Oh yes, Sweeney Todd, starring my two favourite actors as the main cast, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Of course I must watch this. I so wanted to watch this in the cinema, only to have that wish ruined when my brother told me that it was M18. Blah. And I was going to go with my second brother and his girlfriend. Which means free tickets. >.>

SPOILERS AHOY. (don't say I didn't warn ye.)

Sweeney Todd was originally Benjamin Barker, an ordinary barber with a beautiful wife and young daughter. Life was dandy until Judge Turpin (played by Alan Rickman, you know, SNAPE) spies Barker's wife, Lucy. He immediately desires her, hence, captures Barker under false charges, and sentenced him to hard labor in Australia. (history would have told you that many convicts were sent to the new colony in Australia to work.)

After 15 long years, Barker, now Todd, finally managed to escape back to London on a ship. He then parted ways with a fellow sailor, Anthony, and heads back to his old home which is above Mrs Lowett's pie house on Fleet Street. She then told Todd that his wife killed herself and that his daughter, Johanna, is now in Turpin's care. Enraged, Todd vows revenge on Turpin.

We then see young Anthony wandering the streets and chancing upon a glimpse on the now grown Johanna. And to fulfill cliches, he is now in love with her. However, his love for her pisses Turpin and he sent his servant to give the kid a beating.

Meanwhile, a young boy in the marketplace is advertising for another barber, by the name of Adolfo Pirelli (played by Sasha Baron Cohen, that Borat guy.) Todd who was in the crowd then denounced Pirelli's miracle tonic as a sham of 'ink and piss'. He then challenged Pirelli to a contest. Which was coincidentally judeged by Turpin's servant. Todd wins the contest easily, and to thank Turpin's servant for judging, he invites the man for a complimentary shave, claiming to give him the 'closest shave he will ever know.' Oh the pun, indeed.

Not so easily defeated, Pirelli returns to Todd's shop and confronts him. He then reveals the fact that he actually recognizes Todd as Barker and attempts to blackmail him. Angered by that puny upstart of a barber, Todd then hit him with a boiling kettle. He wasn't dead yet though, so in order to finish him off, Todd slitted his throat with his handy shaving razor.

Pirelli's young assistant, Toby, is then taken in by Mrs Lowett and begins to work at her pie shop. Meanwhile, Todd redesigns his barber chair to install a trap door that sends his victims to Mrs Lowett's underground basement bakehouse.

Judge Turpin makes an attempt to marry Johanna who refuses him. Clever girl. The disappointed man was then urged by his servant to visit Todd to enhance his appearance in order to attract Johanna. To Todd, this is just a godsend to exact his revenge. However, his plan was ruined when Anthony barged in half-way saying that by hook or by crook, he'll be fleeing the city with Johanna. An enraged Turpin stalks from the seat and sends Johanna to the madhouse until she agrees to marry him. While an enraged Todd begins to kill his unsuspecting customers and sends them to Mrs Lowett to be produced into meat pies.

Their business is a roaring success. And Mrs Lowett expresses her love for Todd, only to be interrupted by Anthony who says he found Johanna. Todd then whips up a plan to lure Turpin back, making use of Anthony's plan to rescue Johanna.

Toby then reveals his suspicions of Todd to Mrs Lowett who then consoles him falsely and locks him in the basement bakehouse. The poor boy then discovers the piles of corpses and the truth in the meat pies. Horrified, the boy then escapes into the sewers, narrowly escaping an early death. Meanwhile, Mrs Lowett warns Todd about Toby, only to have Turpin's servant come to investigate the strange smells coming from the pie shop. Todd then lures the servant to his barber shop and immediately kills him and dumps his body.

Todd then leaves to find Toby and probably silence him. Just as he leaves, Johanna and Anthony arrives, where he bids her to stay. She then hides herself in an old chest when someone else enters the shop. It is a beggasr woman, presumed mad who has been stalking the pie shop for quite some time, claiming that Mrs Lowett is a devil or something. Todd then returns, and is suprised by the beggar woman who apparently recognizes him. Sort of panicked as he sees Turpin about to enter, he murders her and dumps her body down the chute.

Turpin then enters and finally, on the pretext of giving him a shave, Todd prepares to kill him. He then reveals his true identity and finally, slits his throat. Upon discovering Johanna in the chest and not recognizing her as his daughter, he made to kill her, only to stop when he hears Mrs Lowett's screams. He rushes down to find that Turpin had somehow survived the fall and the murder, but he soon dies. As Mrs Lowett opens the over door to dispose of the corpses, Todd then sees the beggar woman properly for the first time and immediately recognizes her as his wife who is supposed to be dead. Mrs Lowett than tells him the truth, that Lucy survived her suicide attempt but had gone stark mad. In order to 'protect' him, she had lied, claiming that it was out of love that made her do it.

Todd calms her down, begin to dance with her and in a smooth motion, he shoves her into the open oven and locks the door firmly, burning her alive. He then cradles his dead wife close, the murder blade slipping from his hand as he mourns.

Just then, Toby open the sewer manhole and creeps out, picking up the forgotten blade. Then he slits Todd's throat and kills him.

What a long summary. Or am I just long-winded?

Tim Burton once again made the film according to his style. The people, like in Edward Scissorhand and Corpse Bride, had very pale, pasty complexion and haunted, shadowed eyes.

Depp was brilliant, and in his movements, there were some very subtle edges that reminded me of Sparrow and Scissorhand. But still, he made Todd into a new alter ego. Some times, he even made me wonder if he were really acting, or merely displaying a facet of his personality.

Carter was easily likeable, but she too reminded me of her Bellatrix persona who was as crazy in a way as Mrs Lowett. Likewise, Rickman is also a Potter alumni, and just like Carter, he was so very similar to Snape. Who can forget that nose? Or that strangely conscending tone that is so... delicious? Haha, that sounds... wrong.

Over all, it is a wonderful film. My biggest peeve would be the fact that in the songs, it's quite hard to pick out everything that they're singing, hence diminishing my enjoyment of the film. If only there were subtitles!

Labels: long post, movie