It is one another proof that I am not a big musical fan unless it is exceedingly good to suit and please my taste of music and has some characterization to fill in the gaps properly. “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is a musical with dark comedy and lots of blood to be bled upon. It is the film adaptation of the Broadway Musical by Stephen Sondeim and Hugh Wheeler. It had me some where some time and then lost me completely. Then it again came back but there is not a single bit of curiosity on how this going to turn out. I stand in the middle of whether it is the taste of not liking a musical or the film itself did not please me enough to overcome the genre and accept it as the least than appreciate it.As any musical most of the conversation happens in songs with rhythmic and comedic tones which needs close attention to completely understand it. The remaining part which has some dialogues is enriched with thick English accent which again needs very close attention to grasp. May be my problem of English as the second language might have keyed down the listening skills, but it did not completely baffle the plot. The musical is the vengeance embarkment of Benjamin Parker, a barber (Johnny Depp) now disguised as Sweeney Todd towards Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who towards the lust for Parker’s wife Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly) wrongfully convicts and sentence him to hard labour in prison. With the help of Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower) he comes back to London to find his daughter Johanna (Jayne Wisener) been taken away under the guardianship of Turpin with his only known person which Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), a former friend of his wife.
The visuals of course are stunning. The darkened and poorly constructed neighbourhood of London suffices the theme for the film. What never got me were the songs which were not soothing enough and not catchy too. Now the film could have been a bad album work for me. But then it got worse when the killing rampage of Mr. Todd started happening. Throats slithered by the sharp parts of Todd’s razor blade and bloods spattering as a high pressured leaking pipe, then we cringe but more throats are marked and then we cringe more. By the time the razor blade has made its work deeper than the skin, we are left with nothing more than an appealing film with good sincere acting, uninteresting songs and no character to remember.
Now I know that the film has been widely received and praised for its great adaptation. I can very well realize when I am really really bored and agonized for not able to see the time since I do not have a glowing watch. We see vicious personalities and love at first sight, a mark for a fairy tale venture only now with a dark twist. We can understand Todd’s vengeance but it gets deviated into an unknown disgusting trade of doing something in his life than revenge. It is easy to see the love attraction and dream of Mrs. Lovett but never could understand the bloody meat pies she ventures upon. Everything appears so deep but yet so shallow when the songs go on and bodies fall off.
As with any subjective movie opinion, the musical genre is something which falls for me uninteresting along with the unnecessary gory horror slasher film. But that’s how taste differs and hence even with the a cosmetic and creative recreation of director Tim Burton and casual devilish acting of Johnny Depp, it never moves or brings a wicked comedy to be remembered or emotions of understanding the tragedy. As expected and every one would be aware of the countless victims of Todd, it ends as it should. There is a feel good of the sweet couple of teenage romance between Johanna and Anthony but now I am looking for some factor of consolation from the film.
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