Quick Take- Sweeney Todd

I have just returned from a sneak preview screening of Sweeney Todd at the Senator theater, and I can verify a few things. If you hear "Tim Burton" and "Johnny Depp" in the same sentence and have no more questions, you will not be dissatisfied by this film. The sullen goths of our nation will packing the mall cineplexes without a doubt starting Friday (this is why they will briefly abandon their natural habitat).

However, if you are a newly-minted fan of the Johnny Depp is hot variety, let me warn you: there will be blood. Lots of it. One fellow previewer commented that she would have never seen this film if it wasn't for free, I assume due to the gore-level. Finally, a musical for the Saw generation!

But how will the American popcorn purchasers (horror die-hards aside) react to such a film? It seems that Hollywood is betting that our nation's mood is best reflected by a holiday movie season filled with murderous barbers, apocalyptic visions of the last man on earth, and a fantasy epic initally penned by an Athiest. In my mind, there is a connection between the recession-bound Reagan-hangover late 80s and the dark times in various media (See Batman, Watchmen, Robocop, etc...), and I theorize that there may be a similar link here. Since the weak performance of one of these films at the box office, I do wonder if Hollywood is in the right place at the right time with this.

And what of the film, finally? It resonated with me and I recommend it (screenings begin at the Charles on Friday, a suprise to me, as I envisoned trudging out to the county to see this one). I feel that my deep appreciation of the film may have something to do with being raised on the stage by a musical-loving mother and my subsequent rejection of that world. This is a film both in tune with the history and tradition of the musical but also pushing hard against it. Outside of watching a college production of Assassins, I am not that familiar with Soundheim, and I walked away thinking of Victorian penny deadfuls, Poe's more clever "perfect crime" short stories, and the saga of Jack the Ripper, especially as brought to life by Alan Moore's From Hell (as opposed to the film by the Hughes brothers). How Soundheim had the audacity, nerve, gall and (dare I say it?) genius to create the source material for this film is beyond me.

Well, that is it for now. I am looking forward to seeing many more films this month, and will be adding a top five list or two to the site soon.