Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Stephen Sondheim (musical) and
Hugh Wheeler (musical) ...

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Musical | Thriller

Tagline:

Never Forget. Never Forgive.

Plot:

The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical.

Plot Keywords:

Love At First Sight | Person On Fire | Unrequited Love | Implied Rape | Guardian

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 13 wins & 24 nominations

Cast

Johnny Depp	...	Sweeney Todd
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Mrs. Lovett
Alan Rickman	...	Judge Turpin
Timothy Spall	...	Beadle
Sacha Baron Cohen	...	Pirelli
Jamie Campbell Bower	...	Anthony
Laura Michelle Kelly	...	Beggar Woman
Jayne Wisener	...	Johanna
Ed Sanders	...	Toby (as Edward Sanders)
Gracie May	...	Baby Johanna
Ava May	...	Baby Johanna
Gabriella Freeman	...	Baby Johanna
Jody Halse	...	Policeman
Aron Paramor	...	Policeman
Lee Whitlock	...	Policeman

Also Known As:

Sweeney Todd (USA) (short title)
Sweeney Todd, le diabolique barbier de Fleet Street (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Svini Tod: Pakleni berberin iz ulice flit (Serbia) [sr]
Sweeney Todd (Germany) [de]
Sweeney Todd - Ðavolji brijac Fleet Streeta (Croatia) [hr]
Sweeney Todd - A Fleet Street démoni borbélya (Hungary) [hu]
Sweeney Todd - Demoniczny golibroda z Fleet Street (Poland) [pl]
Sweeney Todd - Der teuflische Barbier aus der Fleet Street (Germany) [de]
Sweeney Todd - El barbero demoníaco de la calle Fleet (Venezuela) [es]
Sweeney Todd - O Barbeiro Demoníaco da Rua Fleet (Brazil) [pt]
Sweeney Todd - O Terrível Barbeiro de Fleet Street (Portugal) [pt]
Sweeney Todd - O fonikos koureas tis odou Fleet (Greece) [el]
Sweeney Todd, el diabólico barbero de la calle Fleet (Spain) [es]
Sweeney Todd: El barbero demoníaco de la calle Fleet (Argentina) [es]
Sweeney Todd: Fleet Sokaginin Seytan Berberi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Sweeney Todd: Fleet Streeti deemonlik habemeajaja (Estonia) [et]
Sweeney Todd: Fleet Streetin paholaisparturi (Finland) [fi]
Sweeney Todd: Il diabolico barbiere di Fleet Street (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic bloody violence.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Singapore:M18 | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Malaysia:18PL | Spain:13 | Ireland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | USA:R (certificate #43914) (cut) | Japan:R-15 | Czech Republic:15 | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Italy:VM14 | UK:18 | South Africa:16LV | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:16 | Taiwan:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Hong Kong:III | Israel:18 | Greece:K-17 | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

DreamWorks Pictures

Trivia:

At the end of the song "A Little Priest", Todd and Mrs. Lovett strike the same pose as the promotional material used for the original Broadway production of the musical.

Goofs:

Continuity: The amount of shaving cream on Turpin's face changes between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Anthony Hope: I have sailed the world, beheld its wonders, from the Dardanelles to the mountains of Peru. But there's no place like London.
Sweeney Todd: No, there's no place like London.
Anthony Hope: [spoken] Mr. Todd?
Sweeney Todd: You are young. Life has been kind to you. You will learn.

Movie Connections:

References Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Soundtrack:

A Little Priest

Burton does better than anyone else . . .

"At last, my arm is complete again." Sweeney Todd as he admires one of his efficient razors after a long absence.

I'm not sure Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is "grand," but I'm confident it's in the best Grand Guignol tradition of sensational stage horror given its name from that little theater in early 20th century Paris that specialized in sensationally ghoulish productions. I am also sure that no one in film is better able to play the titular butcher than the shape-shifting, ever-naughty Johnny Depp.

The opening song "No Place Like London" hints to Anglophiles like me that it won't be my usual tour of West End theaters, rather a seedy, dangerous place where Mac the Knife would be more at home. Throughout the musical, Steven Sondheim's lyrics expressively revel in the amoral, throat-slicing world that Sweeney and his adoring meatpie lady, Nellie Lovett (Helena Bonham-Carter), wallow in as he prepares to take revenge on the equally amoral Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who dispatched Todd to prison early on to get his beautiful young wife. Hence Sweeney's revenge inclination.

Sweeney's lyric best expresses the wildly murderous world, hardly the usual province of musicals: "Alright! You, Sir?/No one's in the chair come on, come on/Sweeney's waiting/I want you bleeders./You sir! Too sir?/Welcome to the grave./I will have vengeance./I will have salvation . . . ." Yes, it's Sleepy-Hollow, Corpse-Bride Tim Burton's movie with blood spouting like red paint from a pressure gun contrasting the somber, almost black and white underside of London. When one of the children bites into a pie with a finger in it (shades of our contemporary law suits!), the audience doesn't even gasp, given the omnipresence of bloody bodies.

There is no more interesting musical this year, even considering the enchanting Once. In the end, it is unsettling, unsavory, and unusual. Burton does better than anyone else in juxtaposing horror with innocence.