Sweeney Todd
Dec. 25th, 2007 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieMerry Christmas! *uses Christmas icon* *particularly appropriate since I received NX S1 &2 as a present, and now I have all the seasons I care about! Although I'll probably cave and get S4 at some point...*
Speaking of holiday things, Hem has a new holiday EP out at iTunes. It's three songs, two of which have been released before ("Peace At Last," "Have Yourself a Merry...") and one of which hasn't ("Somewhere").
*
I thought it was an excellent adaptation of the musical for film; better than I was expecting. They didn't cut too much, and what they cut, for the most part, I guess was okay to lose. Exceptions below.
Johnny Depp was great as Todd. Really great. Okay, he obviously isn't trained in music like the actors you'd see on stage, but he mastered the material pretty well, and if he lacked anything, he made up for it by capturing Sweeney's attitude perfectly--bitter, moody, crazy-ass. He was wonderful to watch.
Oh god, whoever they got to play Anthony was perfect. He was so boyish and innocentand eager. I wanted to pat his fluffy little head.
I was shocked at how well that kid did as Toby. Shocked, I tell you! I thought, "Gah, kid," but he brought it. Calmly slitting Todd's throat at the end--that was chilling.
"A Little Priest." Was. AWESOME. I loved them looking out the windows at all the potential victims going by, loved the waltzing around the pie shop, loved the whole thing.
I do wish they hadn't cut everything proactive and interesting about poor Johanna. Girl got to do nothing. At least they could've had "Kiss Me" in there, maybe? (If only because I like there to be at least a tiny bit of development to my "love at first sight" conceits, even in a musical.) Not to mention letting her do Fogg in herself, rar.
Also, I missed the chorus dreadfully. "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" is my very most favorite piece of music in the play, and while it was good in instrumental form, it needed to be sung. For me, it's a large part of what makes the play so creepy, opening up with that cautious warning. Even if they had just had voices on a soundtrack at the beginning, I would've been happy.
The jury is still out on HBC's portrayal of Mrs. Lovett as a breathy, demented little willow. I was iffy on it while I watched the movie, but it's grown on me. I still think she would've been better-cast as Lucy, but her characterization of Mrs. L has its merits. It made "By the Sea" a bit more believable, although I could hardly hear her on "The Worst Pies in London." She brought more crazy than she did desperation, both economic and romantic, which I'm more used to from the play. (I saw it with Patty LuPone in that role. She was brash and brassy, and I still love her as Mrs. L.) Crazy is good take on it too, though. I really liked her delivery of "We could manage. We could get by," when--well, I forget where exactly in the movie it is, but she's walking down the stairs from Todd's barbershop, and I think it's after BtS; she's talking about their business, and how it'll eventually make enough money for them to get through the CRUSHING DEPRESSION going on; there's a wonderful mix of hope and resignation there. I also LOL'ed at her reaction to "Ephiphanies": "That's all very well, but what are we going to do about the dead guy in the chest, not to mention our little business plan, hmmm?"
"By the Sea" was...interesting. I still want to give the nod to the stage version, because I think that in showing Mrs. Lovett's fantasies, rather than letting the words and the actress lead you to imagine them, the song loses some of its poignancy, but I can thoroughly understand why it pretty much has to be shown on film. And hell, I can't turn down crack-addled Tim Burton seaside madness. (Plus, total ROFLs for Todd sitting there like a big sullen lump while Mrs. L is trying to get him to participate in anything at all. Heh.)
Speaking of crack-addled Tim Burton madness...that was probably one of the most accurate reproductions of Victorian London we'll ever see on film. The chimney smoke was pervasive, the darkness was all-encompassing, it looked really frickin' cold...sounds like London circa 1870, as far as I've gotten from books and things. (Although I did find myself wishing for a lamp now and then. Just once in a while. Monochrome is good, but "too dark to see the actor when he's talking" is not.) I loved the twisty streets, the way the ship loomed over the cobbled alleyways at the beginning, the disrepair the pieshop and barbershop were in, the bustle of the markets.
I think I may have to go again if people at work go. I'll be able to tell the more squeamish when to cover their eyes. *g*
Speaking of holiday things, Hem has a new holiday EP out at iTunes. It's three songs, two of which have been released before ("Peace At Last," "Have Yourself a Merry...") and one of which hasn't ("Somewhere").
*
I thought it was an excellent adaptation of the musical for film; better than I was expecting. They didn't cut too much, and what they cut, for the most part, I guess was okay to lose. Exceptions below.
Johnny Depp was great as Todd. Really great. Okay, he obviously isn't trained in music like the actors you'd see on stage, but he mastered the material pretty well, and if he lacked anything, he made up for it by capturing Sweeney's attitude perfectly--bitter, moody, crazy-ass. He was wonderful to watch.
Oh god, whoever they got to play Anthony was perfect. He was so boyish and innocentand eager. I wanted to pat his fluffy little head.
I was shocked at how well that kid did as Toby. Shocked, I tell you! I thought, "Gah, kid," but he brought it. Calmly slitting Todd's throat at the end--that was chilling.
"A Little Priest." Was. AWESOME. I loved them looking out the windows at all the potential victims going by, loved the waltzing around the pie shop, loved the whole thing.
I do wish they hadn't cut everything proactive and interesting about poor Johanna. Girl got to do nothing. At least they could've had "Kiss Me" in there, maybe? (If only because I like there to be at least a tiny bit of development to my "love at first sight" conceits, even in a musical.) Not to mention letting her do Fogg in herself, rar.
Also, I missed the chorus dreadfully. "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" is my very most favorite piece of music in the play, and while it was good in instrumental form, it needed to be sung. For me, it's a large part of what makes the play so creepy, opening up with that cautious warning. Even if they had just had voices on a soundtrack at the beginning, I would've been happy.
The jury is still out on HBC's portrayal of Mrs. Lovett as a breathy, demented little willow. I was iffy on it while I watched the movie, but it's grown on me. I still think she would've been better-cast as Lucy, but her characterization of Mrs. L has its merits. It made "By the Sea" a bit more believable, although I could hardly hear her on "The Worst Pies in London." She brought more crazy than she did desperation, both economic and romantic, which I'm more used to from the play. (I saw it with Patty LuPone in that role. She was brash and brassy, and I still love her as Mrs. L.) Crazy is good take on it too, though. I really liked her delivery of "We could manage. We could get by," when--well, I forget where exactly in the movie it is, but she's walking down the stairs from Todd's barbershop, and I think it's after BtS; she's talking about their business, and how it'll eventually make enough money for them to get through the CRUSHING DEPRESSION going on; there's a wonderful mix of hope and resignation there. I also LOL'ed at her reaction to "Ephiphanies": "That's all very well, but what are we going to do about the dead guy in the chest, not to mention our little business plan, hmmm?"
"By the Sea" was...interesting. I still want to give the nod to the stage version, because I think that in showing Mrs. Lovett's fantasies, rather than letting the words and the actress lead you to imagine them, the song loses some of its poignancy, but I can thoroughly understand why it pretty much has to be shown on film. And hell, I can't turn down crack-addled Tim Burton seaside madness. (Plus, total ROFLs for Todd sitting there like a big sullen lump while Mrs. L is trying to get him to participate in anything at all. Heh.)
Speaking of crack-addled Tim Burton madness...that was probably one of the most accurate reproductions of Victorian London we'll ever see on film. The chimney smoke was pervasive, the darkness was all-encompassing, it looked really frickin' cold...sounds like London circa 1870, as far as I've gotten from books and things. (Although I did find myself wishing for a lamp now and then. Just once in a while. Monochrome is good, but "too dark to see the actor when he's talking" is not.) I loved the twisty streets, the way the ship loomed over the cobbled alleyways at the beginning, the disrepair the pieshop and barbershop were in, the bustle of the markets.
I think I may have to go again if people at work go. I'll be able to tell the more squeamish when to cover their eyes. *g*
