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

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.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

John Logan (screenplay), Hugh Wheeler (musical),

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman

Won 1 Oscar. Another 23 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Lucy / 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

Storyline

In the Victorian London, the barber Benjamin Barker is married to the gorgeous Lucy and they have a lovely child, Johanna. The beauty of Lucy attracts the attention of the corrupt Judge Turpin, who falsely accuses the barber of a crime that he did not commit and abuses Lucy later after gaining custody of her. After fifteen years in exile, Benjamin returns to London under the new identity of Sweeney Todd, seeking revenge against Turpin. He meets the widow Mrs. Lovett who is the owner of a meat pie shop who tells him that Lucy swallowed arsenic many years ago, and Turpin assigned himself tutor of Johanna. He opens a barber shop above her store, initiating a crime rampage against those who made him suffer and lose his beloved family.

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Plot Keywords:

judge | beadle | lust | accomplice | widow | 

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Taglines:

Helena Bonham Carter is THE BAKER.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Musical | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic bloody violence

Details

Official Sites:

Dreamworks [us] Official site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sweeney Todd

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£4,525,246 (UK) (25 January 2008)

Gross:

$52,882,759 (USA) (14 March 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, DreamWorks Pictures, Parkes/MacDonald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The tradition for the stage productions of the musical has been to play Tobias as a grown man who is mentally challenged, not an actual little boy (as was the case in the movie). For example, Kenneth Jennings, the actor who played the role in the original Broadway production, was 31 on opening night; Neil Patrick Harris was 27 during the 2000 concert performances, and Manoel Felciano was 35 at the start of the 2005 Broadway revival.

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Goofs

When Todd hits Pirelli with the kettle, no water comes out of it. However, when Todd drops the kettle, the water spills onto the floor.

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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.

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Connections

References Don't Look Now (1973)

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Soundtracks

"Not While I'm Around"
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Helena Bonham Carter & Ed Sanders (as Edward Sanders)

User Reviews

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.