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:

Never Forget. Never Forgive.

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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

British playwright Christopher Bond wrote a 1973 play titled "Sweeney Todd" which was the first to give Todd a motive other than pure greed. Bond made Todd a wrongfully imprisoned barber who returned to London after fifteen years in Australia to find that the judge responsible for his imprisonment raped his young wife and caused her suicide. Bond's play was adapted in 1979 by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler into the Broadway musical which the film is based.

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Goofs

When Sweeney strops the blade during "Pretty Women", he slides the blade edge first. Razors are stropped with the spine leading, and are never rolled along the edge.

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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

Version of Mystery and Imagination: Sweeney Todd (1970)

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Soundtracks

"Pretty Women"
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Johnny Depp & Alan Rickman

User Reviews

A Conventicle of Geniuses Came Together Here

And this conventicle has brought us a glistening and irresistible nightmare. There are delicious Dickensian overtones throughout, and the look of the film itself is poetically potent. The entire mix is shockingly seductive with an unforgettable ending. Burton's humor is part and parcel of his sheer brilliance, as always, and, as always, the great Johnny Depp is intense and positively unforgettable. All performances are electric, the pace and length are perfect, and the film draws us deeper and deeper with every moment into its stunning blend of the grotesque and the undeniably beautiful. Analysing the power of a film like this is no simple matter. The whole is dazzlingly disturbing. You don't want to miss a second of it, even though the film is merciless to us and to its protagonists. It sings, it glows, it enchants, it horrifies. I want to see it again. And again. It's a brutal and shattering masterpiece.