Sweeney Todd Response
I have not seen many musicals on stage before (probably only about two and-a-half), so watching film versions of musicals have meant a lot to me. My favorite has always been West Side Story but Sweeney Todd comes at a close second. The reason I like them so much is because of the incredible music and because I love a tragedy. In watching Sweeney Todd again for our Intro to Theater Class, I enjoyed being able to analyze it with the knowledge of what is going to happen in it. I was able to focus on the acting performances, the technical elements, the music, etc. much more and be able to put into words why I enjoy this musical so much.
The most impressive part of the musical in my opinion was the music. Without the beautiful music to counteract the horror and the violence of the story, I would think it is an unnecessarily scary movie lacking anything that I would be interested in. Sondheim’s compositions, however, worked so well because they created that contrast. This contrast is demonstrated in songs such as “The Worst Pies in London” by way of a bouncy rhythm (as in the first verse “Wait, what’s your rush? What’s your hurry? / You gave me such a fright, I thought you was a ghost”) that gives the play a brightness against the dark Victorian city atmosphere. I also really enjoy Sondheim’s use of dissonance in otherwise very consonant songs. Johanna is my favorite example of dissonance, such as the word “dream” in the line “Satisfied enough to dream you.” The music in West Side Story also prominently features dissonance skillfully to its advantage, creating beautiful phrases out of intervals that we usually consider ugly. I also love when melodic lines or motives are brought back or introduced before we hear it in a song, and Sondheim does this a ton in this musical—making it feel very connected and cohesive.
I love Tim Burton’s vision for this film. He seems like he really loves the musical, letting the words and the music speak for themselves without too much of a spectacle. He also introduces us to the pie shop through a series of extremely fast zooms, twists, and turns, which mirror the chaos of the narrative. His choices seem thought out and all contribute to the dark and grimy world that he is creating. I also appreciated his casting choices and the cast’s performances. Johnny Depp was amazing in the role and surprisingly made me emphasize with a serial killer. That’s when you know it’s good. Overall, I am glad I got to revisit an old favorite and admire everything that went into adapting the musical for the screen. I am also glad that it was done at all so that I could be exposed to it, even if not in its original form.
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