Sweeney Todd: a new film

[dirac]

Thank you, sidwich, for posting. I still have yet to see it.

You mentioned that you liked some of the edits, disliked others. If you have time, I'd like to hear more about those.

[sidwich]

Thank you, sidwich, for posting. I still have yet to see it.

You mentioned that you liked some of the edits, disliked others. If you have time, I'd like to hear more about those.

I think I was most put off by the cut of the Beggar Woman from the opening scene. I felt like it unbalanced the piece as a whole, and missed laying the groundwork for a crucial part of the story. The revelation at the end didn't feel quite the same, although perhaps that was part of what Burton was getting at. If so, I didn't think it was very effective.

I also really did not understand the point of the long extended scene with Anthony and the Judge in the middle of "Johanna." It seemed rather pointless and I think it's usually handled much more economically and effectively onstage. I also thought that Burton got a little over-the-top with the emphasis on how horrible 19th Century England was for so many people. I wanted to shake him and tell him, We get it! Oliver Twist with gore!

I did think cutting "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," was absolutely the right call. I don't think there's any way that the stage opening could be effective on film. It's far too much of a stage technique. I didn't feel strongly about the cuts of "God, that's Good!," and I was okay with the trimming of "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" although I think in cutting, it would have been better if they kept more of the edge of madness from the end. (By the way, over the weekend I noted that someone has posted a clip of Celia Keenan-Bolger performing "Green Finch..." online from the Kennedy Center production. She's quite wonderful.)

The other thing I did like was the casting of an actual child in the part of Toby. It's not something that's easily done on stage ("The Secret Garden" for example was constantly having to recast Colins because the boys' voices would change), but on film it was perfect. I do think it could have been even more perfect if they'd kept the introduction of the Beggar Woman to bookend the destruction of innocence, but I still thought it was good.

I haven't decided how I feel about the cutting of "Kiss Me" or the changes to the end of the asylum scene. I suppose the powers that be felt that the American audience had to have someone to root for, and not everyone could go bonkers.

[dirac]

Thanks, sidwich. It's left my area so unless they bring it back because of Depp's Oscar nomination, as sometimes happens, I have to wait for the DVD. More reviews and comments welcome.

I did think cutting "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," was absolutely the right call. I don't think there's any way that the stage opening could be effective on film.

Very likely you're right.