Before the premiere of Sweeney Todd (The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), the composer Stephen Sondheim in an old sweater suggested that he invite more than 40 friends Don’t bother to verify what’s missing in the movie version.
The film version directed by Tim Burton is less than two hours shorter than the musical, and it does not include any big-name singers. Sondheim, who has a pair of eagles, is a perfectionist, always working tirelessly to consider the rhythm and rhythm of each note, and then handing over the most perfect work to the big names in Hollywood, leaving them at their disposal. He was not actively involved in the adaptation work, and strangely, he seemed quite satisfied with the results. "Think about it," he said with a smile, "this is a movie, don't judge it by the standards of a musical."
Tim Burton's Spartan condensed version tells a Victorian song Epic. Its mellow and sophisticated technique makes it easy for the audience to associate the cannibalism of the Todd era with the current weak and powerful. The evil judge first raped Todd's wife, and then occupied his daughter. The wronged Todd returned from exile and took a razor to take bloody revenge on the judge and the city that brought him down.
Linear cruel narrative, all the branches are cut off. This is a story about infatuation, love, pain, fear, and loss. The cut-throat hairdresser played by Johnny Depp and his plump accomplice, Mrs. LaVette, is heart palpitating. They make all the victims plump. Juicy man meat pie. Bolton used black-and-white images, reminiscent of his previous thriller "The Valley of the Broken Head", which makes us alienate from the protagonist in terms of visual effects, but at the same time invest more in empathy. From the perspective of storytelling, the film version of "Sweeney Todd" was an outstanding re-creation, and even touched the "pure elements" in Sondheim's music circle. After the premiere, Sondheim had a cup of tea in hand and began to comment. His comments were so exaggerated that I could not believe my ears for a while, and had to ask him to repeat: "This is the first musical ever successfully adapted into a movie."
Before you plan to refute, please Remember that Sondheim is an insider. He is the adopted son of Oscar Hammerstein and has witnessed Hammerstein's successful journey from "Oklahoma" to "The Sound of Music" and wrote lyrics for Bernstein's "West Side Story". However, Sondheim gave the "First Success" honor of the musical adaptation of the film to "Sweeney Todd". How should we understand this view?
Strictly speaking, he is correct. "West Side Story", like all Broadway musical adaptations, appears pretentious on the screen. In the movie version of "South Pacific", when the music of "Totally Forget" is played, the scene shows the beach scenery, and in the movie version of "The Sound of Music", the picture when the teacher teaches 7 children to sing "Do Remi" is Hitler The mountain top of the favorite Berchtesgaden. The pause in the plot cannot be concealed.
At this time, it's as if an excited audience in a concert hall clap desperately at the expense of interrupting the music, the film's technique is aside, and the story can only be paused. In Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd", even in the pleasant "Kiss Me" quartet, there is no break in the plot. This is a pure film. Two young British actors told me that they have to avoid watching original musicals or listening to records in order to achieve the original level required by the film. Similarly, the role played by Sasha Barron Cohen, Todd's counterpart, is a special addition to the movie version.
The classic status of the musical version is of course unbreakable. I have watched its grand performance at the Royal Opera House, the amateur version of college students, and the condensed version of John Doyle's 9-person singing. The barber never disappoints, but it is difficult to put it on the big screen. Sam Mendes bought the film rights in 2003, but for two years he didn't know how to shoot it without interrupting the music. Tim Bolton expressed interest 10 years ago. This time, his friend Johnny Depp and his wife Helena Boham Carter, who was pregnant with a sixties, helped out, so he obliged to take over the problem. Both of them can speak an authentic East End dialect, but neither has any singing training before. Sondheim thought they could only sing and recite, but was pleasantly surprised to find that Depp and Carter both have a good midrange voice and a good sense of rhythm. Depp’s composure is very suitable to show the unpredictable morality of the barber, and the supporting cast from Alan Rickman, who plays the evil judge, to Timothy Sbauer, who plays the young official, are all veterans of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Play bone. The sound engineer Mike Highham's handling of the band's sound effects is even more icing on the cake, much better than the narrow orchestra at the bottom of the theater.
Whether this film can realize Sondheim’s desire to attract diverse audiences outside the theater has yet to be tested, but in the United States, it was rated as R-rated for violent scenes and it was already a blunder, immediately limiting the audience to over 17 years old. In the United Kingdom, This standard is even more absurdly mentioned 18 years old. Fortunately, the clips on YouTube have reached millions of click-through rates, which somewhat eased this limitation.
The reason why the composer thinks "Sweeney Todd" is the first successful musical adaptation film in history is nothing more than these! But after a few weeks of thinking, I would add one more thing: I can’t think of any modern drama (whether it’s Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, Edward Alby or After being adapted into a movie, Neil Simon was able to so successfully get rid of the stage baggage, while the characters are still full. "Sweeney Todd" is definitely a fascinating and skilled masterpiece in 21st century movies.
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