Hollywood's odd couple return

19 January 2008

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With his perfect life shattered, former barber Benjamin Barker adopts the synonym of Sweeney Todd and sets out on a path to right the wrongs done to him with the help of his former landlady, the motherly but slightly unhinged figure of Mrs. Lovett, played superbly by Helena Bonham Carter.

Set against the drab and dreary backdrop of Victorian London, a city rife with vice and sin and teeming with corruption, Burton paints a fittingly joyless and chilling world, where death, disease and destruction, are never far around the corner.

This unhappy, but beautifully constructed, picture is interrupted with the welcome introduction of flamboyant barber Signor Adolpho Pirelli, played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who proves to be Sweeney's first victim when he threatens to expose him.

Unleashing the murderer within him, Sweeney sets up his own barbershop, slitting his unsuspecting customers' throats in quick succession as he waits for his nemesis Judge Turpin to take the seat, while Mrs. Lovett comes up with the plan to hide the bodies in her pies to sell to yet more unsuspecting customers.

But rather than being a coldblooded killer, Depp insists his character is the misunderstood victim of the story.

He said: "Sweeney's obviously a dark figure, but I think quite a sensitive figure, hyper-sensitive and has experienced something very dark and traumatic in his life, a grave injustice.

"But I always saw him as a victim. The rug was pulled from under his perfect life, his perfect world. The only reason he came back was to eliminate the people who had done him wrong."

While Burton and Depp are no strangers to tales of revenge - think 'Sleepy Hollow' and 'Corpse Bride' - telling the story entirely through song was yet another new adventure for the pair.

Burton said: "Every time Johnny and I work together we try to do something different and singing for a whole movie is not something we're used to. You never just want to feel like, 'OK, that was easy. What's next?'

"Johnny and I are always wanting to stretch ourselves, and this was a perfect outlet for that."

Depp was originally apprehensive about the project, doubting his ability to hold a tune, and headed straight to the recording studio with his friend Bruce Witkin - who was in Depp's failed 80s rock band The Kids - to find out for himself.

Depp recalled: "I said to Tim, 'I'm going to go into the studio with this pal of mine and I'm going to investigate and try and sing the songs, and if I'm close then we can talk about it, or I'll just call you and say, you know what, I can't do it. It's just impossible.' "

The actor was more than "close" and when his demo landed on producer Richard Zanuck's desk there were smiles all round.

Depp's co-stars were equally impressed, with Helena describing his vocals as "sexy".

She said: "It's very sexy singing and it sounds like him, that's what's exciting. He really sings from the gut, and it's a very emotional role. So it's very naked, very sexy and very touching and brave and beautiful, very beautiful and soulful."

Bonham-Carter is not to be overshadowed in the singing department as her own efforts are impressive.

In fact, it could be argued her character carries off one of the best songs in the movie, 'By the Sea'.

'By the Sea' is a "poignant and beautiful" song in which Mrs. Lovett allows her imagination to run wild as she envisages a life with the one man she has loved for 15 years, Sweeney.

As Bonham-Carter explained: "The absolute core of Mrs. Lovett is that she's in love with this man who never notices her. He doesn't even look at her, except when she comes up with the genius idea of how to dispose the bodies, then, suddenly she is visible."

Bonham-Carter admitted lusting after Depp in front of her long-term partner Burton was a "strange situation" but confessed it didn't feel as strange as might be expected.

She joked: "Weirdly I didn't find it awkward lusting after Johnny, maybe it should have been, but you know I was pretending. It is odd, I was being paid by my boyfriend to fall in love with his best friend. It was a strange situation."

Audiences are presented with another romantic sub-plot in the form of Sweeney's long-lost daughter Joanna and his former shipmate Anthony.

When Joanna refuses to marry the judge, she is thrown into an asylum and Anthony is charged with being her heroic knight in shining amour.

The young cast members provide a poetic respite from the gorey murders, but unfortunately their story is somewhat underdeveloped and overpowered by the main story.

As is always the case with Burton, fans are treated to a brief insight into the wonderful world of his twisted imagination.

While Depp puts in a haunting performance as the tortured barber and Bonham-Carter is enchanting as the infatuated Mrs. Lovett.

However, both characters are somewhat swamped by Sondheim's musical score and to an extent lost in the lyrics.

It may seem trite to quibble the musical content in a musical film, but fans wanting to see Depp spurn anguished monologues will be disappointed, as dialogue is few and very far between.

As Burton points out: "I thought it was quite funny. If I was an actor the role of Sweeney Todd would be the perfect part for me. You don't have to talk, you don't have to say anything, you just look out the window and look broody and be angry."

That said, at least this is one pairing that continue to take risks and never fail to excite, surprise and tantalise.

But those hoping to see Depp brandishing his razors in 'Sweeney Todd 2' will have a long wait.

Cutting himself defiantly out of a sequel, Depp declared: "Once I got over the initial fear, singing was enjoyable, but would I ever do it again? No!"

By Kate Sole

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