When Tim Burton spoke at Lincoln Center last month he brought along 3 clips from Sweeney Todd that had never been seen before. Excited, I braced myself for what I thought would be something different. But, being someone who finds musicals hard to stomach, I was unsure if I’d like the film. Well, the clips were pretty out there and I felt uneasy and interested at the same time. But I suppose that’s what something new can feel like.

NOTE: NO SPOILERS. After seeing the movie last night, I hadn’t realized exactly how different it was than anything I can remember. Beginning right from the studio logo itself – it mowed down the audience with a powerfully evil score and thrust at you these dark, blackened visuals, and never stopped. Some of the horror leaves you feeble. Great characters. The songs are haunting and the story excellent.

Huge laughs for what was probably the lightest moment in the film:

I also noticed that Burton had put many masterful touches in the film. At times the score bends pitch every so slightly as if the “analog” tape reels were dragged by a finger. A broken mirror that reveals the characters in dozens of hideous caricatures, and each one correlating beautifully with a line of song. Camera cranes that cage and contain the actors. The aged look of the film emphasized the feeling that you were watching a classic. When I went to bed later, I wondered what would become of some of the characters. Would they repeat the past? It gave me nightmares. Merry Christmas!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Drawings, Pinturas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.