Sweeney Todd

I loved the story of Sweeney Todd after seeing Johnny Depp do the musical number. I loved it so much I am looking for other versions. This one is outstanding.

Unlike Depp's version, this one with Ray Winstone (The Proposition, The Departed, Sexy Beast, Beowulf) is a truer picture of the dark and grimy London of the 18th Century. It is so bad, that you have to cover your nose with a handkerchief when you approach the beggars in the jail to give them a penny.

Sweeney did not set out to kill anyone. He was visited in his barber shop by a jailer that brought back old memories. He killed him without thinking and each time got easier. He becomes attracted to a pie maker Mrs. Lovett (Essie Davis - Charlotte's Web, Maggie from The Matrix sequels). In the course of that relationship, we are introduced to abortion, spousal abuse, and atheism. She is married at the time, but as barbers were also surgeons (without anesthesia, I might add) he dispatches her husband in the process of removing a stone.

They become friends as he is unable to perform, and he sets her up in her own pie shop. She has a steady stream of lovers which he dispatched and presents to her as meat from his brother. She is clueless as to what is going on. This is a far different version than I have seen before and you are really hooked to see what is going to happen. There are some side stories involving a policeman, and Sweeney's father that really added to the mystery.

Winstone and Davis were superb, as was David Warner as the local Magistrate.

The only complaint I had was not really every seeing Mrs Lovett's pies. As Sweeney peeked in on her trysts, we just got to see the guy on top. They could have given us a little peek.

This was slightly better than the Ben Kingsly version, but there are more to see, including another musical.

Sweeney Todd, a resident barber of London, has an urge inside of him to kill. As it grows and grows, he comes to fancy a young woman whom he cannot have -- both because she is married and because he is not physically capable. As they grow closer, he lets her in on his secret and a macabre friendship is born -- one a butcher and the other a maker of meat pies.

Ray Winstone is perfect as Sweeney Todd. I don't know him from much outside of "The Proposition" (which everyone loves, but I found disappointing). He has the look of a man worn down by time and heartache, cold enough to kill but sad enough to drive us to sympathy. Other people may picture Todd differently, but I think this look fully captures the darkness and emptiness of the man. All the characters have a very dirty look to them, which I also like -- no perfect conditioning in the hair and daily bathing rituals. I like it raw, and this film gives it to me.

This is not a musical version but simply a film with a dark tale to tell. It interests me to see how this one was presented. As I understand it, the original story came from the 1820s or 1840s. Yet, this film version touches on themes like abortion and the complete absence of God, which I would presume to be quite heavy for the time (though I may be mistaken).

The denial of God, morality and such is the driving force of this film compared to other versions. It's nihilism through and through, which is like the perfect medicine for someone like myself who was raised on heavy doses of Nietzsche, Kafka and Kierkegaard. Horror films often touch the evil in the world and what drives it, but few films -- horror or not -- really get to the deeper philosophic roots of the meaninglessness of the world in our modern time. Some have tried ("Dark City" comes to mind) but this one really hits the spot.

With the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp version having just been released, I presume the BBC version of "Sweeney Todd" will not get as much of a chance. But I would advise you to check it out and compare -- one is a musical, one is not. And Burton, while dark, has his own way of looking at the world. So you're not really seeing the same film twice so much as viewing an entire world fro ma different perspective, something I think is healthy for all of us to do time and again. Give this one a shot, it packs a wallop you cannot deny.

This was a reasonable production of an excellent musical, but I recommend the George Hearn / Angela Lansbury version every time.

In a previous comment, alan_cricketman4 from Belfast UK, states: "I can understand producers using artistic licence and having to cut details and chronologically alter events etc., but to change the facts of such a well known and well documented case is just downright silly. I suggest that very little research has been applied here (by producers and reviewers alike) and a good website to browse, and learn further details on the case, is "Court TV CRIME LIBRARY"."

I fact, Sweeney Todd was universally accepted to be an 'urban myth' up to about 1993, due to the lack of other evidence. In 1993, a new book, was published. Of this book, Wikipedia says:

"In his 1993 book Sweeney Todd: The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet, the horror and crime story writer Peter Haining argues that Sweeney Todd was a historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800. However, other researchers who have researched his citations find nothing in these sources to back up what Haining claims they said".

I realise that Wikipedia is not always entirely accurate, but I think it is fair to say that what Mr Haining has done is researched a theory about the origin of Sweeney Todd, which is worthy of consideration, but far from accepted historical truth.

Dave Moore's TV version of the infamous tale of the bloodthirsty barber Sweeney Todd unsurprisingly bears little relation to Tim Burton's musical version released the following year. This one is much more matter-of-fact in its portrayal of Todd's descent into madness, and gives his motive for killing as revenge for being jailed in Newgate prison as a child for a crime committed by his father. Initially, there is a skewed sense of justice to Todd's reason for killing off his clients but, as his blood lust (and feelings for the neighbouring Mrs Lovett) grows stronger his reasons become less calculated.

Ray Winstone plays Todd. He is a fine actor, but loses some of his screen presence by choosing to underplay the role, his voice rarely betraying any kind of emotion. Despite this it's a choice that suits the character, even if it doesn't the actor. Cutting up his victims in the cellar of his barber shop, stripped to the waist, his bare head gleaming white and his mouth slack, Winstone makes a truly grotesque monster, one made all the more frightening because he is otherwise an extremely quiet and ordinary man.

There's a lot of violence in the film, a lot of slit throats and mutilation of corpses, but, again, it's not given any kind of sensationalistic value. Essie Davis plays Mrs Lovett, another decent character whose descent into monstrosity is sparked by the things that have happened to her rather than any inherent evil. She turns into a grotesque parody of herself as the film progresses, her beauty destroyed by pox scars, sporting fine wigs made by Todd that sit incongruously atop her ruined features. It's all very grim and dark and there is no place for humour, even of the gallows variety. Perhaps a touch of humour, especially on the part of Todd, is what is needed to both round out his character and make his monstrous actions that much more horrific

Exactly how a wonderful story such as Sweeney Todd should be told. Everything about this production is head and shoulders above everything else. First up, we have the setting. This is truly a disgusting London, filled with waste and disease. Next we have Winstone, giving an astonishing performance. It shows how someone like Depp is a performer, but fails to attach himself to the emotional complexity of such a character. Winstone doesn't just decide that people are scum and start offing them. His first kill is a sudden and regrettable impulse. He even checks on the body later in the hopes that he isn't dead. Like so many real-life killers, Winstone's motivations come from a deep rooted psychological trauma. As he continues, the killing becomes the norm. It's his answer to vengeance, suspicion, and his way of attracting a woman. Davis is also brilliant as Lovett. For once this isn't some creepy madwoman, but a fragile and easily manipulated pawn. I can't speak highly enough of this film, or the way it demonstrates how stories from over a hundred years ago, can still be fresh and involving.