Bonham Carter makes ‘Todd’ bloody good

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: April 10, 2008

It is raining blood as “Sweeney Todd” opens and beware there will be blood, lots more blood by movie’s end.

But that’s the Demon Barber we all know and love and Fleet Street never looked so sinister.

Man, does the sun ever come out in England? Not in Stephen Sondheim’s hit Broadway show, on which this musical is based, and not in the film version by Tim Burton either.
But come on, it’s Tim Burton. What did you expect?

You can expect fabulous ambiance and a shadowy set that puts you there (the movie, which came out in late 2007 and is now on DVD earned an Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction).

This is one nightmare from which you may not want to wake.

You can also expect cutting dark humor and a cast of characters played by actors that Burton’s used before, including a vengeful barber with a blade protruding from his wrist.
That would be Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, a.k.a., Benjamin Barker and his muse, Helena Bonham Carter as the tired-looking Mrs. Lovett, who runs a meat pie shop.
Well, she’s not really his muse. More like the other way around. Mr. Todd puts up with Mrs. Lovett considering she’s his downstairs neighbor. (She has been waiting for him).
Otherwise, he’s pretty much obsessed with getting revenge on Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who threw him in jail 15 years ago on a false charge and stole his young bride and daughter Johanna (Jayne Wisener) who’s now all grown up.

As for the wife, well, she poisoned herself with arsenic, or so says Mrs. Lovett.

“There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit and it’s filled with people who are filled with @#&* and the vermin of the world inhabit it,” Sweeney sings, and man, that’s a downer.

Still, Sondheim’s songs are spot-on brilliant and who knew Johnny Depp could sing? He does in “Sweeney Todd” and I’m mildly impressed.
As for the plot, that’ll make your belly ache. See, Sweeney runs his hellish barbershop upstairs and Mrs. Lovett uses his byproducts for her “meat” pies.
And I’m not talking about hair, though that’s pretty nasty too. Think covert cannibalism.
When someone sings to his razor and calls it his best friend, something is off. Sweeney Todd is way off and Mr. Depp does a good job as a homicidal maniac.

“At last my arm is complete again,” he sings, extending his blade and yikes this is not one ex-con you’d want to peeve off.

Alan Rickman is effective also as the cruel judge who doesn’t have a clue that Sweeney Todd is Benjamin Barker. Judge Turpin is also clueless that someone holding a razor has got an eye on his neck.

Bravo to Sacha Baron Cohen for his short-lived cameo as Signor Adolfo Pirelli — he’s not so nice — a dandy sideshow barber peddling an elixir made of pee.

Bravo to his boy servant Toby (Ed Sanders) as well, a pathetic little orphan who manages to save himself by sidling up to Mrs. Lovett.

But Ms. Bonham Carter is the best as the clandestine meat maker who’s as dark-hearted as Sweeney. By god, she tries everything to cheer up the possessed barber, but he ignores her, blinded by his hatred.

“Everybody shaves so there should be plenty of flavor,” she says cheerfully of their business arrangement, and “Put it on the bun, you never know if it’s going to run.”

All the pieces of the plot amalgamate in one final duet between he and she overlooking dreary London. Like Tim Burton, the scene is clever and wicked.
“Sweeney Todd” is the perfect midnight snack.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or