Sweeney Todd Analysis

Words: 1229
Pages: 5
Open Document
Broadway fans around the world are familiar with the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street but, fans of film may not be as familiar with the movie by the same name. Directed by Tim Burton in 2007, the movie is a revenge story that takes place in mid-century London. The main character, Benjamin Barker, played by Johnny Depp, is unfairly sentenced to 15 years in exile because a corrupt Judge Turpin begins to fancy Barker’s wife, the beautiful Lucy and, their infant daughter Johanna. Judge Turpin abuses Lucy in Barker’s absence as well as taking Johanna as his ward. After returning from exile, Barker takes the alias Sweeney Todd so as to not alert Judge Turpin of his recurrence. Todd sets up a barber shop to continue his old trade …show more content…
Johnny Depp plays the main character, Benjamin Barker a.k.a Sweeney Todd. Depp has starred in around 80 films in his career, starting with the 1984 film, A Nightmare on Elm Street, when he was 21 years old. He is currently 52 and has starred in films such as Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and every movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. For Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street Depp was nominated for 14 awards, of which he took home 4. He won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical as well as the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. Depp is kmown for his ability to take on quirky, out of touch characters and portray them perfectly, Sweeney Todd is no different. Alongside Depp, Helena Bonham Carter played the part of Mrs. Lovett. Carter has an equally impressive career that started when she was 17. She has starred in blockbuster hits such as Fight Club and the The King’s Speech. Carter was nominated 10 times for her performance as the misunderstood pie maker in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, with 2 wins. Another big name in show business, Alan Rickman starred in the movie as the abhorrent Judge Turpin. Rickman is most notable, in this generation, for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, …show more content…
Some of the most pivotal parts of the film are told through intricate lyrics. In the first song, “No Place Like London”, Anthony begins singing about how much he misses London and what a nice place it is compared to where he has been, whereas Sweeney Todd has a different opinion, describing London as a “big, black, pit. Filled with people, who are filled with shit”. This is one example of the genius and complexity of the soundtrack, when a duet can have two completely different points of view. The songs are also extremely accurate at capturing the mood and that time in the movie. For example, when business in both the barber and pie shop, and everything seems to be going her way, Mrs. Lovett sings about the future she has always dreamed of Sweeney Todd in a song titled “By the Sea”. This song is one of the more optimistics songs in the film and makes for a nice contrast to the usual doom and
Show More

Related Documents: Sweeney Todd Analysis

Analysis of Auteur Theory Essays

Analysis of Auteur Theory At first glance, “auteur” theory is a simple concept. The translation of this French term is “author” and essentially this is what we refer to in auteur theory. However, this concept in fact reaches far deeper than this. A description which comes from U.S film critic Andrew Sarris reads: “The strong director imposes his own personality on a film; the weak director allows the personalities of others to run rampant.” This means that the film maker leaves his…

Words 1132 - Pages 5