Sweeney Todd vs. Anne Elliot

Figuratively of course, as obviously in a real fight Sweeney Todd would win. But then again, Captain Wentworth might just pistol-whip Sweeney into submission. What I mean is Sweeney Todd and ITV’s Persuasion are the most recent movies I’ve seen (excepting, of course, Casanova).

While I was around last spring to catch the Northanger Abbey from this series (curiously not Mansfield Park, though, which I’d wanted to see because of Billie Piper), I missed Persuasion so I was keen to see it on PBS. I still think the Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds version is the better one, but I enjoyed this one. Now that I’m old, I think Persuasion is my favorite of the Austen stories. It has a depth and maturity in its characters who, though many of them outrageous, are very human. There seems to me to be so much of Austen herself coming through in the concerns of a woman, twenty-seven, unmarried, and considered past her prime.

Sally Dawkins was probably pretty close to Anne Elliot in actual age, and in general her portrayal was very good, surprisingly good. I can’t decide whose portrayal I like better, hers of Amanda Root’s. The director, however, seems to be taken with the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice and has absconded with long shots of running, 360-degree camera panning, and heroines giving long, passionate stares into space. Also with the Romantic with a capital R piano score, distressingly obvious when Anne plays Moonlight Sonata on piano, then a country dance on piano forte. Oopsies.

All the actors are quite fine, though I was racking my brains until 6 a.m. this morning trying to figure out where I had seen Mr. Elliot the cousin before (he played Brutus in Rome). Anthony Head was above and away the best characterization as Anne’s vain, snobbish father; he was great. Rupert Penry-Jones’ Wentworth was a pale imitation of Ciaran Hinds’, however, too waxen and boring by far. Wentworth should seethe and yet retain his naval dignity. (Perhaps I was biased, as in Casanova Penry-Jones was the villain!)

Costumes: beyond reproach. Cinematography: good, although I was disappointed to see less of Bath than I was expecting (now that I’ve been there, dammit, and would recognize it!). It started very badly, way too much exposition; the earlier version required much less and got moving much faster. The ending was also a bit flat; again, I think, taking too much from the Keira Knightley P & P. It was still fun, though.
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So. Sondheim seems to write a lot of musicals about murderers. What I remember is that in 1924 Hamburg a man was put on trial for biting and sucking the blood of young boys, hence urban cannibalization is not just the stuff of mere legend (as we know from reading more recent headlines). In any case, the musical combines the lyrical genius of Sondheim, some powerful melodic themes, and a delightfully biting cynicism. Two of my favorite songs, “The Worst Pies in London,” and “A Little Priest,” are the best examples of this. From that point of view it’s a natural project for Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, and Johnny Depp to tackle.

The costumes in the film will put us about mid-nineteenth-century, though the dark maze of urban decay—epitomized in probably my favorite part, a rapid camera zooming in to the spastic end chords of “No Place Like London”—seems more of the end of the century. This puts me much in mind of another project by the trio, the animated (and musical!) Corpse Bride. Admittedly when hearing of the film I was leery of how the musical aspect would translate onto screen; as much as I love musicals, by sheer fact of their existence they are not practical—they exist in a world of high emotion where either bursting into song on a street corner or singing in one’s head is convention. Sweeney Todd does both, more or less as well as any film musical I’ve seen.

I was impressed with Depp’s singing voice. As a member of Jack Sparrow’s harem, (if he had one) I knew Depp was up for the emotional side of a crazed man whom the world has treated badly (and yet recognizes “we should all die”). His voice is higher than most stage Todds; nevertheless, with or without the aid of recording wizardry, it’s quite smooth and generally equal to the vocal acrobatics (Todd does not require the range of a Phantom but Sondheim’s overlay of lyrics is sometimes challenging). I was also surprised at Helena Bonham Carter, who is younger than most stage Lovetts and whose voice was also of a different quality—yet she did a fine job in “My Friends.” I think in fact a younger Mrs. Lovett makes sense—she would have been quite young indeed when Benjamin Barker was carted off and therefore her crush would have been real, thus making the fact she doesn’t tell Todd about his wife more believable. Conversely Toby was played a lot younger than on stage. Though Alan Rickman was fine as Judge Turpin, I felt cheated at the presentation of deeper characterization only to be whisked away in the place of a real cardboard cut-out villain. Johanna was practically nonexistent though the actress sang “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” beautifully. What was the deal with Anthony?! Wonderful voice, but ineffectually androgynous. And his part was greatly reduced. More the pity. The real gem of the casting, however, was Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli. I loved that.

The story is bloody, and I knew it would be. At the same time, may I argue in favor of the stylized depictions of violence that the stage version would have, by necessity, presented us with? There were women laughing in the theatre as Todd eviscerated Turpin simply because the spurting blood looked so ridiculous. I imagine it’s Burton’s yen to shower us with as much blood as possible, but I almost think the Judge’s death would have been that much more powerful had we not seen the razors in all their glory beforehand. Also, two of my favorite songs were gone. “Kiss Me/ Ladies in Their Sensitivities” showed up in portions elsewhere, but just the few minutes of this song would have brought loads of depth to Anthony and Johanna. And the title song. Come on. I suppose it is very theatrical, and I am impressed at how Burton managed to run an instrumental version over the opening credits, but this song is the cornerstone of the entire production and I felt its loss very, very keenly. (To be honest, though if I’d heard it, I might have seen the Cybersofa of DOOOOOOM and Cybermen wailing, “Lumic, Lumic, Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumic!”) And interestingly, “By the Sea,” a song I’d completely ignored in the stage version, was beautifully staged and just a nice bit of comedy all around.