O'Connell: Sweeney Todd

Sweeney discovers his old friend

Tim Burton’s 2007 film, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street stars Johnny Depp as Benjamin Barker. A timid barber, Barker was happily married to his beautiful wife and they had a daughter together. The villain in the film, Judge Turpin, is jealous and wrongly locks Barker away for a long time with the intention of stealing his perfect family. His tragic past results in him taking on a new identity as Sweeney Todd to vow bloody revenge. The previously good Benjamin Barker disappears and is taken over by a relentless murderer.

Although he kills numerous people, the audience still sympathizes with him because he’s lost everything he’s ever cared about. Todd has found a release for the pain he feels in the most gruesome form possible. The bloodshed really takes off when he teams up with the equally deranged Mrs. Lovett. After luring in all his victims for a “haircut” he slits their throats and throws them down a hole. Mrs. Lovett uses the disposed bodies as the meat to her increasingly popular meat pies. The film takes the act of cannibalism very lightly and it shows the lengths people will go in order to make it in a city that’s becoming rapidly industrialized. Mrs. Lovett did not think twice when it came to baking people in her pies because it is the key to success and a booming business. London is also a dangerous place in the midst of industrialization. With the high rate of crime and murder, Mrs. Lovett’s meat pies are a perfect symbol of the people who don’t make it out of the city alive.

With industrialization revolving around money, corruption will always be involved. The film tackles the theme of corruption very obviously in the form of Judge Turpin. His one look at Todd’s wife was enough for him to tear a family apart. He simply destroys the life of another man with ease just to fulfill his own jealous desires. He even sentences a little boy to be hanged to death in his courtroom. (Although this is more for humorous effect) Even though Sweeney Todd’s actions are psychopathic, Judge Turpin is equally as inhumane.  

O'Connell: Big Fish

Ping & Jing

Tim Burton merges the bright and optimistic character of Edward Bloom and merges him with the dark and grotesque characters that he encounters throughout the film. This is possible because similar to the other characters of Burton’s films, Edward is extremely open-minded and doesn’t judge the people he meets. He surrounds himself with people that others would consider “freaks” and they become his loyal group of friends. This is also similar to Burton’s life because he also surrounds himself with people he would consider outcasts. The characters he meets help him in different ways throughout his journey. The first scene that reflects this is when Edward goes to confront the giant before the townspeople go after him. He uses humor to charm the giant and pretends to be a human sacrifice. He also convinces the giant to go on a journey with him in search of bigger and better things. He tells the giant that the town is simply too small for him and that he’s a big fish in a little pond. This is also something that Edward feels about himself. He is able to relate to these interesting characters because, like him, they are all in search of something more in life. Edward also does his best to help everyone he meets, which results in him having a lot of loyal friends. He helps the giant by bringing him to the circus where he fits in perfectly and feels accepted for the first time. This is also the case with the circus owner played by Danny DeVito. Amos recognizes that Edward is driven and hard-working and it’s something he respects about him. Even when Amos turns into his werewolf self, Edward still accepts him. Most people who come in contact with a werewolf would scream and run way. Edward, on the other hand, stands his ground and decides to play fetch. This scene is ironic because one expects werewolves to be vicious but all they really want to do is play fetch. This is the aspect of Edward that allows him to successfully continue his journey. His acceptance of people, no matter who they are or what they look like, helps him to become a trusted figure. 

O'Connell: Sleepy Hollow

Ichabod and his special glasses.

Burton takes certain elements from the story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and expands on them. He stretches it into a more substantial narrative, creating a completely new story in the process. Almost nothing is the same except for the setting and the names of the characters. Unlike the Ichabod Crane in the book, you know so much more about the Johnny Depp version of the character. Burton’s Ichabod has a tragic backstory that gives his character so much more dimension. By showing his mother’s gruesome demise and the reasons behind it you get a much more broad view of Ichabod’s character. Similar to Burton’s previous films, Ichabod is an orphan and this is an aspect that you do not even think about when reading the story. After witnessing this, Ichabod’s personality becomes so much more understandable. He relies on science and the rational mind because his mother was persecuted by the hands of his religious father. Depp’s character also becomes more relatable to audiences because you sympathize with his childhood. He is vastly different from the Ichabod in the story who is a superstitious and greedy man. Ichabod does not disappear at the end of the movie like he does in the story. Instead he is the hero who saves the day and gets the girl. This makes the film much more appealing to mainstream audiences who probably would have been disappointed if Katrina and Ichabod’s romance wasn’t expanded upon. (Like in the story) The Headless Horsemen remains a mystery in the story which hints the he may not even exist at all. In the film he is totally real and decapitates more than a few people. There wasn’t a single death in the original story which probably wouldn’t have made a very exciting movie. Another addition the film makes that wasn’t included in the story is the little boy who becomes Ichabod’s side kick. He has many qualities that Burton relates to because both of his parent’s lives are claimed while he is still a young boy. He becomes an orphan and a sort of outsider. This is probably what draws him to Ichabod, who is also an outsider with in the town of Sleepy Hollow.