At last, my arm is complete again!
Dec. 31st, 2007 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaideni finally saw the film Sweeney Todd. i enjoyed it. i'm looking forward to watching it again with C in tow.
it's a solid adaptation and i think if you have no experience of the play you won't know that there's anything missing.
in the play, the beggar woman is batshit crazy and repulsive. she follows up her melodic begging for alms with explicit and nearly violent offers to prostitute herself. in the film she felt more like a random homeless person. i was much more inclined to pity her, and it reduced the impact of the reveal after her death.
i never liked "Kiss Me", but pulling that scene means that Johanna really does come across as the girl Turpin sees, an ungrateful slut. there's zero development of the Johanna/Anthony relationship, and then we have no Turpin turn at singing "Johanna" to tell us just how creepy he is. the peephole and that thing about the books didn't really cover it for me.
i understand why they pulled out the chorus. but why couldn't we have the Ballad of Sweeney Todd over the credits? AND WHERE WAS THE STEAM WHISTLE? THE STEAM WHISTLE!
the choices made about using CG felt halfassed to me. the opening credits are cartoonish, but so borderline as to look shoddy rather than a choice to do the titles in animation. the closing pool of "blood" looked like nail polish, and just freaking weird after all the practical work that had come before. (my comments on this after viewing led to a discussion of why i know what real jetting blood and spatter looks like. suffices to say i'm a farm girl. they did great work with the stains and spatter.) i wish they had done the work to cut the flow pattern in the floor and adjust the color to brighten the liquid in post-production, since they were desaturating everything anyway. it would have been worth the time and money. or used the CG and the nailpolish texture throughout. whichever.
i appreciated the casting. (oh, for more than a glimpse of Tony Head!) it's delightful to see the stubble on Turpin's cheek and Mrs. Lovett making her choice during "Not While I'm Around". it's good to see more of London, and to step into the "By the Sea" fantasy.
it can't replace the play. (in addition to seeing it live, listening to several cast recordings, and watching more than one video version, i spent a deal of time studying it in a theatre history class. i'm perhaps more entrenched in my relationship with it than most.) it's my Favorite Musical Ever. i doubt anyone could make a film adaptation that would be perfectly satisfying to me, but this one is pretty darn good. i recommend it to anyone who can stomach the throatcutting and indirect cannibalism.
(and what the hell? it's been out for a week and the guy in front of me had no idea it was a musical?)
it's a solid adaptation and i think if you have no experience of the play you won't know that there's anything missing.
in the play, the beggar woman is batshit crazy and repulsive. she follows up her melodic begging for alms with explicit and nearly violent offers to prostitute herself. in the film she felt more like a random homeless person. i was much more inclined to pity her, and it reduced the impact of the reveal after her death.
i never liked "Kiss Me", but pulling that scene means that Johanna really does come across as the girl Turpin sees, an ungrateful slut. there's zero development of the Johanna/Anthony relationship, and then we have no Turpin turn at singing "Johanna" to tell us just how creepy he is. the peephole and that thing about the books didn't really cover it for me.
i understand why they pulled out the chorus. but why couldn't we have the Ballad of Sweeney Todd over the credits? AND WHERE WAS THE STEAM WHISTLE? THE STEAM WHISTLE!
the choices made about using CG felt halfassed to me. the opening credits are cartoonish, but so borderline as to look shoddy rather than a choice to do the titles in animation. the closing pool of "blood" looked like nail polish, and just freaking weird after all the practical work that had come before. (my comments on this after viewing led to a discussion of why i know what real jetting blood and spatter looks like. suffices to say i'm a farm girl. they did great work with the stains and spatter.) i wish they had done the work to cut the flow pattern in the floor and adjust the color to brighten the liquid in post-production, since they were desaturating everything anyway. it would have been worth the time and money. or used the CG and the nailpolish texture throughout. whichever.
i appreciated the casting. (oh, for more than a glimpse of Tony Head!) it's delightful to see the stubble on Turpin's cheek and Mrs. Lovett making her choice during "Not While I'm Around". it's good to see more of London, and to step into the "By the Sea" fantasy.
it can't replace the play. (in addition to seeing it live, listening to several cast recordings, and watching more than one video version, i spent a deal of time studying it in a theatre history class. i'm perhaps more entrenched in my relationship with it than most.) it's my Favorite Musical Ever. i doubt anyone could make a film adaptation that would be perfectly satisfying to me, but this one is pretty darn good. i recommend it to anyone who can stomach the throatcutting and indirect cannibalism.
(and what the hell? it's been out for a week and the guy in front of me had no idea it was a musical?)
