Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Now I am not exactly one for musicals and I quickly became aware of this when sitting down in the cinema to see Les Misérables, and found myself not quite getting what all the fuss was about. It was a fine enough film but I never found myself all that engaged with the story or the music but there was one musical I saw a few years prior which I wanted to revisit today and that was Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Adapted from Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name, this remains Burton's only musical and quite possibly one of his last great films.

The story follows the infamous barber who has returned to Victorian London after over a decade for being wrongly imprisoned and returns to find his wife dead and daughter missing. Life has been hard on him but he finds a friend in a struggling baker, Nellie Lovett, where the two come to form a grisly business plan while Todd plots his revenge.

This released in 2007 but Burton's suitably gothic thriller has lost none of its impact in the years since and remains a visually striking experience with its stark use of colour. And, unlike Les Misérables, I found the music to be great and can still play it back in my head, but it also effortlessly fits in with the story instead of grinding it to a halt. Then there's the terrific cast which includes Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman who all do justice to Sondheim's work and Burton's stellar direction. Burton even noted he was not a fan of musicals and somehow he makes one of 2007's best films in year that was already stacked with other greats. 

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will play well to viewers like me where the prospect of almost continuous singing in a film doesn't sound all too appetising (forgive the pun!) but the music, Depp giving one of his best performances and Burton's gothic approach make this a fun, thrilling watch. The whole story comes in just under two hours and is one I thoroughly enjoyed watching again so this gets my full recommendation, and I hope Burton finds his form again soon.