Sweeney Todd is a musical that was released is 2007, the film itself is set in the victorian era, London. The age certificate for this film is 15. This is because it based on purely adult themes such as death, murder, revenge, greed as well as many others. Another reason for this rating is that it contains strong language, swear words, it also contains a lot of blood and gore. Language used in this film is very ‘adult’ containing swear words as well as long and complex sentences that to follow completely would need full concentration. Another sign of this being an adult film is the overall colouring of the film, it’s very dark and gloomy.
Unusually this film contains a Non - linear narrative, where as most musicals stick to a linear one. This, while making the film harder to understand, allows the audience to learn more about Sweeney Todd as the film progresses. It also fits the target audience, by making the film more difficult to follow it would also keep the interests of the audience because they would have to actively remain thinking about the film. The exposition of this film is when Sweeney Todd comes back to London on a ship. This perfectly sets how the rest of the film will be. The dark night with the ghostly ship shows how gothic the film is meant to be. Also the characters themselves are very pale and dark clothed, Sweeney Todd even more so due to the fact he wear dark eye make up. The climax of Sweeney Todd is one of the final scenes where Todd finally kills Judge Turpin, it also introduces the biggest twist in the film. Before Sweeney kills Judge Turpin he kills a crazy begger woman who he was afraid would alert Turpin. After killing them both he finds out that the begger was actually his wife who he had believed to be dead, due to the treachery by Mrs Lovett. The resolution to this, if it can be called that, is when Todd kills Mrs Lovett and then allows himself to be killed by Toby. Sweeney is left bleeding to death over wife's dead body while his daughter presumably ran off with Anthony. One major difference between Sweeney Todd and other main stream musicals is that it finishes even more gothic and horrible than it started out, while most musicals finish on a happy note.
The scene where Todd first finds out that the begger woman was his wife shows how the film love was represented in this film. It also shows many of the darker elements of the film. Offering to the begger woman’s body into the furnace for Mrs Lovett, Todd discovers that the woman is actually his wife, who Mrs Lovett claimed to have been killed. Todd then precedes to dance with Mrs Lovett pretending that he actually loves her, before throwing Mrs Lovett into the furnace and watching her burn. This shows the difference between this musical film and many others the violence showed throughout the film and especially this scene is very grim. It also shows how the theme revenge was taken out on two people Mr Turpin and Mrs Lovett. Love here is represented by the facial expressions by both Todd and Lovett. As Todd slowly dies over his wife's body he looks at her with complete adoration showing his feelings for her. While Mrs Lovett looks the happiest she’s ever been in the film while dancing with Todd. The scene is very dark in colour with only one source of bright light, the furnace, but even with it the the room is still dark and gloomy, the only other accentuated colour is the blood on Todd and also his blood that pours over his wife. The sound is very crucial as Todd slowing moves towards his wife the music goes in a long crescendo as he gets closer the music gets louder until he finally sees and realises its wife and stops. This would have a great affect on the audience because they would know something big is going to happen by the music, this would keep the gripped as they would want to know what Todd does. There is no longitude shots from the camera in this scene, the closest to it would be when the camera creeps away from Todd and his wife. The close ups allow the viewers to see exactly how characters are feeling, and is very useful when it close ups on Todd just before he throws Mrs Lovett into the fire, it shows his look of pure hatred and anger, which wouldn’t have had any effect unless it had been a close up. In the Victorian era marriage wasn’t always consensual and the film represents this perfectly with Todd’s wife trying to be forced to marry Mr Turpin.
This is a very good analysis Liz. I'm pleased that you've highlighted ways that Sweeney Todd is unique. Something else that you could comment on is the use of adult themes. Do many musicals have a 15 certificate or are they more family based?
ReplyDeleteIn terms of camera work, have different techniques been used because the focus is on singing rather than dancing? You could compare techniques with a more dance based musical.
Your discussion of narrative is excellent. You should now highlight techniques that interest you that you might want to apply to your own film. Finally, remember to include specific terminolog throughout e.g. diegetic and non-diegetic sound.