I don't think I'm a terrible contrarian, am I? I don't rush to opposite judgments of things to make myself heard. I often like exactly the same things everyone else likes. I like puppies, and chocolate, and Titanic. But I feel weird saying what I'm about to say, and after my feelings toward Atonement, well, a little overboard with advocating the Devil. Ahem. Here goes.I quite liked Helena Bonham Carter's singing in Sweeney Todd.
But, besides that, I found most of Sondheim's music terrifically boring.
I liked the movie. But it was in spite of the music. I know, I'm Mr. Anti-Muscials, so my opinion here holds as little weight as could be weighed on something that measures very little weight. Also, I'm only half-awake as I type this right now, so my thought process probably isn't as reasoned out as it could be. But that was my reaction. Wow, these songs all sound... the same, and Pretty Girls, yes, and Jooooooaaannnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaa yawn.
I suppose the argument could be made that with more accomplished singers singing the songs - remember, this is the first time I've seen any version of Sweeney - they might've held more... ear-pleasing oomph. But I don't think it was the quality of the singing that was affecting me. Or, rather, disaffecting me. There was only one number - "A Little Priest" - that truly caught my ear. Otherwise... meh. Seriously, if I had to ear the name Joanna stretched out unto infinity again, I might've gone on a throat-slashing rampage.
As for HBC, her voice reminded me a lot of Catherine O'Hara's in Nightmare Before Christmas - weak, sure, but sweet and sad and, I thought, completely endearing. She was possibly my favorite part of the entire film, really.
So... how can I say I liked the movie - a musical! - in spite of the music? If I'd found the music terrifically annoying it would've made it impossible, but mostly, the music was just there, the tunes never catching my ear in a positive or a negative way (except for the aforementioned "A Little Priest," which was great fun). So it told the story, and I quite liked the story, and thought Depp and HBC and all the actors sold the emotions well, and the design was lovely, and the violence was delightfully excessive - those neck-shattering plunges down the back of the barber's chair were perfectly harsh, and the blood was just the right shade of giallo red.
But, well, this Sondheim chap? He [edited to preserve my life].
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11 comments:
Good thing you edited yourself. Sondheimians are ... bold.
I plan on seeing it this Wednesday or Thursday, and I'm going to love it. I like Depp a lot, and I have this thing for HBC ...
I know! And christ knows I'm not the person t listen to when it comes to talking about musicals, but there are several musicals I quite like. Wizard of Oz counts, right? And I LOVE Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Okay... beyond that I'm blanking. There must be more, I guess. Hmm.
Anyway, all of the other stuff is terrific, so if you like the music too then it really would be a terrific full package deal, I think.
wow. Surprised you didn't like the music. I usually think people who don't like musicals would still like the Hermann-esque music here. Personally, I certainly don't think it sounds all alike, (especially compared to something like the Phantom of the Opera!) but then again Sweeney, I think, is one of the greatest scores in the entirety of musical theatre. I have a suspicion that upon a second listen it might grow on you. Sondheim's work can be very subtle.
I liked HBC too. Not a great singer, but the quality of her voice, I thought, worked, for whatever reason. Same with Depp's violent growling.
I can say I liked the score when it was background music, which from what I've read was from some of the songs that got cut, which were then used to score the movie. But the actual "songs", the stuff with vocals, didn't seem all that mind-blowing to me. Perhaps it's that everybody beforehand had been saying how amazing it was; my expectations were high, I guess.
And again, I'm not the person to come to for musical theater knowledge... I couldn't even tell you a song from Phantom, for instance, and even I know that's about as generic as musical theater gets. One thing I did like: the fact that nobody ever went all "I am SINGING!" at me; that the songs were telling the story and never got all Actor-y. There's nothing that makes me wanna run screaming from a theater quicker than when somebody gets all Actor-y.
I thought of more musical things I like! The Buffy musical episode and plenty of cartoon musicals (think Disney). It's because cartoon characters can't get Actor-y, I betcha.
How about Singin' in the Rain? Even Sondheim liked that.
[whispers] Ive never seen Singin In The Rain...[/whispers] I know! Stop yelling at me!
Funnily enough, I was just now doing the dishes and, just before reading your post Glenn, I think I came up with a way to remedy this dire musical situation of mine. We shall see...
That was a weird way to phrase that 2nd sentence. The fact that I was doing the dishes had nothing to do with anything. Except I do a lot of thinking while dish-washing.
Nightmare Before Christmas is a musical, too. ;-)
Don't know if you're up for it, but I'm recommending the DVD of the staged Sweeney (with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury). I first saw it in high school on PBS and, even though I was/am not a huge fan of musicals, really dug it.
The bloody parts helped, I'm sure.
oh JA... where to even begin.
get yourself some SONDHEIM cds pronto. He's only our greatest living composer and reading this I suddenly hated the movie I once really liked, for handicapping his brilliance.
I liked the movie. I forced my mom to go and she did not.
I went in to the movie already not liking the score. Personally I cannot stand it, but I enjoyed it on the big screen with the visuals.
I must admit that there are only a few Sondheim scores that I like (Forum, Into the Woods, Company, and Assassins), but do not "get" the others.
I would love to see Into the Woods on the big screen with Burton directing it - with really great singers cast.
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