"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Hel
ena Bonham-Carter, Alan
Rickman, Timothy Spall,
Sacha Baron Cohen
Rating: R (for graphic, gratu
itous bloodshed)
Running time: 118 minutes
Best suited for: Tim Burton
and Johnny Depp fans, maca
bre musical tastes
Least suited for: the squea
mish

First, a personal admission: I've never really understood the violent musical. People don't typically break into song in my neighborhood- but when they do, it's usually for some optimistic, jovial reason.

The musical, I've always believed, spirits folks away from bad times like the Depression or a world war and floats them for a short while aboard some abstract, fluffy fantasy. When an audience leaves the theater, they're more likely to be humming "Singin' in the Rain" than thinking about their next mortgage payment.

Hence, I've always had trouble with even implied bloodshed in a film where people arbitrarily begin to sing. I remember the first time I saw "South Pacific" as a kid, going along with the premise until Lt. Cable (John Kerr) is- kapow!- blown away in the line of duty. Well, there goes the love story. There goes happily ever after. There goes the reason for all that !?&@*%! singing.

I had the same trouble with "West Side Story" (music and street gangs) and "The Sound of Music" (singing and Nazis).

So I'm not sure what I expected from a Tim Burton musical. I guess I believed "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" would be a musical similar to his animated "The Nightmare Before Christmas"- spooky yet endearing. I presumed the impending bloodshed (from the title, if nothing else) would be elegantly tucked away against the dark corners of the screen.

Boy, was I wrong.

"Sweeney Todd" is the bloodiest musical I've ever seen, a genuine slasher film with some pretty nice tunes, a surrealistic plunge into the madness of loss and revenge without the hope of redemption. Because people die most gruesomely, the film's not for the faint of heart.

Thus said, here's another guilty admission: For those who understand (or think they might intuit) Tim Burton's mind, "Sweeney Todd's" a pretty terrific, twisted little opera. Anyone familiar with the director's distinguished stable of sinister alterrealities ("Batman," "Mars Attacks," "Sleepy Hollow," "Edward Scissorhands") should suspect some morbid motivation.

As musicals go (forgetting, for a moment, the frequent throat slashings), "Sweeney Todd" is a gifted concoction of highly stylized surrealism and wonderful, finely crafted acting. Johnny Depp- pancaked so white one might occasionally reminisce over his performance as Scissorhands- will probably be nominated for Best Actor, and I'm not convinced he shouldn't win. While he scowls and grimaces through an assortment of musical numbers, there's a richness, a brutal honesty to his voice. He is an impeccable madman.

Should anyone, at this point, expect a plot summary, let's just say that "Sweeney Todd" is a bit like "The Count of Monte Cristo" without the want of redemption. Oh, and "The Count of Monte Cristo" is a bit like "The Shawshank Redemption" without Morgan Freeman. If you don't get it by now, you do need to get out more.

"Sweeney Todd's" musical numbers are, for the most part, brilliantly concocted by Stephen Sondheim- more so when the lyrics gravitate toward the tastefulness of men of certain professions, less so when they're reduced to simple love songs.

I mean, every musical has love songs, but few lament about one's relationship with a straight razor. Helena BonhamCarter is splendid as the accomplice who grinds up Todd's victims into yummy meat pies.

However, as previously suggested, "Sweeney Todd" is Johnny Depp's film- the man inhabits and haunts the mad barber as none other might. Depp is, without a doubt, one of the premier actors of our time, and his penchant for eccentric roles (quick, name the last film where Depp didn't appear in makeup) only enhances, in my mind, his quintessential quirkiness. One must remember that, in Hollywood, normality is not a positive character trait.

In any event, you've been forewarned. For the Burton faithful, I suspect "Sweeney Todd" will titillate and grossly engross. For the uninitiated- well, you can always rent "Dreamgirls." Oh, dang, wait- death awaits you there, too. "Chicago"? Nope, more death. Is the musical becoming the new horror genre?

Where have you gone, Gene Kelly?