Attend the Tale
Dec. 26th, 2007 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerMy review for Sweeny is behind the cut just in case there are spoilers contained within it. I figured most people knew the story of the musical but found out last night that I could still "spoil" a movie by accident.
The rest of the day was nice. We opened gifts, ate good food, saw a movie, saw old friends, and napped (not necessarily in that order). Peter got me a couple of Froud Goblins that FAO Schwartz has an exclusive on. I love them. I also got a wonderful book on Pixar and a couple of other neat things including a Waffle Iron. My parents got the family a new set of pots and pans that we really needed since ours were slowly deteriorating. Caroline made out like a bandit in the toy department and Santa was pretty good to Ariel too as were my relatives so she has a goodly amount of loot.
Food is important on Christmas. We started with Eggs Benedict and ended with a tenderloin roast and Christmas Cookies. My tummy was very full and very happy.
Ariel, my sister Sheila, and I went to see Sweeny Todd while Peter took Caroline to see Waterhorse which they both enjoyed. Caroline has wanted to see that film since she first saw a preview for it back in September.
I will preface this review with a little background about me and the musical. I loved that musical. It is probably my favorite Sondheim musical and in my top three of musicals I love over all. I have worked props for various productions over the years. I know how to make razors squirt blood from the expensive Broadway versions to the local no budget. I can mix blood in a variety of thicknesses and slight differences in color so that they pop under whatever the lighting it. I know every lyric and every note all the way to my bones. This is a show that I have loved to watch and have seen as many times as I can and have worked on as many times as I have been offered.
That being said, I really like the film. The cast was solid. The look was just off enough to keep the watcher uncomfortable. The costumes were great. And the music used worked very well. And there were all kinds of little things to keep me amused, Tony Head showing up in an un-credited cameo, The condition of Mrs. Lovette's shop during "Worst Pies in London", Sweeny in the bathing costume are among many things that just worked so well. The ending kind of fell flat. Toby kills Sweeny more blood, and fade to black. Peter came up with a brilliant ending which also gets the Ballad of Sweeny Todd back in to the mix. Fade to black and then a graph saying "One Year Later". You see the outside of a Theater and there is Toby waving flyers and singing "Attend the Tale of Sweeny Todd" and you have Sweeny and the rest of the dead people going through the crowd singing the Ballad of Sweeny Todd. It would look like when Sweeny went through the crowd in Epiphany. End of Film.
Now a number of purists, of which I am apparently not, are up in arms about the fact that they didn't use The Ballad of Sweeny Todd (TBoST) in the film. They didn't need to because all the TBoST does is set up the theatrical play for the audience. It adds nothing to the story. Yeah, it's a great song but a great song does not make for great film. And they didn't Ruin the Musical by not using it. I bet if you go see the musical it still opens and closes with TBoST. And there were some lyric changes within the songs, but I expected that because film is a different medium from stage and you can show things on film that would never work on stage. Overall most of the musical was up there on screen and the blood flowed like water.
I am grateful that we had such a nice day yesterday.
The rest of the day was nice. We opened gifts, ate good food, saw a movie, saw old friends, and napped (not necessarily in that order). Peter got me a couple of Froud Goblins that FAO Schwartz has an exclusive on. I love them. I also got a wonderful book on Pixar and a couple of other neat things including a Waffle Iron. My parents got the family a new set of pots and pans that we really needed since ours were slowly deteriorating. Caroline made out like a bandit in the toy department and Santa was pretty good to Ariel too as were my relatives so she has a goodly amount of loot.
Food is important on Christmas. We started with Eggs Benedict and ended with a tenderloin roast and Christmas Cookies. My tummy was very full and very happy.
Ariel, my sister Sheila, and I went to see Sweeny Todd while Peter took Caroline to see Waterhorse which they both enjoyed. Caroline has wanted to see that film since she first saw a preview for it back in September.
I will preface this review with a little background about me and the musical. I loved that musical. It is probably my favorite Sondheim musical and in my top three of musicals I love over all. I have worked props for various productions over the years. I know how to make razors squirt blood from the expensive Broadway versions to the local no budget. I can mix blood in a variety of thicknesses and slight differences in color so that they pop under whatever the lighting it. I know every lyric and every note all the way to my bones. This is a show that I have loved to watch and have seen as many times as I can and have worked on as many times as I have been offered.
That being said, I really like the film. The cast was solid. The look was just off enough to keep the watcher uncomfortable. The costumes were great. And the music used worked very well. And there were all kinds of little things to keep me amused, Tony Head showing up in an un-credited cameo, The condition of Mrs. Lovette's shop during "Worst Pies in London", Sweeny in the bathing costume are among many things that just worked so well. The ending kind of fell flat. Toby kills Sweeny more blood, and fade to black. Peter came up with a brilliant ending which also gets the Ballad of Sweeny Todd back in to the mix. Fade to black and then a graph saying "One Year Later". You see the outside of a Theater and there is Toby waving flyers and singing "Attend the Tale of Sweeny Todd" and you have Sweeny and the rest of the dead people going through the crowd singing the Ballad of Sweeny Todd. It would look like when Sweeny went through the crowd in Epiphany. End of Film.
Now a number of purists, of which I am apparently not, are up in arms about the fact that they didn't use The Ballad of Sweeny Todd (TBoST) in the film. They didn't need to because all the TBoST does is set up the theatrical play for the audience. It adds nothing to the story. Yeah, it's a great song but a great song does not make for great film. And they didn't Ruin the Musical by not using it. I bet if you go see the musical it still opens and closes with TBoST. And there were some lyric changes within the songs, but I expected that because film is a different medium from stage and you can show things on film that would never work on stage. Overall most of the musical was up there on screen and the blood flowed like water.
I am grateful that we had such a nice day yesterday.
