F: Is for Fanatics in Film

I have performed in 'Sweeney Todd' twice. Once when I was younger as Johanna and then later as the Beggar Women. I never thought I would say this but it is better as a film. Where theatre offers intimacy Tim Burtons bloody masterpiece offers a framing of the horror which directs your eye. In the opening shots, rain falls against a blue-black background of buildings, but the drops turn murderously bright red. In a cartoonish format it glides stickily through the cogs of a wheel and continues its path. Burton's vision suits 'Sweeney Todd' to a tee and make this musical a visual delight.

Johnny Depp is a star. His "Sweeney" is not always easy to watch, but you can't turn away. His haunted and vengeful eyes sail into London on a mission to kill the man who stole his wife and child and sent him off to prison. We're swept into Burton's pitch-black vision. This is a tale of blighted passions and dark obsessions. It has an emotional intimacy that allows you to see this work with fresh eyes. This is a man set on vengeance with a one-track mind. His rage drives him—but you glimpse his pain. Bonham Carter reinvents Mrs. Lovett from the inside out. She is haunted, yearning for an unreachable man, sucked into his madness in the hope he will finally open his heart to her. Though they are not singers per say, I find they're voices to take this to a new level. The music becomes more accessible almost bordering on pop. Stephen Sondheim has stated he would rather have actors who can sing and he is right. This piece entails emotions pushed to the edge of sanity and beyond. Sacha Baron Cohen (a.k.a. Borat) is the charlatan barber Pirelli, and is perfectly cast. Ed Sanders is fabulous as the boy, Toby. He’s a terrific actor with a voice to match.

This production is violent but it is also a commentary at how we see death and how life is expendable. Here the rich take whatever they please but when pushed too far there are those who will wait, no matter how long to seek their revenge. Will we like the audience become desensitization to the horrors around us? Only time will tell, but for now mark 'Sweeney Todd' down on the list of must see films and that is a F.A.C.T.