Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Most assuredly not for the fainthearted, but otherwise "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks/Paramount) proves a finely made adaptation of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim's 1979 Broadway musical.

It far surpasses the two previous cinematic incarnations of his work: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and the woefully bad "A Little Night Music."

The musical was based on a 1973 play by Christopher Bond that retold the Victorian-era legend of the crazed barber Benjamin Barker (an intense Johnny Depp, singing surprisingly well) determined to exact revenge on the lecherous Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who robbed him of his wife, Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly), and baby daughter Joanna years before.

Now returned from his 15-year imprisonment in Australia, with a young sailor named Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower) at his side, he finds out that Turpin and his henchman, Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall), are still very much in power, and the now-grown Joanna (Jayne Wisner) is the judge's ward and intended bride.

Changing his name to Sweeney Todd, he sets up his business over the shop of a shady baker, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who has always loved Barker/Todd.

Anthony, meanwhile, has spied Joanna sitting, a virtual prisoner, in the window of Turpin's house, and he promptly falls in love. But Turpin observes Anthony, has him thrashed and orders him never to return.

Later, Turpin shows up at Todd's emporium for a shave -- and Todd, razor drawn, almost has his chance for revenge -- but young Anthony bursts in with news of his planned elopement with Joanna.

When a rival barber, the Italian mountebank Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen), reveals he knows Todd's true identity and threatens blackmail, Todd cuts the man's throat, giving Mrs. Lovett the idea of baking him -- and Todd's other victims to come -- into her pies.

John Logan's screenplay manages to be remarkably faithful to the show, cutting mainly the chorus numbers that might seem artificial. Sondheim's songs are well performed. This is familiar territory for director Tim Burton, who has an affinity for Grand Guignol, and creates an atmosphere of almost unbearable tension.

The cast is outstanding. In addition to Depp's passionate portrayal of the titular madman, Bonham Carter offers a unique characterization, much different from the role's original, Angela Lansbury.

In virtually all stage productions of "Sweeney Todd," even in opera houses, the bloodletting is merely suggested. Here the blood is shown (and how!). These stylized but grisly scenes, however brief, and the basic premise will be a turnoff for many.

Vengeance, of course, is far from a Christian virtue, but everyone gets their just desserts in the end. (And we don't mean Mrs. Lovett's pies.)

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The film contains brief but grisly bloodlettings and grinding of flesh, implied cannibalism, a couple of uses of the s-word, brief irreverence in lyrics and underage drinking. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops