| | Robert and Ted,
I can certainly understand your concerns. After all, if we assume that musicals treat subject matter frivolously, and horror depicts violence gratuitously, then a combination of musical comedy and horror should be revolting. But Sweeney Todd transcends these genres. It lends a serious and intelligent treatment to a story in which the horrific elements are integral to the plot and theme.
I think one reason this story lasts is due to the strong distinction it draws between good and evil. The good is concretized in the characters of Joanna and her suitor, Anthony Hope. Their longing to be together in a union of love is depicted genuinely. Anthony displays more than one act of courage in his pursuit of love, as does she. Evil, on the other hand, is concretized centrally in the character of Sweeney Todd, and peripherally in the malevolent Judge Turpin and amoral Mrs. Lovett. Without giving away too much of this suspenseful story, suffice it to say that the evil characters all get their “just desserts” in the end.
The blood and gore in the story presents evil in the most repugnant and artistically graphic way possible. When we respond with utter horror to the violence, it is the precise response the filmmakers are striving to elicit from us. This isn’t a celebration of irrational violence, but an indictment of it. Sweeney Todd is a morality tale, condemning brutality and injustice, while extolling love and beneficence. It’s highly stylized presentation transforms what could be a mere melodrama into a masterpiece.
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I can't wait for Pedro Almodovar's "saucy" musical comedy Almuerzo con Jeffrey Dahmer.
