Introduction: "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss is also staring at you." ”
Directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bergham Carter, and Alan Rickman, Todd the Barber is an adaptation of Stephen Sandheim's thriller musical stage play about a Victorian epic. The story tells that Todd is a hairdresser with a perfect family of three, but because the local judge covets his wife's beauty, he slanders Todd and exiles him, and then imprisons his young daughter Joanna. Fifteen years later, Todd returned to England, where the shaved razor that shaved his face and cut his hair became a sharp blade that sealed his throat with blood, and he composed a gothic revenge song with Mrs. Lovett.
First, the continuation of the Gothic style
The film is the 6th collaboration between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton after Edward Scissorhands, Edwood, Guillotine Valley, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Zombie Bride, and although the film does not involve traditional Gothic elements such as ghosts, ghosts, religions, etc., it is still a work with horror and mysterious atmosphere. The film continues Tim Burton's consistent Gothic style, with its strong personal style, the entire film is dominated by black, which greatly increases the sense of gloom and horror, with the thrilling music, shaping a cold and dark London, but also in line with the theme of the film - revenge.
Gothic architecture, character modeling, and environmental shaping make the whole film full of darkness, depression and ghostliness. The image of the protagonist Todd is more Gothic. The decadent face, sunken eye sockets, unkempt hair, and melancholy eyes show the audience a middle-aged man whose heart is full of despair and hatred. The use of light in the film is remarkable. A large number of dark light is used in the film to set off the mysterious depth of the environment. For Todd's past memories, warm colors are used to express nostalgia for the happy life of the past, warm and cold, light and dark, and the real world in strong contrast.
Second, the metaphorical function of the mirror
The mirror in the film, as a special metaphorical symbol, has an important meaning in the film. First of all, the mirror reflects the environmental space of the story, explains the environment in which the story takes place, and renders the tone of the film. Todd's barbershop, for example, is filled with huge skylights and mirrors, but it should be bright but never shines through the sun, hinting at the darkness of London society as a whole.
In addition, the mirror also has the function of reflecting the inner heart of the character. After Todd's exile, his wife's life was difficult, the judge pretended to lie to her that there was a turnaround in Todd's affairs, the wife went to see the judge one night, but walked into a masquerade ball, the judge insulted his wife at the dance, and the mirror reflected the twisted, indifferent, dirty faces of the people at the dance, and everyone lived in the shadow of spiritual desolation. The director uses a mirror to reflect the distorted psychology of high society, and the irony is mixed with critical contempt, criticizing the chaotic social phenomena of London.
Third, the integration of opera and film
The film has been called "the bloodiest song and dance film of all time". Because the film was adapted from Stephen Sandheim's thriller musical stage play, the director retained most of the vocals in the film and composed a Gothic revenge song. The opera in Todd the Barber also has a narrative function. The dialogue naturally drives the plot forward, and the film opens with "You are young, life has been kind to you", singing Anthony's beautiful vision of London.
And for Todd, "But there's no place like London," there's no place as dirty, decaying, and painful as London. The natural flow and blending of music and emotion makes the film exude a unique charm. When Todd returns to the barbershop, his first chorus with Mrs. Lovett is "My Friends," "Friends, you shall drip rubies," from which Todd's vengefulness can be seen, and his "Friends" refers to razors. The Lovett family is "You're warm in my hand", and her "Friends" refers to Todd, expressing Lady Lovett for Todd, where music also plays a role in shaping the character.
Director Tim Burton does not focus on creating a Gothic surface atmosphere, but focuses the core of the film on exploring the dark side of the character's heart. Todd originally had a happy family, and the judge's destruction caused the Todd family to be separated, so he had to take a razor and go to the road of revenge. In the step by step revenge, Todd becomes more and more twisted, the fire of hatred in his heart devours his mind and soul, he is madly obsessed with the pleasure of blood spurting after the razor cuts the throat of others, he uses the way of killing to satisfy his desire for revenge, venting the hatred in his heart, and the smell of black smoke constantly rising from the smoke canister.
The film uses a lot of close-ups to depict Todd's killing process, with a razor slashed through his throat and the body being put into a meat grinder... When the judge sat in the barber's chair, he asked in horror, "Benjamin Barker?" Benjamin Barker", Todd responded calmly, and then with a knife in his hand, he was clean and clean when he killed, and his expression was calm, indicating that he had been completely numb and desperate.
"When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares at you." In the end, Todd accidentally kills his beloved wife, he can't accept the tragedy, throws Mrs. Lovett into the furnace, he holds his wife who was killed by his own hands, And Toby cuts the carotid artery with a razor, red blood gushes out, and all hatred is extinguished at this moment. Underneath the grotesque and gloomy gothic mantle of Tim Burton is his dissection and reflection on complex human nature. When hatred spreads, it becomes indulgence, thus gradually going to the abyss of eternal doom and losing its original purpose.