The controversial and critically acclaimed thriller, “Sweeney Todd” from director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp, will be shown in Philippine cinemas in its full, original form as the Movie & Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) has given the film an R-18 Without Cuts rating.
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor in the upcoming Golden Globe Awards, the film has been hailed for its compelling and uncompromising interpretation of the award-winning musical play by the legendary Stephen Sondheim.
Depp stars as Benjamin Barker, a man unjustly imprisoned for 15 years on the other side of the world, who escapes back to London with a vow of revenge. Adopting the guise of Sweeney Todd, Barker returns to his old barber shop and sets his sights on Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who shipped him off on a trumped-up charge in order to steal his wife and his baby daughter from him.
Given that Sweeney’s method of murder is cutthroat, it was inevitable that “Sweeney Todd” would be awash with blood. “In reality when you slit someone’s throat it is a messy business and we don’t shy away from that,” screenwriter John Logan states. “We are in no way coy about what Sweeney Todd is doing because to understand the tragedy of Sweeney you have to understand the degradation which he inflicts on himself and other people. You have to understand he is, in fact, a homicidal maniac and yet your heart breaks for him.”
“‘Sweeney Todd’ is a thriller-diller from start to finish: scary, monstrously funny and melodically thrilling,” raves Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine. “And Depp is simply stupendous. He’s not Pavarotti and doesn’t try to be, but his light baritone has clarity, timbre and emotive power. Depp erases the line between singing and acting, fusing them into something that keeps the movie blazing. Oscar, take note.”
Opening across the Philippines on Jan. 16, “Sweeney Todd” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.