Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Essay Example

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” tells the story of London’s Benjamin Barker who loves his young beautiful wife and child only to have them taken away from him when he is unjustly sent to prison in Australia. The life of Barker’s wife is destroyed by the corrupt judge who wrongly sends him to prison, rapes his wife, and takes Barker’s child as his ward. After fifteen years of wrongful imprisonment, Barker escapes from prison and makes his way back to London.
Once back home, Barker returns to his barbershop where he meets up with the landlady still there after all those years and who sells the worst meat pies in London. The landlady tells Barker of the fate of his wife and child. Barker changes his name to Sweeney Todd and reopens his barbershop with a different take on the business.
Barker/Todd is so enraged that he becomes psychotic. The refurbished barber shop has a newly built chute that sends his customers down to the basement dead with their throats freshly slashed. The landlady uses the dead bodies to cut up and make what is now the best-tasting bestselling meat pies in London.
Johnny Depp plays the title character and does a fine job singing and dancing. Oh? Did I forget to mention this is a musical/dance film? It is! Amidst the murder and mayhem is the showcasing of Depp’s talents as a singer. Johnny Depp’s first ambition was to be a rock singer, not an actor. In Sweeny Todd, he combines both talents very effectively.
Though no one can say whether Sweeny Todd existed, the film has bits and pieces of historical basis. Read More