| News Items: |
| Headlines |
| News Briefs |
| Stories |
| Movies |
| Word To Life |
| More News: |
| Vatican |
| Africa |
| Archives: |
| John Paul II |
| Tsunami |
| Election 2004 |
| Charter update |
| John Jay study |
| Other Items: |
| Client Area |
| Links |
| Origins |
| Movie Review |
|
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Tim Burton has been responsible for some of the most wildly imaginative films in recent decades, including "Beetlejuice," "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman" and, most recently, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." In his darkly enchanting "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" (Warner Bros.) -- a macabre animated romance based on a Russian folk tale -- Burton, like his deceased leading lady, rises to the occasion. Set in a Victorian-era storybook village, the fairy tale centers on timid groom-to-be Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp), son of nouveau-riche canned-fish tycoons Nell and William Van Dort (voiced by Tracy Ullman and Paul Whitehouse). The social-climbing Van Dorts arrange for their befuddled son to marry Victoria (voiced by Emily Watson), the shy daughter of snooty bluebloods Maudeline and Finis Everglot (voiced by Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney), who are none too happy about the impending nuptials. On the eve of the wedding, practicing his vows alone in the woods, Victor finds himself betrothed to a comely cadaver (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter), whom he inadvertently reanimates by placing the wedding ring on her skeletal finger which he mistakes for a tree root. Dressed in a tattered wedding gown, the pretty -- in a decomposing way -- Corpse Bride whisks her new fiance down to the underworld where she hopes to live happily ever hereafter. But Victor has grave reservations, preferring a wife with a pulse. He pines for Victoria, who, in his absence, is forced to marry Barkis Bittern (voiced by Richard E. Grant), a menacing stranger who holds the key to the Corpse Bride's tragic past. Rounding out the voice talent is Christopher Lee as the hard-hearted Pastor Galswells, whose pointed head is crowned with a bishop's miter, though the movie contains no direct reference to Christianity. Co-directed with Mike Johnson, the film marks Burton's third venture in stop-motion animation -- after "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993) and "James and the Giant Peach" (1996) -- the puppet technique pioneered by special-effects great Ray Harryhausen (who is cleverly referenced). As conceived by Burton and Spanish artist Carlos Grangel, the characters -- both living and dead -- are a bizarre blend of shapes and sizes, clearly influenced by Edward Gorey. With his lanky pipe-cleaner limbs, expressive saucer eyes and mop of black hair, Victor resembles Depp. Designed by Alex McDowell and Nelson Lowry, the funereal "Land of the Living" is anything but lively, shot in dreary grays and sepia tones. The real fun is down below, where a bowler-hatted skeleton, Bonejangles (voiced by Danny Elfman), knocks 'em dead at a Mardi Gras-atmosphered bar called the Ball and Socket Club. (Despite a few jazzy numbers, Elfman's score doesn't rank among his most memorable.) And while some may disagree with the film's depiction of death as a liberation from the sepulchral stuffiness of the world above -- symbolized by Galswells (a poke at organized religion?) -- a visually poetic coda suggests a more empyrean heaven beyond the purgatorial partying. Visually, the happenin' Hades echoes in neon the exaggerated angles of early German expressionist films like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Despite its fablelike milieu, the movie -- with its necromantic undertones -- is a bit morose for young children. (The sniveling maggot who lives in the Corpse Bride's eye socket and sounds like Peter Lorre is not exactly plush-toy material.) Running a mere 77 minutes (each a delight), "Corpse Bride" imparts a gentle message of selfless love that should warm most hearts -- beating or not. The film contains mature thematic elements, a villainous clerical character and folkloric fantasy content. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
| FIND A MOVIE |
|
Looking for a movie review? |