 |
| Grave New World |
As much as I like A Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride is special for me. As Halloween fare goes, it is the cinematic equivalent of a 5 star restaurant. Watching the extras on the DVD, you can't miss the excitement in Tim Burton's demeanor as he talks about this project. It's like he's just completed something he always wanted to do--the only difference between the average person's ambitions and his own is that he does this for a living. I've enjoyed stop-motion animation since I saw Mad Monster Party as a child, and I am pleased that he is helping to keep the craft alive, in the face of the cost efficient industry standard of computerized graphics. And the fact that he is now married to the voice of the Corpse Bride, Helena Bonham-Carter, makes the enthusiasm even more palpable.
I had seen advertisements for the film when it was originally released but never wound up seeing it in a theater. I was trying to get a DVD for The Nightmare Before Christmas but the film was out of print at the time and I didn't want to pay a lot of money for it. So I stumbled upon Corpse Bride. Being a Tim Burton film, I was confident that it would be good, but it turned out to be one of the best animated films I've ever seen. Most people who see it only regret that the film couldn't have been longer. At 1:17, it is pretty short, but the plot is very well focused and coherent. Basically it is an old fashioned Fairy Tale, probably a little too scary for the very small, but not at all gory.
The story is about Victor (Johnny Depp) and Victoria (Emily Watson), a young couple who are about to be married. It is an arranged marriage, a trade off noble rank for new money between their parents, and the two young people have never met. The story is set in a 19th century Victorian landscape, drab and grim, and the animated backdrop is joyless black and white. Yet somehow, the day before the nuptials, the two meet and they find they have an innate chemistry with one another.
In a bizarre scene in the forest, Victor accidentally marries a dead woman while practicing his wedding vows. Emily, the Corpse Bride was seduced and murdered by a sinister stranger on the day of her wedding. Victor is whisked away to the land of the Dead, which ironically is a lot more lively and fun than the land of the Living. The depiction of the Underworld with vibrant color and energetic activity is a contrast to the staid conventionalism of the world above. It almost feels like you are really crossing the English Channel from Victorian England to the lively Paris of the 1880's. In the living world society is crushing people down: in the dead world peoples are laughing, dancing, and telling joke.
What makes the situation even more trying for young Victor, is that the Corpse Bride is pretty wonderful. She is beautiful, intelligent, kind, and talented, but unfortunately not alive. While as a gentleman, he initially recognizes he has an obligation to her, he becomes sympathetic to her tragic misfortune and winds up enjoying her company. The story of the Corpse Bride's betrayal reminds me of the beautiful song by the Zombies, A Rose For Emily. A beautiful young woman now sadly faded. The sharp contrasts of the two societies and the attractiveness of the Corpse Bride create a dilemma of choice for Victor. Much like Odysseus, he is tempted by the land of the exotic. Yet the love he feels for Victoria pulls him in the direction of home. Particularly when he hears the news that she may be forced into an arranged marriage with another suitor.
Probably the best testament I can make for the movies is that even though the animation is wonderful and creative, you are always focused on the story first. The special effects do not overwhelm the story. The musical numbers and the score are by long-time Burton collaborator Danny Elfman, and he does not disappoint. I enjoyed the Anti-Disney aspect of the movies use of cute comedic sidekicks-namely a Peter Lorre/Jiminy Cricket impersonating maggot and a friendly black widow spider. Horror legend also Christopher Lee has a memorable role as a menacing and scary Pastorr. Other famous actors in the movie include Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, and Tracey Ullman.
The informative extras in the DVD highlight the enormous number of people's painstaking work in creating this film. There is such an amazing attention to detail in creating these characters and trying to make their movement life-like. When you watch the movie it all appears very organic and simple, which is no mean feat. And there are some moments in the movie that are just so beautiful, you find it hard to believe that they are really inanimate puppets doing the acting one small step at a time. Animated childrens films are so profitable these days and studios keep banging them out in greater and greater proliferation. Most of them seem to be done cynically, with a lot of pandering, and not a lot of forethought. The Corpse Bride, happily, is a major exception to this trend. It's a bona fide Halloween classic suitable for the whole family. I only hope that Tim Burton will make more movies like this!
No comments:
Post a Comment