Tim Burton is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated film director, writer and designer. His work is often distinguished by its gothic style, poetic dialogue and comic narratives, creating works which maintain a dark eeriness while employing a light-hearted humor. The reoccurring theme of being caught between two worlds runs throughout his work, often looking at the boundaries between darkness and light, life and death, human and non-human, good and evil. He has collaborated much of his weird and wonderful creativity with American actor Johnny Depp and this week our special looks at some of those films which feature Depp at his most eccentric, and also take a look at some classic Burtonesque animation.
In 1990, Tim Burton co-wrote and directed Edward Scissorhands with Caroline Thompson (who also directed Black Beauty). Starring Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp, this is a unique love story about a young American suburban girl and Edward, who is the creation of an eccentric and old-fashioned inventor. The inventor is played by Vincent Price, an actor who greatly influenced Burton and this appearance on screen was the last before his death. Before the inventor can finish his human creation, he unexpectedly dies, leaving Edward with scissors instead of hands. Largely thought of as an autobiography of Burton´s own childhood, the film is set in the suburb of Burbank, where Edward soon becomes a resident, a new member of the Boggs family and the talk of the town. Edward Scissorhands is considered to be Burton's best movie by many fans and critics.
We arrive in Halloween Town, where the characters who make elaborate Halloween plans reside. These residents are always eager to play a trick or scare someone but never intend to do any harm. As Halloween approaches, the locals of Halloween Town think about how they can make this year even scarier than the last, but Jack Skellington, the ruler of the land, begins to wonder whether there is more to life than scaring people. During an accidental trip into Christmas Town, he decides to abandon his role as the Pumpkin King of Halloween and take over Christmas instead. However, he has somewhat misunderstood its true meaning and after ignoring friends warnings, and making the mistake of employing three of the most mischievous trick-or-treaters to help him organize Christmas, disaster is inevitable, unless he can realize the error of his ways before Christmas eve. This musical-animation was received with huge commercial success, with praise awarded for Tim Burton's original storyline and stop motion animation. The film earned a significant following, including merchandise, video games and other related media dedicated to the film.
Starring Johnny Depp as the cross-dressing cult movie maker, this film is shot in black and white and was largely based on Rudolph Grey's quasi-biography Nightmare of Ecstasy. Wood was the auteur behind Plan 9 From Outer Space, and it is during the making of this low-budget film that Wood is profiled. His friendship with the aging, drug-addicted, former film star Bela Lugosi, who he cast in his movies, is one of the most poignant characters ever portrayed on film. Ed Wood is an ironic means in which to celebrate a love of movies as he is infamously known as the "worst filmmaker of all-time". As Burton demonstrates, what makes a great filmmaker may not lie in technical merit but rather passion and interest, and with an infectious enthusiasm this film celebrates bad filmmaking as a mastered art. With his fetishistic style of dressing in for pumps, narrow skirts and angora sweaters, Wood demonstrates one of Johnny Depp´s most eccentric performances.
In this period drama, Burton brings to our screens an interpretation of one of America’s best-known folk tales, and an adaptation loosely based on the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. The year is 1799 and New York police constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) investigates a series of murders in which the victims have been found decapitated.It doesn´t help however that Constable Crane is highly squeamish, superstitious and perpetually frightened by anything that reminds him of ghosts or demons. While it is based on historical myth, it also includes analogies to problems experienced within present society. Also featuring Christina Ricci and Christopher Walken this creepy tale is adapted in this stylishly atmospheric film which demonstrates Burton´s trademark combining comedy and terror.
With Johnny Depp leeding an all-star cast as the voice of Victor and Helena Bonham Carter for whom the project was specially created as the voice of the Corpse Bride, this bittersweet fairytale exhibits comparative qualities to The Nightmare Before Christmas for both its musical score and style of animation. The narrative is based on a Jewish folk tale and follows a love triangle between a couple and a woman who belongs to the land of the dead. Victor becomes caught between two seemingly contradictory worlds, a trademark theme found in Burton´s work, where life is portrayed as being boring and dull and death as amusing, exciting and full of music.
gkt 10.07.08
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