MOVIE REVIEWS
Corpse Bride
Amichai Greene
I was under the assumption that this film was based on an old Jewish Folk tale. The reason I thought this: there is an Eastern European Jewish folk tale about a young man who places a ring on a branch and says the wedding vows as a lark and it turns out that the branch was actually a finger. There are two variations, one is that the finger belonged to a corpse. The other, the finger belongs to a female demon.
No where in the credits is any folk tale referenced which leads me to believe that this is just a coincidence, or Tim Burton stole the idea and decided to pass it off as his own. Either way, this did not diminish my enjoyment of the film, even though it is now much more Christian.
First and foremost, like all the best of Burton’s films this one is visually stunning. My absolute favorite aspect of the film is the stark difference between the land of the living and the land of the dead. The land of the living is a bleak, grim place, filled with large empty cathedral like halls and faded bleached cold colors. The land of the dead on the other hand is filled with smaller warmer places wrapped in color and cheer. The dead are constantly having fun and smiling, while the best the living can manage is crooked half forced smiles or evil grins. And this is only the tip of the iceberg that is Tim Burton’s twisted fantastic vision.
The story itself is pretty simple. Boy meets Girl the day before their wedding. Boy and Girl fall in love (instantly as Boys and Girls have been doing in the movies forever), Boy is side tracked with another woman (in this case a dead one) while the Girl is forced into a loveless relationship with another man (who isn’t quite what he seems, or rather, is exactly the sort of man he seems). At only 74 minutes the story wraps itself up nicely and rather quickly at that. The jokes mostly consist of puns and though aren’t necessarily laugh out loud funny, are amusing and bring a smile to the lips.
As the title suggests, the Corpse Bride is the main character and Helena Bonham Carter provides a near flawless performance voicing the Bride, being cute, playful, and heartbreaking all at once. Emily Watson, a wonderful actress always stuck playing second fiddle, plays her role much more subtly than any of the other voices. There will be a day when Ms. Watson finally breaks through as a leading lady, and when that day comes I’ll be around to say, I told you so. To finish up the love triangle, Johnny Depp plays bumbling and nervous Victor Van Dort. Most of his dialogue consists of nervous cooing and straightening of his tie, perhaps better suited to a Woody Allenesque actor. Depp is an outstanding actor in his own right, he just might not be the best suited for voice over work.
No Tim Burton film would be complete without the requisite score by Danny Elfman. And this time, just like in Burton’s previous film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Elfman provides not only the score, but also the lyrics to all the musical numbers (Yes, Corpse Bride is a musical). Unlike Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the songs in Corpse Bride aren’t particularly memorable. They are cute and serve a purpose for the story, but I don’t expect people to be humming the songs when they leave the theater, or going out to buy the soundtrack anytime soon.
Over all, this is a fun movie for the entire family. Not quite as entertaining as A Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride still will rest prominently in the pantheon of Burton’s best films, and is definitely a film you should see in the theater for the full effect instead of waiting until it comes out on DVD.
