Cinema Retro columnist Bill Duelly braved the unknown to cover a unique tribute to director Tim Burton in New York City. The maverick director was there to discuss his films and career.
Cinema Retro readers will no doubt be familiar with our
frequent editorial musings regarding the current state of movies and how much
better things were back in the 1960’s & 1970’s. All is not lost however, as Tim Burton is one of the very
few visionaries making unique movies today- and his creativity was largely
inspired by the films that had influence on him during that golden era of
filmmaking.
On November 14th, Tim Burton made a rare public
appearance at the Film Society of Lincoln Centers’ tribute, “Tim Burton- the
Demon Barber of Cinemaâ€. During the all too brief evening, Burton
was interviewed by Richard Pena, Program Director for the Society for 10-15
minute periods which were then broken up by series of clips from Burton’s movies. The evening was capped off by a 15 minute
preview of three musical sequences from Sweeny
Todd. The evidence is that Burton has done a masterful job of directing another
visual feast – this time centering on seedy old London (he referred to this film has being
similar in spirit to the old B&W horror films). Johnny Depp’s performance of the angry
tortured Sweeny Todd is mesmerizing.
Whereas there are the musical sequences, they are not in the vein (pun intended) of your standard musical. They provide an internal glimpse to the
character’s tortured state.
A welcome treat were the glimpses provided into how Burton likes to work. He has gotten away from storyboarding and is
open to on set improvisation. In fact,
he doesn’t like to rehearse the actors before hand, preferring instead to let
them come to set and deliver their performances in an unaffected manner. On
set, he prefers just that – a set! Wherever possible, he likes full sets to be
built for the actors to perform amidst. This was also true of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory which
featured many impressive sets reminiscent of films of old. In fact, the chocolate mixing set, where we
first see the Oompa Lompas, took up the entire 007 stage at Pinewood.
In hindsight, Burton
had some wonderful anecdotes and observations about his catalogue of films:
Pee Wee’s Big
Adventure- Burton saw himself as the person who created a world and
then let Pee Wee Herman loose to play in it.
Batman- Burton
wasn’t really much of a comic book fan but he like Batman the best, especially
the darker aspects of the character.
Even though he was a fan of the TV show, he didn’t think it did the
character justice.
Batman Returns. –
Burton thought
it would be fun to create a movie with a character who licked herself! (i.e
Catwoman). This film represented Burton’s
awakening to the pressures that corporate sponsors had on the filmmaking
process(i.e- the notion of whether McDonalds could devise a Happy Meal around
the film.)
Edward Scissorhands-
The project grew out of his ‘teenage years without a girlfriend’. It started with a drawing of Edward. It was a ‘fable..a fairy tale.’
Nightmare Before
Christmas- It took him 10 years to get this project produced. The initial inspirations were the Ray
Harryhousen movies of the 1950’s and the Rankin Bass Christmas specials.
Ed Wood- This was
the project that Burton
has felt the most personal attachment to for two reasons. He treasured the virtual family that is
created on set among the cast and crew. Secondly, he has great admiration for
Ed Wood’s determination to produce the best possible film – even though he
usually fell laughably short of his goal. Unfortunately, like Wood’s own films,
this one was a box office bomb.
Mars Attacks-
After Ed Wood, Burton feared he might in fact become Ed Wood.
He went in another direction by making a sci-fi/flying saucer film that was intentionally funny, though the trading
card set from the 1960s that the film was based on was anything but humorous.
Planet of the Apes-
His initial attraction to the project was “apes that talkâ€. What a great
concept, he thought. Was it enough to
make a movie? Yes – and it did end up making a lot of money despite mixed
reviews.
Sleepy Hollow- He
was always a fan of the Disney version and wanted to make his own interpretation
of the Washington Irving classic (although he would not let Johnny Depp where a
big plastic nose). Burton
sees this as a perfect Halloween movie.
It’s homage to the Hammer horror films (right down to his first
collaboration with Christopher Lee).
Charlie & The Chocolate
Factory- The executives were afraid that Depp was imitating Michael
Jackson. Three weeks before the film’s release they were asking “can we darken
his skin?â€
Keep up the good work, Mr. Burton -your films are always an
oasis on a barren cinema landscape! – Bill
Duelly