European Films

American director Tim Burton had a big hit earlier this year with the dark children’s fantasy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which starred Burton regular Johnny Depp. They continue their fruitful collaboration with another dark children’s fantasy: the animated Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, which features Depp (or rather his voice) as the insecure leading man who accidentally weds a corpse on the eve of his wedding. Despite having only Burton's name in the title, the film was actually co-directed by Burton and Mike Johnson.  

 

Using the same stop-motion technique that was used on The Nightmare Before Christmas which Burton co-wrote, the long, elongated characters are also reminiscent of that earlier feature and the general mood is vintage Burton, even though the story is completely new. Based on a Russian fairytale but transposed to Victorian England, Corpse Bride tells the story of Victor Van Dort (Depp), who is about to marry Victoria Everglott (voice of Emily Watson), a marriage of convenience for both the old aristocratic but penniless Everglotts and the nouveaux riches Van Dorts. After repeatedly stumbling over his wedding vows, the pastor (Christopher Lee) sends Victor away to learn his lines. He finally says them perfectly when alone (or so he thinks) in the woods, thereby marrying a sepulchred bride (Helena Bonham Carter) who takes him to the underworld.

 

The screenplay, written by a trio of writers who have all previously worked with Burton, perfectly captures the author’s renowned darkly gothic atmosphere and interest in death and beyond without going overboard. Every joke about marriage and death and then some are crammed into the film’s short running time (78 minutes), as well as a heap of visual gags including a skeleton pet dog and an inhabitant of Corpse Bride’s brain. The single most hilarious moment is at the expense of Gone with the Wind but throughout the film there are so many references and in-jokes that this film will offer something new even upon repeated viewing. The songs (as in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) are provided by Danny Elfman, but are mostly forgettable; neither the lyrics nor the tunes carry any weight, though luckily there are only a few of them.  

 

The “claynimation” is dazzling and the cinematography is audacious for the genre, with its epic tracking- and circling shots stretching the possibilities of both the camera and the crew. The digital work, most notably on the bride’s veil but also elsewhere, is seamlessly wedded (excuse the pun) to the traditional stop-motion animation and gives Corpse Bride a glowing finish that adds to the overall magic and wonder. The film is easily the best animated work of the year, even if it is very light on morals and messages and heavy on visual bedazzlement. Burton and co-director Mike Johnson have made the most unpretentiously entertaining film of the year so far, suitable for all but the youngest children and of course all those adults who have not yet grown up.

 

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