st. johnny depp, christina ricci, christopher lee, christopher walken
Johnny Depp must be Tim Burton's favourite actor. Burton used him in Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands (has anyone seen the porno version - Edward Penishands? It constantly stares at me from a shelf in my local video store but I have yet to view it). In Sleepy Hollow, Burton goes back in time to try his hand at gothic horror, which is well suited to Burton's style as most of his films have that gothic feel anyway (Edward Scissorhands, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc).It was easy to identify this film as gothic by the crowd in attendance. Every so often the goth community turns out for a film. I think the last time I saw so many goths together, outside of a nightclub environment, was for The Matrix. So much black and velvet in one place is a wonderful thing. (What is the collective noun for goths? A gaggle of goths? A glen of goths? A murder of goths? I do know the collective noun for bankers - a wunch of bankers.)
Back to the film...It's 1799 and Depp is a New York cop (Ichabod Crane) who is obsessed with the scientific investigation of crime, which makes him unpopular with other law enforcement personages. Christopher Lee decides to test Depp's methods and sends him to Sleepy Hollow to investigate three murders by decapitation. Noone tells Depp the crimes are committed by a headless horseman until he arrives in the town. Depp is originally sceptical and approaches the crime from a rational and scientific perspective, but soon believes in the supernatural when he is physically confronted by the ghost. The race is now on to solve who is behind the murders, discovering who will be the next target, and trying to prevent their death.
I expect most people have been exposed to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving Washington at some point in their lives. It was a long time ago for me and, from what I recall, this film is only loosely reminiscent of that tale with little emphasis on horror. The film is more a murder mystery and tale of suspense with a supernatural edge (reincarnated corpses, witches, etc). The beheadings happen on screen (mostly) so be prepared for shots of gaping neck wounds and rolling heads. I like a bit of violence and blood in my films.
Depp is fantastic in this film. After suffering through Astronaut's Wife I was hoping he could do something positive to redeem his credibility. He starts the film as motivated, naïve and pompous, thinking he knows it all and striding around with an air of superiority. After he comes face to face with the horseman his attitude changes and he becomes more humble and open to ideas of the nonscientific, though he still remains rational and analytical. His love interest in the film is Christina Ricci and the passion is there from their first meeting, even though she is being romanced by Casper van Dien at the time. The whole romantic subplot is treated with irreverence, with some amazingly clichéd lines that must be deliberate. At least I hope they are deliberate, otherwise they are very sad. I'm not a fan of the love interest subplot, but in this film it worked because it seemed the filmmakers knew it had to be there and decided to have some fun with it.
The film has all the Burtonesque touches including moody colouring and outlandish props. After the bright colour overload in Mars Attacks, Burton has gone for more subdued colours, plenty of greys to create an atmosphere of foreboding and a mistiness that makes it all seem unreal/surreal/fairytaleish. The humour showed in Mars Attacks returns here and the film is genuinely funny (unlike resurrection which is unintentionally funny), with most of the humour coming from Depp's innocence and arrogance. As always in a Burton film, the costumes are impressive and at the end Ricci wears a dress that looks like a leftover from another Burton film, Beetlejuice. And in a flashback to Burton's Batman, the horseman pulls a Batman trick when chasing Depp and Ricci in the windmill which made me smile.
My favourite part of this film is the uncredited Christopher Walken, and I expect he is uncredited because he doesn't have a speaking part. He plays the headed horseman who was notorious for his proficiency in beheading people. Dressed in black, with sinister, pointy teeth, Walken tackles the role with gusto. It is worth the price of admission just to see him enjoying himself. Of course the price of admission for me was nothing since I went to the preview, but I would have paid to see Walken anyway.
I would rate this as my favourite Burton film to date, along with Vincent. I think his filmmaking is improving (how generous and humble of me to say so). I have always thought his films were visually appealing but I always found them lacking in some way, with the exception of Mars Attacks which I enjoyed fully. Sleepy Hollow is a thoroughly enjoyable film - action, humour, suspense, and love - it has them all.
My trip home was interesting. I caught a bus and for some reason the driver turned off the internal lights. This gave the bus the impression of being an interstate coach. I felt like I was travelling somewhere on a holiday, cruising along the highway dozing off to the hum off rubber on bitumen. The thought of being on such a journey reminded me of Ichabod's coach journey from New York to Sleepy Hollow.
sebastian niemand
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Christina Ricci also starred alongside Martin Donovan in The Opposite of Sex and Vincent Gallo in Buffalo 66.