Cinema Hype

I realize that Halloween is technically over, but the Tootsie-pop hangover lingers, so I’m claiming my right to squeeze one last un-scary Halloween movie in before I officially declare this festival over.

I think that, with Corpse Bride, Tim Burton may have made his essential film. Looking over his filmography, it’s clear that (with a couple of exceptions), Burton is interested in making movies that are macabre but accessible. He likes to explore the dark and the deathly in his characters, in his settings, and, by extension, in his world–but in almost every case, the creep factor is secondary to the exploration of human interaction in the form of love, hatred, sorrow, friendship, joy, and self-sacrifice. He’s an optimist and a romantic who happens to like graveyards. And that, in a nutshell, is what I loved about Corpse Bride.

I’m not trying to downplay the role of the creepy in this or any of Burton’s movies. Animation technology has improved dramatically in the years since The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride takes full advantage of that fact–the scene where Emily (the titular corpse bride, voiced by Helena Bonham Carter) first appears and follows Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp, and animated to look just like him) through the forest is downright eerie. Something about the fluttering of her gown and the purpleness of her eyelids…it’s unsettling, especially in a family film/romance (the fact that there’s a talking worm living in Emily’s skull might also have something to do with that feeling).

But the core of the movie, Victor’s dilemma of keeping his (accidental) vows to Emily (and losing the potential love of his life) or returning to the living world (and risking being haunted by a seriously scorned woman) isn’t scary in horror-movie terms. Instead, it’s realistic–not in terms of Victor’s being accidentally married to a dead woman, but in terms of his having to make a choice that might be the wrong choice, and having to live with the consequences. It’s a difficult thing: both of the female leads are interesting and reasonably well-developed, and would make viable love interests for Victor–we’re ignoring the whole “corpse” thing for a moment–so that it’s a little hard to root for one or the other of them wholeheartedly. It’s Burton at his best: complex, human, and in the end, a little bit heartbreaking.

In short, I’d recommend this one (any time of year, actually, since it doesn’t technically have anything to do with Halloween). Great story, great animation, slightly goofy songs, and a mood that lingers. Nicely done.

I now declare that the Totally Un-Scary Halloween Film Festival has given up the ghost. (Hee, that’s a little bit of post-Halloween humor for you.)