Year of Release: 1990
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Alan Arkin, Robert Oliveri, Conchata Ferrell, Caroline Aaron, Dick Anthony Williams, O-Lan Jones, Vincent Price, Susan Blommaert, John Davidson
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 9
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
Tim Burton continued his revelatory career in the 90s, with "Edward Scissorhands", one of his first truly personal films, based on a story of his own creation. The whole narrative follows Edward, a young man invented by an old genius, who sadly passed away before being able to finish Edward, leaving him alone and with scissors for hands. Edward lives remotely, in the old inventor's home, and is discovered by Peg Boggs, a nearby neighbor, who is also an Avon sales person. Witnessing his isolation and sadness, Peg decides to bring Edward to town, to live with her family. While initially unaware of most of everything that pertains to living in society, Edward soon dazzles everyone with his creative mind, and his abilities with topiary and hair. His entanglement in the lives of the community, while initially well received and cheered upon, quickly turn sour, with dramatic results.
"Edward Scissorhands" is a beautiful fable, one that mixes a lot of what James Whale had done with Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", but brings that same context into American suburbia, and distills it with his gothic and overall stylistic approach. It's a film that cemented his point of view, one that is typically associated with heroes that don't fit in with normal society, and that are rendered and categorized as freaks or outcasts, but who in the end, have a way of capturing or creating poetry and beauty, only to be in many occasions, pushed aside or even brutally mistreated. Edward, is one of his most iconic characters, due to his personality traits (kindness, quiet, focused but also oblivious), but also because of his presentation, with the disheveled hair, the dark leather suit, and the scissors for hands. Burton also creates suburbia as a land of boredom and yet filled with bright colors, an overly saturated realm of excitement for Edward, who is accustomed to dark surroundings in his decaying castle. It's a film that allows for the message to come across loud and clear - how quickly we judge, and how we never listen, choosing most of the times to trample and destroy what we don't understand. It's a beautiful film, featuring fantastic performances from Johnny Depp, Dianne Weist, Alan Arkin and Kathy Baker. The cinematography from Stefan Czapsky is fantastic, as is the score from Danny Elfman. A great film always worth watching.
"Edward Scissorhands" is a beautiful fable, one that mixes a lot of what James Whale had done with Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", but brings that same context into American suburbia, and distills it with his gothic and overall stylistic approach. It's a film that cemented his point of view, one that is typically associated with heroes that don't fit in with normal society, and that are rendered and categorized as freaks or outcasts, but who in the end, have a way of capturing or creating poetry and beauty, only to be in many occasions, pushed aside or even brutally mistreated. Edward, is one of his most iconic characters, due to his personality traits (kindness, quiet, focused but also oblivious), but also because of his presentation, with the disheveled hair, the dark leather suit, and the scissors for hands. Burton also creates suburbia as a land of boredom and yet filled with bright colors, an overly saturated realm of excitement for Edward, who is accustomed to dark surroundings in his decaying castle. It's a film that allows for the message to come across loud and clear - how quickly we judge, and how we never listen, choosing most of the times to trample and destroy what we don't understand. It's a beautiful film, featuring fantastic performances from Johnny Depp, Dianne Weist, Alan Arkin and Kathy Baker. The cinematography from Stefan Czapsky is fantastic, as is the score from Danny Elfman. A great film always worth watching.
0 comments:
Post a Comment