The flip side of these virtues is that the immaculately designed settings and lack of breathing room lend the film a claustrophobic feel that underlines its status as an art work. But it will be hard to argue that Burton and his cohorts have not imaginatively reconceived the piece as a work of cinema strictly in film terms, “Sweeney” is seamless, coherent and vibrant, with scarcely a trace of “Broadway.” Some Broadway purists will gripe about how the film of “ Sweeney Todd” omits and abridges certain songs, reshapes the drama to a degree or just can’t measure up to their cherished memories of Angela Lansbury’s wondrous performance as Mrs. The two films that were made from his musicals, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “A Little Night Music,” were, to put it kindly, hardly representative of the effect the shows had onstage. The composer-lyricist’s bulging shelf of awards and peerless reputation notwithstanding, Sondheim’s own shows have never invited much bigscreen interest, no doubt due to the general feeling that they are works from and for the head rather than the heart.
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