How do actors interpret a character than has been done again and again? Shakespeare is the obvious artist who has been reinterpreted the most. What about Sweeney Todd?
Probably the definitive version of Sweeney Todd is the Stephen Sondheim stage musical. A filmed stage production starred Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett, the baker of not very tasty meat pies, and George Hearn as Sweeney Todd, the barber with a revenge tale. Harold Prince was a co-director.
It's hard not to argue that Sondheim is THE version to watch. Lansbury as Lovett is at times broadly comical and then sweet, but there is no denying she can sing. Hearn brings a darkness, as he should, to Sweeney, really affecting us with his story of revenge and trying to right a wrong that goes horribly. On the face of it he appears demented but you see how deeply he has been hurt. The set is dark and minimal but effective, highlighting only what needs to be seen. I haven't seen the original actor, Len Cariou, in this role, but Hearn to me does really well in it.
Most of the supporting cast is pretty good, especially the Beadle (Calvin Remsford), the beggar woman (Sara Woods) and the chorus of singers. Supremely bad was the actress who plays Johanna, the daughter (Betsy Joslyn). I don't know how she got into this production, she was shrill, couldn't hold long notes and at times it felt like she was screaming instead of playing an innocent young girl. I don't think she had the chops for an operatic performance.
As to the singing, some bits seemed to be lip synched (perhaps corrections in post-production of the film?) but this is a really effective tragedy.
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Another version of Sweeney Todd is a non-music adaptation starring Ray Winstone. It feels like a well-made TV movie. This version is certainly much more human and realistic than the Tim Burton version or even the musical stage play. It is a straight historical drama (although Sweeney Todd has not been proven to be a real person, just based on or suggested by historical characters). I recommend you give it a try if you haven't yet.
Sweeney (Winstone) is a well-regarded barber/surgeon, though keeps to himself. His surgery knowledge appears to come from some real education and experience and he is not a "butcher" type. The film does show us he has a killing urge that comes and goes, and while sometimes he is able to control it, he does slash a few throats of some high and mighty customers.
One day he sees a woman faint in the streets, and helps her. She is Mrs. Lovett (Essie Davis), who works at a meat pie shop. Later Mrs. Lovett comes to Sweeney for a medical procedure. She thanks him by baking him a meat pie and comes to trust him. As the film progresses, their friendship grows into romance. A young policeman (Tom Hardy) who's been shot is brought to Sweeney, and later the policeman brings a thief who has been injured for Sweeney's medical treatment. Sweeney and the policeman have a respectful friendship. A man from Sweeney's past blackmails him (David Bradley), and a boy from the poorhouse is chosen to work for Sweeney. There is also a blind police chief (David Warner) who has conversations with Sweeney. These all are woven into the plot to cause discovery of Sweeney's secret and eventual downfall.
Sweeney helps Mrs. Lovett break free from her abusive husband, then funds her opening of her own pie shop, to be independent. He brings her "meat" and when a customer is too romantically involved with her, suggests he come by for a shave. Sweeney continues to provide this mystery meat, but of course he finally trusts her enough/loves her enough to admit his deeds. At first she is shocked, but her growing wealth and the admiration of male customers seduces her to accept it, and she even begins sending men to Sweeney, for her own means. Sweeney first fights his killing urge, but the killing becomes easier as he thinks of it as helping Mrs. Lovett; eventually he realizes he is in denial of what it really is, and must do the honorable thingof . The film does show how Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett start out as pretty decent people, in spite all the bad stuff that has happened to them. They both end wanting to have a better life in one way or another.
Suffice it to say there are a lot of of throat slashings, but Sweeney as written, and Winstone's portrayal, makes him a very sympathetic character. I don't think I recall that the character made any excuses for having done what he did, which many people with his background could have done--he has a pretty tragic backstory of child abuse and what happens to poor people of those times. He is also a well-rounded character, both good and bad, such as spying on Mrs. Lovett's romantic interludes with other men (well, not "romantic" just sex) but also arranging that one of his victims is found so that he could be respectfully buried. Winstone's performance also reminded me how men could also be repressed sexually, and not just in a creepy Norman Bates kind of way.
The supporting characters all have a role in the road of the plot and helps to form the Sweeney Todd character for us, showing us how others view the public face he shows to them, as well as allowing us to see for ourselves how Sweeney behaves and us forming our own opinion. A lot of character was crammed into this adaptation although it is only about 90-100 minutes.
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