Hallowe'en is coming, so my remaining posts for the month will fit the occasion. I start off with a film review, for Sleepy Hollow by Tim Burton. I might end up having my name put on the enemies list by the Casper Van Dien Fan Club though.
“Their heads weren’t found severed. Their heads were not
found at all.” ~ Reverend Steenwyck
“The heads are... gone?” ~ Ichabod Crane
“Taken. Taken by the Headless Horseman. Taken back to Hell.” ~ James
Hardenbrook
“The horseman was a Hessian mercenary sent to the shores by
German princes to keep Americans under the yoke of England. But unlike his
compatriots, who came for money, the horseman came for love of carnage.” ~
Baltus Van Tassel
“I think you have no
heart. And I had a mind once to give you mine.” ~ Katrina Van Tassel
“Villainy wears many masks, none of which so dangerous as
virtue.” ~ Ichabod Crane
Back in 1820 Washington Irving wrote the short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a story
ideal for Hallowe’en, following a schoolteacher who comes to a quiet village
with many a ghost story. The tale has been adapted many times for stage,
movies, and television, including a current series. In 1999, director Tim
Burton took on the story in a screenplay loosely adapted from Irving’s original
tale and given Burton’s eccentric signature style, in the film Sleepy Hollow.
The film opens in the New York City of 1799, where a police
constable, Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is sent by his superiors to the hamlet
of Sleepy Hollow to look into a number of brutal slayings where the victims
have been beheaded. Crane reaches the hamlet, meeting the bewitching Katrina
Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), the resentful Brom Van Brunt (Casper Van Dien),
and Katrina’s stepmother Mary Van Tassel. He confers with the elders of the
area, Baltus Van Tassel (Michael Gambon), Magistrate Samuel Philipse (Richard
Griffiths), Reverend Steenwyck (Jeffrey Jones), Dr. Thomas Lancaster (Ian
McDiarmid), and Notary James Hardenbrook (Michael Gough). They explain that the
killer is an undead murderer from the Revolutionary period, a ghostly headless
Hessian with a taste for slaughter.
Crane isn’t convinced. He’s a man of deduction and reason
and what he sees are tales told around the fireplace meant to frighten little
children, not facts and evidence. That said, he’s a bit on edge in the gloomy,
dark hamlet, and encounters the Horseman himself, an experience that makes him
a believer. While he investigates the case and uncovers secrets (with the able
assistance of Masbeth (Marc Pickering), an orphaned boy whose father was killed
by the Horseman, Crane is drawn closer to Katrina. And all the while, a cursed
spectre rides the trails in the woods.
The film had been in the works for some years, first as an
idea by makeup artist Kevin Yagher, who wrote the concept with Andrew Kevin
Walker. The two would end up pitching the concept to studios, and ultimately
Tim Burton ended up directing. Walker fashioned the screenplay, with some
uncredited work done by Tom Stoppard, taking the original story by Irving and
going in a different direction (with nods towards the source material spread
throughout). The film definitely lends itself strongly to the supernatural,
where the original tale left things open ended, with a cursed ghost, the idea
of magic, and the feeling of foreboding running throughout the movie. And there
are influences throughout of the Hammer era of horror films, from actors to
atmosphere.
The film was shot in studios and locations in Britain, where
sets were constructed and the entire village itself was built. Filming was done
with many of Burton’s signature themes in mind- eccentric and dark humour,
gloomy and shadowy places, off kilter characters. The production design
reflected that- the village feels bleak and spooky at times, and we can easily
imagine spectres to be flitting back and forth in the shadows. The Tree of the
Dead, as it’s called, is another example, looking like a place of evil. There’s
very little sunlight through much of the film- instead brooding skies, fog, and
darkness dominate everything. In fact, much of the film has a monochromatic
feel where colours are minimized.
I like the work that the crew put into the film. The sets
all have the look of a post colonial era, and that applies as well to other
details: costumes, props, and other equipment all come across as plausible of
the late eighteenth century. Special effects are also called into play- the way
the Horseman enters and exits the Tree of the Dead, for instance, would be the
sort of thing that would require digital work, while filming of the Horseman
himself was a blend- the head of the actor was hidden both by costume elements
and digital erasing. The deaths of several characters, including one
spectacularly cut in half, owe much to special effects and prosthetic work.
Adding to the supernatural feel of the story and the gloomy dark feel is the
score by Danny Elfman, Burton’s frequent collaborator; Elfman’s score uses
choir and orchestra for a richly Gothic, dark and brooding score.
The casting of the film was, with one exception, brilliantly
done. That exception would be Casper Van Dien as Brom. The character’s a lout,
wanting Katrina for himself, and deeply resentful and jealous of the attraction
he sees between Katrina and Ichabod. Fundamentally he’s a petulant brat not
getting his way, and fortunately for the events of the film, he’s really not
around for long- the actor might look good (at least at the time), but as an
actor he doesn’t have much in the way of talent. A film like this having such a
wealth of character actors even in cameo roles is a good thing, though, and
offers plenty of compensation. It starts with a brief appearance by Martin
Landau, who had worked with Burton before on Ed Wood, as the actor plays one of the Horseman’s early victims.
That continues with Christopher Lee, the Hammer Studios horror veteran who’d
played Dracula back in those days, as the actor appears as a superior to Crane
early on, sending him on his way in the dismissive way that only Christopher Lee
could. Steven Waddington, whose work I loved in The Last Of The Mohicans as the (mostly) unsympathetic Major
Heyward, appears in this one as a more salt of the earth character, Killian,
who with his family end up caught in the web of secrets surrounding the
Horseman, and who engages the spectre in a desperate (and well choreographed)
fight. And Marc Pickering does what might be unexpected for a child actor,
playing young Masbeth- he manages to not be annoying (take that, Macauley
Culkin!). Instead the character’s helpful and loyal, perhaps too loyal.
The town elders are also an interesting lot. Michael Gough
of course had worked repeatedly with Burton, particularly as Alfred in his two Batman films (continuing after the Dark
Lord Joel Schumacher came in and messed it all up), but also in Corpse Bride and Alice In Wonderland. Gough plays Hardenbrook as initially grim- we
could see him as the mad killer or crazed uncle in different films- but also
wary and nervous. Jeffrey Jones, who had worked with Burton in Beetlejuice some years earlier, plays
the sanctimonious and hypocritical preacher Steenwyck as judgmental and
condescending. Richard Griffiths, the character actor who would end up playing
Harry Potter’s irritable uncle (come to think of it, there are a number of Harry Potter cast members in this whole
tale) weaves between being grim and anxious in the way he plays Magistrate
Philipse. Ian McDiarmid, who spent a good while before and after this playing
the Emperor in some of the Star Wars films,
comes across as somewhat the lower man on the ladder among these town elders as
Dr. Lancaster, even if his work as a doctor has more value than the others. He
gives the character just the right dash of dark humour as well.
The role of the Horseman is divided up into two actors, both
of whom work well as the ghost. Christopher Walken plays the Horseman before
he’s headless- though he doesn’t speak (he snarls would be more accurate), he’s
a ferocious, bloodthirsty man, something Walken certainly emphasizes in how he expresses
himself. He looks and acts dangerous. Most of the film, however, the role is
taken by stuntman and actor Ray Park, whose other roles have included the
villainous Toad in X-Men and Darth
Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Park
makes the character’s mere presence an alarming and scary one, and he makes the
character a formidable antagonist throughout.
The character actor Michael Gambon was cast as Baltus Van
Tassel, and he has a long record of playing compelling characters, such as
here. The man is pleasant and amiable enough in person, though easily
exasperated and ultimately rather paranoid- we see that in his dismissive tone
of Ichabod during the story, as well as in his final actions. Gambon would go
on some years later to take on the role of Dumbledore starting with the third Harry Potter film. Another future Harry Potter veteran was in the cast.
Miranda Richardson is one of those actresses who’s interesting in whatever she
does, and she doesn’t disappoint here. Mary Van Tassel initially comes across
as polite and cordial, but as the film goes along and we learn secrets, there’s
much more about her. Mary is an enigmatic, eccentric character (ideal for a
Burton film), and suitably unhinged, and Richardson plays to that.
Christina Ricci was an ideal choice for the role
of Katrina. Strong willed and independent, she’s a character certain of
herself, bold and courageous. She seems wise beyond her years, and isn’t the
damsel in distress that a different set of writers might well have placed her
as. Fortunately the character is spared from a fate worse than death- being
eventually married to a character played by Casper Van Dien. It helps that she
and Depp have a good chemistry together through the film, and first meet in the
most unusual of circumstances.
Johnny Depp has a gift for eccentric characters and
disappearing into a role. Most often that works, but occasionally there are
misfires (side note: avoid watching Mortdechai
at all costs- trust me, you’ll be sparing yourself from wasting two hours
of your life). This is one of my favourite roles for the actor. He doesn’t take
the character quite as far as in the source story- Crane in Irving’s story is
much more frightened of everything- but there is a high strung, anxious, eccentric,
socially awkward streak to Depp’s portrayal. He’s not a man of action, though
he manages to get through the climactic confrontation with the Horseman more by
luck. In making the character a police constable, I like the touch of making
Crane a man of deduction and reason, believing in evidence (Sherlock Holmes
would understand that). And I like that he’s able to apply that to a
supernatural case- he’s able to think his way to a solution. Depp also has a
gift for comedy, and uses that here- his reaction to blood spattering all over
his face is understated in just the right way.
Sleepy Hollow is
an ideally spooky film for the Hallowe’en season, with Tim Burton’s influences
all over it- the dark humour, the gloomy atmosphere, and the rich imagination.
While it takes a good deal of liberties from the original story, it’s entertaining.
The film has a good, oddball lead, and a frightening spectre who seems very
good at chopping off heads. Even without a head, he's still two feet taller than Tom Cruise, who fortunately had nothing to do with this movie.
