Sitges Dispatch. 6.

The sequel to the horror hit in Japan, One Missed Call 2, directed not by workaholic Takashi Miike but by TV-friendly helmer Renpei Tsukamoto; the long-awaited new venture from Korean Kim Ji-woon, attractive thriller A Bittersweet Life; the celebrated, mysterious and seemingly disturbing Hard Candy, about a 32-year-old man bringing home a 14-year-old girl he's met on the net; or that night entirely devoted to Jaws, with the screening of the original masterpiece and a set of jaw-dropping docs... Friday's offerings at Sitges were a blast and it was impossible to be looking at one screen without thinking about what you we're missing on another.

But the red hot ticket was the Spanish premiere of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Hardcore fans of the gothic-meister were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, while those saddened by the directions he's taken recently (e.g., myself) were eager to know whether or not the man was still heading downhill. Because Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a cheap imitation of Burton by Burton himself, I feared Corpse Bride might be the same, as it was apparently a retread of paths previously taken.

Fortunately, this is a winner. It doesn't really achieve the heights of The Nightmare Before Christmas, to which this is not a sequel but a successor, but it is a hugely enjoyable film that dispels worries that Burton's getting boring. A romantic gothic fantasy in glorious stop-motion animation (CGI is used just occasionally for effects such as smoke and so on), Corpse Bride tells the story of a bizarre love triangle: young, shy, clumsy Victor (Johnny Depp, better here than in the role of Wonka), his betrothed, Victoria (Emily Watson), and a dead girlfriend (Helena Bonham Carter) who has surprisingly and firmly stood in his way. This is an eye-popping visual feast, but what sets the film apart, rather curiously, the sheer drama - great dialogue, a nice soap-opera plot and great facial expressions make for a delightful treat. As in Charlie, there are some musical numbers that don't work, but this looks nonetheless like a return to form for Burton - his reencounter with sense of wonder. And we should be grateful for that.

Posted by dwhudson at October 16, 2005 4:48 AM