Film #5 of Project 90

”Before he came down here, it never snowed. And afterwards, it did.”

Tim Burton is at his most creative and his fantasy is at its most pleasant here, a nice and poetically glorious film with an innocent character whose only wish in life is to be loved and accepted as a member of the society. A smart and quite precise observation of how people deal with individuals who are special in one way or another (artists?), a dark fairytale and a bitter yet incredibly romantic love story, Edward Scissorhands’ main strength is that it mixes all these stories together, adds a bit of Gothic exaggeration (which is a part of Burton’s fantasies) and presents something…

Part of Dastardly Difficult December: film nr.18

Sometimes in a film every aspect of all talents involved seem to merge and peak together to reach a hitherto untapped potential for greatness. In this, Burton’s masterpiece, this potential is fulfilled completely, making this a unique and off beat film that has no equal in his repertoire.

So, a confession I probably have to make is that I somehow never managed to watch this film in its entirety, always only catching bits and bobs, but never the entire thing. I even own the film, but it was just never a film I grabbed when deciding what to watch. Up until now that is.

I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship…

CW: rape, violence

An awkward teenage Frankenstein just-so story sculpted out of suburban ennui and Gothic romance, Edward Scissorhands draws as much from German child's tales as from Burton's vividly cold imagination. This is Euro-fairytale transposed to American pastiche. Is it the 80s with the fire-sprayed van? Is it the 70s with those garish carpets? Is it the 50s with the neat little cookie cutter lawns? It's some never been decade, a cross-section of historical dreams meant to represent the eternal essence of Everywhere, USA. It's a facade.

The film is Burton's visual masterpiece. Contrast of color and tone (town and castle), of bumbling comedy and fumbling tenderness, of genuine family affection and insincere community feeling, of nice and good,…