Sleepy Hollow (1999)
A Film Essay by Mark O'Hara
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What we experience in watching Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" is a modern treatment of an eighteenth-century tale. As such, it is very slick and rather fast-paced. It is not, however, anything close to Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
Instead of the gangly schoolmaster Icabod Crane, Johnny Depp portrays Crane as a mildly buffoonish constable whose ambition is to be a criminal investigator. In New York City proper, he complains of the brutal and backward police work he sees all around him. Thus a burgomaster (played by Christopher Lee) sends him up the Hudson River to a village called Sleepy Hollow, where three people have been murdered, their heads sliced cleanly off. Arriving to a rather cold welcome, Crane begins to practice his version of the scientific method, exposing all the evidence he can. Immediately we meet four leading citizens of the town, men who may or may not be involved with the grisly crimes. Michael Gambon as the rich Baltus Van Tassel, Richard Griffiths as Magistrate Phillipse, Ian McDiarmid as Doctor Lancaster, and Michael Gough as Notary Hardenbrook - these character actors are masterful choices of casting. Unsavory and gruff, these titled citizens support one of the film's themes, that appearance is very different from reality.
One aspect already given away in the trailers for the film is that the horseman is no legend. Differing from Irving's scenario, in which we think the horseman is probably Brom Bones - the jealous boyfriend of Katrina Van Tassel - Burton's version gives a very frightening physical incarnation to the specter. When the doubting Ichabod encounters a fake horseman - Brom with padding and a cape - we run up against a red herring that is one of many flaws in the script. But when we see the real spectral Hessian, the narrative abandons Irving's ideas.
Why is the ghost of a Hessian mercenary keeping the heads he lops off? Is there a pattern or a reason in the selection of his victims? Andrew Kevin Walker's screenplay tries to cover these possibilities, but it is only partly successful. Although the ghost's motivations are conveyed rather clearly, we don't quite understand those of Ichabod Crane, or even of the young woman with whom he falls in love, Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci). The film begins to weave a sort of subplot consisting of a series of disturbing nightmares. It seems the 7 year-old Ichabod had a beautiful mother who is an "innocent." What happens with her and Crane's father amounts to a failed search for motives, and a third-rate attempt at emulating the supernatural plot threads of a director like Ingmar Bergman. Here, the thread unravels.
As usual, Burton's film is beautifully photographed. The sets are appropriate, often painted by special effect that capture New York of 1799, as well as pastoral landscapes captured on canvases of that time. As might be expected in a horror film, there is a lot of imagery - in this case involving darkness, fire, smoke and blood. Burton displays a morbid penchant for showing not only on-screen decapitations, but other wounds. We spy angry-looking yet bloodless wounds on a few characters' hands and bellies and shoulders, aside from the cauterized necks of several victims. Several times we witness a bizarre, womb-like image in the place from which the horseman springs before galloping across the western woods in the next murderous venture.
Johnny Depp's acting is usually solid, and here Burton's pal does a nice job of depicting his character. This Crane is, like Irving's, shaky and often unsure of himself. But the very nature of the newer Crane calls for an amount of courage the original Crane would never exhibit. Depp's Crane is an aspiring pathologist who actually brings bits of dark comic relief to the autopsy-like procedures he practices. His being squirted with blood becomes a running joke.
As Katrina Van Tassel, Christina Ricci is underused. Her character increases in importance as the narrative advances, though her true role is kept obscured by the filmmakers. She and her stepmother (Miranda Richardson) both appear to dabble in the black arts (though Crane calls Katrina's magic "white"). Richardson actually plays a double role, as she did in "Merlin" she and her twin play interesting roles in the intrigue. Richardson's acting is believeable and smooth.
The supporting cast contributes much to the tone and direction of the story. In an uncredited appearance as the horseman-with-a-head, Christopher Walken is wild-eyed and menacing, his teeth filed to devilish points. But even he seems baffled in one scene, when he has no lines but must only breathe with hatred. Ray Park is one of the doubles for the headless rider, and his fight scenes are sharp and deadly. The accoutrements of ghostly murder work well in his hands: a saber and a battleaxe were never so expertly wielded in a Revolutionary War-era film.
So many of the action scenes are fascinating, their ILM-buffed special effects amazing and transparent. The background for these scenes is memorable and truly gothic - something of which Burton is no doubt proud. But the script falters so many times, and the main plot - though gripping - is not supported well either by explanations or subplots. I question the need for so many graphic beheadings, and also the frequency of characters practicing witchcraft or magic. Do modern audiences really require such dark meanderings into the subhuman parts of humanity? Or is this what it looks like to see another film falling far short of greatness?
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