From the 1990s to the early 2000s, one thing was certain: when Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton work together, they always end up with something very special. Whether ‘Ed Wood’, ‘Sleepy Hollow’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ or ‘Sweeney Todd’ – the duo not only always managed to inspire, but also met directors such as Barry Sonnenfeld (‘The Addams Family’) . ) or Matthew Vaughn (“The Starwalker”).
It can be debated whether ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is the best film to come from the collaboration between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton – but it is undoubtedly the most beautiful. If you haven’t seen the moving fantasy fairy tale yet, you can watch it again today, November 19 at 8:15 PM on Tele 5. Alternatively, the film can also be seen with a Disney+ subscription.
That’s what “Edward Scissorhands” is about
Peg Boog (Dianne Wiest) is an Avon product consultant. To deliver creams, lipsticks and powders to women, she heads to a quiet suburb, where she decides to visit the dark castle perched on a mountain on the outskirts of the city. In the attic of the building she finds a creature in leather clothing. The artificially created man, whose inventor (Vincent Price) left him unfinished in the walls and with scissors as makeshift hands, seems intimidated and lonely.
Kind-hearted Peg’s caring streak is immediately awakened and she soon decides to bring introverted Edward (Johnny Depp) into the community. The arrival of the Man with Scissor Hands is a sensation in the quiet suburb and Edward soon proves that he is a true gardening and hairdressing artist. While the residents of the suburbs are thrilled with him, Edward slowly falls in love with Peg’s daughter Kim (Winona Ryder).
Frankenstein with a lot of heart
In the official FILMSTARTS review, “Edward Scissorhands” earned a whopping 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars. Our author Ulf Lepelmeier describes the film as “traditional story of a misunderstood outsider in a playful, unique Burton style”. The criticism continues: “Tim Burton plays his creativity […] full and enthusiastic with imaginative sets and crazy ideas, which are sympathetically surrounded and supplemented by Danny Elfman’s compositions.”
If you like, “Edward Scissorhands” is a variation on “Frankenstein”, but in this case Tim Burton does not want to stage a horror film, but rather a fairytale, family-friendly parable about tolerance, humanity and charity.
What’s special about it is that the outsider drama – which the film is essentially about – uses a lot of sentimentality, but at no point does it come across as hackneyed or unpleasantly cliché. The reason for this is not only Tim Burton’s sense of the inner dynamics of small American towns, which are steeped in boredom, sensationalism and bigotry, but also the actors.
It only takes a few minutes before Johnny Depp gets to know you as the scared, almost childlike Edward. Of all things, the artificial creature with scissor hands reveals the greatest humanity, because he experiences real emotions for the first time, but simply doesn’t know how to deal with them. Both the interactions with Dianne Wiest and Winona Ryder, with whom Depp was in a relationship at the time, are incredibly moving.
So if you want to be melted by a movie, you should definitely not miss “Edward Scissorhands” (or just watch it again, because the fantasy fairy tale always works!). The warmth of the story, the creativity of the production and the great actors make ‘Edward Scissorhands’ a beautiful classic that you must see.