Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands | |
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Directed by | Tim Burton |
Screenplay by | Caroline Thompson |
Story by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
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Running time | 105 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million[2] |
Box office | $86 million[3] |
Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 American gothic romantic fantasy film[4] directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Vincent Price, and Alan Arkin. It tells the story of an unfinished artificial humanoid who has scissor blades instead of hands that is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter.
Burton conceived Edward Scissorhands from his childhood upbringing in suburban
Edward Scissorhands was released to a positive reception from critics and was a financial success, grossing over four times its $20 million budget. The film won the
Plot
One snowy evening, an elderly woman tells her granddaughter the bedtime story of a young man named Edward, who has scissor blades for hands.
Many years earlier, Peg Boggs, a local door-to-door Avon saleswoman, tries to sell at the decrepit Gothic mansion where Edward lives. The creation of an old inventor, Edward is an ageless humanoid. The inventor homeschooled Edward but died from a heart attack before giving Edward hands, leaving him unfinished. Peg finds Edward alone and offers to take him to her home after discovering he is virtually harmless. Peg introduces Edward to her husband Bill, their young son Kevin, and their teenage daughter Kim. Edward falls in love with Kim, despite her initial fear of him. As their neighbors are curious about the new houseguest, the Boggs throw a neighborhood barbecue welcoming him. Most of the neighbors are fascinated by Edward and befriend him, except for the eccentric religious fanatic Esmeralda and Kim's supercilious boyfriend Jim.
Edward repays the neighborhood for their kindness by trimming their hedges into topiaries, progressing to grooming dogs and later styling the hair of the neighborhood women. One of the neighbors, Joyce, offers to help Edward open a hair salon so he can support himself. While scouting a location, Joyce attempts to seduce him, but scares him away. Joyce lies to the neighborhood women about Edward's behavior, reducing their trust in him. Edward's dream of opening the salon is ruined when the bank refuses him a loan on the grounds that he has no assessment and collateral and is not legally a human.
Jealous of Kim's attraction to Edward, Jim takes advantage of his naivety by asking him to pick the lock on his parents' home so he can steal his father's electronic goods and sell them to buy a van. Edward agrees, but when he picks the lock, a burglar alarm is triggered. Jim flees and Edward is arrested. The police determine that a lifetime of isolation has left Edward without any common sense or morality; thus, he cannot be criminally charged. Edward nevertheless takes responsibility for the robbery, telling Kim that he did it because she asked him to. Consequently, he is shunned by the entire neighborhood except for the Boggs family.
At Christmas, Edward carves an angelic ice sculpture modeled after Kim; the ice shavings are thrown into the air and fall like snow, something that has never happened before in the town. Kim dances in the snowfall. Jim arrives suddenly, calling out to Edward, surprising him and causing him to accidentally cut Kim's hand. Jim accuses Edward of intentionally harming her, but Kim, disgusted and fed up with Jim's jealous behavior towards Edward, breaks up with him. Meanwhile, Edward flees in a rage, destroying his works and scaring Esmeralda until he is calmed by a wandering dog.
Kim's parents go out to find Edward while she stays behind in case he returns. Edward returns, finding Kim there. She asks him to hold her, but Edward hesitates, afraid of hurting her. Jim's drunken friend drives him to Kim's house and nearly runs over Kevin, but Edward pushes Kevin to safety while inadvertently cutting him. Witnesses accuse Edward of attacking Kevin; when Jim assaults him, Edward defends himself and injures Jim's arm before fleeing back to the inventor's mansion.
Kim goes to find Edward. Jim obtains a gun, follows her, and shoots at Edward before grabbing a fire poker and beating him. Edward refuses to fight back until he sees Jim strike Kim as she attempts to intervene. Enraged, Edward stabs Jim in the stomach and pushes him from a window of the mansion to his death. Kim confesses her love to Edward and kisses him as they accept that their love can never be fulfilled. As the neighbors gather, Kim convinces them that Jim and Edward killed each other.
The elderly woman, revealed to be Kim, finishes telling her granddaughter the story and says that she never saw Edward again, hoping that by doing so Edward would remember her as she was in her youth. She believes he is still alive because it would not be snowing without him. Edward is then seen carving ice sculptures of his experiences with Kim, with the bits of ice floating as snow in the wind.
Cast
- Johnny Depp as Edward Scissorhands
- Winona Ryder as Kim Boggs
- Dianne Wiest as Peg Boggs
- Anthony Michael Hall as Jim
- Kathy Baker as Joyce Monroe
- Vincent Price as The Inventor
- Alan Arkin as Bill Boggs
- Robert Oliveri as Kevin Boggs
- Conchata Ferrell as Helen
- Susan Blommaert as Tinka
- Caroline Aaron as Marge
- Dick Anthony Williams as Officer Allen
- O-Lan Jones as Esmeralda
Production
Development
The genesis of Edward Scissorhands came from a drawing by then-teenaged director
Shortly after Thompson's hiring, Burton began to develop Edward Scissorhands at
Casting
Although Winona Ryder was the first cast member attached to the script,[10] Dianne Wiest was the first to sign on. "Dianne, in particular, was wonderful", Burton said. "She was the first actress to read the script, supported it completely and, because she is so respected, once she had given it her stamp of approval, others soon got interested".[12] When it came to casting the lead role of Edward, several actors were considered;[13] Fox was insistent on having Burton meet with Tom Cruise. "He certainly wasn't my ideal, but I talked to him", Burton remembered. "He was interesting, but I think it worked out for the best. A lot of questions came up".[12] Cruise asked for a "happier" ending.[14][15] Tom Hanks and Gary Oldman turned down the part,[10][16] Hanks in favor of critical and commercial flop The Bonfire of the Vanities.[10] Oldman found the story to be absurd, but understood it after watching "literally two minutes" of the completed film.[17] Jim Carrey was also considered for the role, while Thompson favored John Cusack.[13] Elsewhere, William Hurt, Robert Downey Jr. and musician Michael Jackson expressed interest,[10] although Burton did not converse with Jackson.[13]
Though Burton was unfamiliar with Johnny Depp's then-popular performance in 21 Jump Street, he had always been Burton's first choice.[12] At the time of his casting, Depp was seeking to break out of the teen idol status which his performance in 21 Jump Street had afforded him. When he was sent the script, Depp immediately found personal and emotional connections with the story.[18] In preparation for the role, Depp watched many Charlie Chaplin films to study the idea of creating sympathy without dialogue.[19] Fox studio executives were so worried about Edward's image, that they tried to keep pictures of Depp in full costume under wraps until release of the film.[20] Burton approached Ryder for the role of Kim Boggs based on their positive working experience in Beetlejuice.[12] Drew Barrymore previously auditioned for the role.[21] Crispin Glover auditioned for the role of Jim before Anthony Michael Hall was cast.[9]
Kathy Baker saw her part of Joyce, the neighbor who tries to seduce Edward, as a perfect chance to break into comedy.[10] Alan Arkin says when he first read the script, he was "a bit baffled. Nothing really made sense to me until I saw the sets. Burton's visual imagination is extraordinary".[10] The role of The Inventor was written specifically for Vincent Price, and would ultimately be his final feature film role. Burton commonly watched Price's films as a child, and, after completing Vincent, the two became good friends.[citation needed] Robert Oliveri was cast as Kevin, Kim's younger brother.
Filming
To create Edward's scissor hands, Burton employed
Music
Edward Scissorhands is the fourth feature film collaboration between director
Themes
Burton acknowledged that the main themes of Edward Scissorhands deal with self-discovery and isolation. Edward is found living alone in the attic of a
Burton explained that his depiction of suburbia is "not a bad place. It's a weird place. I tried to walk the fine line of making it funny and strange without it being judgmental. It's a place where there's a lot of integrity."[23] Kim leaves her jock boyfriend (Jim) to be with Edward, an event that many have postulated as Burton's revenge against jocks he encountered as a teenager in suburban Burbank, California. Jim is subsequently killed, a scene that shocked a number of observers who felt the whole tone of the film had been radically altered. Burton referred to this scene as a "high school fantasy".[26]
Reception
Box office
Critical response
Edward Scissorhands received acclaim from critics and audiences.
Marc Lee of The Daily Telegraph scored the film five out of five stars, writing, "Burton's modern fairytale has an almost palpably personal feel: it is told gently, subtly and with infinite sympathy for an outsider who charms the locals but then inadvertently arouses their baser instincts." He also praised Depp as being "sensational in the lead role, summoning anxiety, melancholy and innocence with heartbreaking conviction. And it's all in the eyes: his dialogue is cut-to-the-bone minimal."[39]
The Washington Post's Desson Thomson wrote, "Depp is perfectly cast, Burton builds a surrealistically funny cul-de-sac world, and there are some very funny performances from grownups Dianne Wiest, Kathy Baker and Alan Arkin."[40] Rita Kempley, also writing for The Washington Post, praised the film: "Enchantment on the cutting edge, a dark yet heartfelt portrait of the artist as a young mannequin." She too praised Depp's performance in stating, "... nicely cast, brings the eloquence of the silent era to this part of few words, saying it all through bright black eyes and the tremulous care with which he holds his horror-movie hands.[41]
Owen Gleiberman, writing for Entertainment Weekly, gave the film an "A−" rating, commending Elfman's score and calling the character of Edward "Burton's surreal portrait of himself as an artist: a wounded child converting his private darkness into outlandish pop visions", and "Burton's purest achievement as a director so far." Of Depp he wrote, "Depp may not be doing that much acting beneath his neo-Kabuki makeup, but what he does is tremulous and affecting."[42]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Burton invests awe-inspiring ingenuity into the process of reinventing something very small."[43] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a mixed review, awarding it two stars out of four and writing that "Burton has not yet found the storytelling and character-building strength to go along with his pictorial flair."[44]
Accolades
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[50]
- 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
- Nominated Fantasy Film[51]
Legacy
Burton cites Edward Scissorhands as epitomizing his most personal work.
In 2012, Depp reprised his role in the Family Guy episode "Lois Comes Out of Her Shell".[55]
An extinct lobster-like sea creature called Kootenichela deppi is named after Depp because of its scissor-like claws.[56]
From 2014 to 2015, IDW Publishing released an Edward Scissorhands comic book series which serves as a sequel and takes place several decades after the film. The series consists of ten issues which have been collected in two trade paperbacks. It was written by Kate Leth with art by Drew Rausch.[57]
An ad for the Cadillac Lyriq, an electric car with hands-free driving features, premiered during Super Bowl LV and is based on the film; it features Ryder reprising her role as Kim, now mother to Edward's son Edgar (played by Timothée Chalamet).[58]
Stage adaptations
A theatrical dance adaptation by the British choreographer Matthew Bourne premiered at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London in November 2005. After an 11-week season, the production toured the UK, Asia and the United States.[59] The British director Richard Crawford directed a stage adaptation of the Tim Burton film, which had its world premiere on June 25, 2010, at The Brooklyn Studio Lab and ended July 3.[60][10]
See also
References
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- ^ ISBN 978-0-7145-3132-8.
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- ^ a b c Armitage, Hugh (December 12, 2015). "25 amazing Edward Scissorhands facts on the film's 25th birthday". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Hewitt, Chris (January 2, 2003). "Tom Cruise: The Alternative Universe". Empire. p. 67.
- ^ "Edward Scissorhands was made for freaks, by freaks". December 16, 2015.
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- ^ Burton 2000, pp. ix–xii.
- ^ "Johnny Depp on his inspiration for Edward Scissorhands". Entertainment Weekly. May 2007. Archived from the original on May 24, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2007.
- ^ Benatar, Giselle (December 14, 1990). "Tim Burton's latest film". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
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- ^ Fuller, Graham (December 1990). "Tim Burton and Vincent Price Interview". Interview. pp. 110–113.
- ^ Hanke 1999, pp. 107–116.
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- ^ Kempley, Rita (December 14, 1990). "'Edward Scissorhands'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (December 7, 1990). "Edward Scissorhands". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
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- ^ Authur, Kate (February 7, 2021). "Timothee Chalamet as Edward Scissorhands' Son?! This Super Bowl Commercial Will Break the Internet". Variety. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
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Bibliography
- Hanke, Ken (1999). Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker. ISBN 978-1580630467.
- ISBN 978-0571205073.
External links
- Edward Scissorhands at IMDb
- Edward Scissorhands at AllMovie
- Edward Scissorhands at Box Office Mojo
- Edward Scissorhands at Rotten Tomatoes
- Edward Scissorhands at the TCM Movie Database
- Edward Scissorhands at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Official website for Matthew Bourne's adaptation
- Hohenadel, Kristin (November 22, 2005). "Run With Scissors? And Then Some". The New York Times.
- Gurewitsch, Matthew (March 11, 2007). "Admire the Footwork, but Mind the Hands". The New York Times.