Virgin Student Corpse Bride In Brief... The film begins with a typically Dickens-like tale of a cheerless existence and an arranged marriage of two frail beings; Victor (Johnny Depp) and Victoria (Emily Watson), by their rather ghastly parents the Van Dorts and the Everglots. Plans go awry when Victor, whilst practising wedding vows in a nearby forest, places the wedding ring on what appears to be the branch of a tree. In fact, this is the bony finger of a dead bride who has been looking for Mr.Right ever since she was jilted and murdered on her wedding day. On being accidentally betrothed to the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham-Carter), Victor is taken to the Land of the Dead where his bride is determined to make a happy home... Review... Tim Burton has been a very busy boy and this stop-motion animation is his second film of the year, following the hugely successful 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. Ever since 'Beetlejuice' we have expected Burton's films to be visual feasts. This is no exception. The characters are beautifully realised in the wonderfully descriptive animations. Their physical forms exude their personality traits perfectly. The innocence of the globular eyes of the young couple; the meanness of the phallic-like chin of Maudeline Everglot; the greed of the buttock-faced Nell Van Dort; and the vivacious spirit of the undeniably curvy Corpse Bride, whose body, though disintegrating, has a certain Gilda-esque appeal from the first time her cadaver appears on screen. The appeal of the Corpse Bride is defiantly unconventional. Her limbs are in a constant state of collapse, she has a talking maggot that pops out of her eye and an unforgettable smile- you can see her teeth through the hole in her cheek. It is the allure of the freakish (as in 'Edward Scissorhands') that is the key to this film and to Burton as a filmmaker. Strange details are borne out of a remarkable imagination, creating very specific and completely sinister environments. It is in these environments that he is interested in exploring what makes us human. It is not in the gloomy Victorian town of the living folk that we find humanity but in the Land of the Dead, where the freakish are de rigour. Strange but well-meaning acts of kindness, like the Corpse Bride presenting her new husband with the bones of his long-dead puppy, characterises this attitude. Joie de vivre can be found in abundance in the local drinking joint, and though it is frequented by a load of stiffs, it is one of the liveliest paces you are ever likely to find (the skeleton jazz band doing their Chicago-type set is really something). This is a complete contrast to the sombre and, yes, deadly atmosphere of the Everglot's wedding feast, at their second attempt to marry their daughter off. In fact, it is only when the dead re-inhabit the world of the living and wreak havoc at the wedding dinner that things start to lighten up. A frisky skeleton chasing women round the room remarking he likes a woman with "meat on her bones" certainly injects light relief into this dreary Victorian household. Conclusion... This is a story that is probably too sinister for children. It is, however, heart-warming and humorous. The usual indicators of what evil is supposed to look like are collapsed. Instead, what should be a nightmare scenario, being married to a corpse, is turned on its head. In fact, the Corpse Bride is quite a dame! And as ever, when you enter Tim Burton's dark universe, you are reminded that humanity can be found in the strangest of places.		Next article >