films friday

This week we'll be talking about a film I have loved and cherished for years.

Edward Scissorhands

This film has been a favorite of mine since as far back as I can remember. I was about 6 years old when it was released, so that is probably why I feel like it's always been around.

With the love of this film began my love for not only Johnny Depp, but for Tim Burton and Danny Elfman as well.

Johnny Depp's portrayal of this fragile and kind hearted man continually melts and breaks my heart at the same time. There is no doubt that Edward is an adored and iconic character. In my opinion, Depp will forever be remembered for Edward far more fondly than any of the Captain Jack Sparrow crap. Don't get me wrong, I think if it weren't for Depp's creation of Captain Jack, that franchise would be nothing and it really is a great character, but my heart belongs to Scissorhands.

"Burton invests awe-inspiring ingenuity into the process of reinventing something very small," she wrote. "In the case of Edward Scissorhands is a tale of misunderstood gentleness and stifled creativity, of civilization's power to corrupt innocence, of a heedless beauty and a kindhearted beast. The film, if scratched with something much less sharp than Edward's fingers, reveals proudly adolescent lessons for us all." - Janet Maslin of The New York Times

Tim Burton may have lost some of his luster in the last few years, but his early work is fantastic if only for it's fantastical nature. He has what no other filmmaker does and that is the ability to capture the sensitivity, purity and tenderness of something that may seem, on the outside, as dark, dangerous and evil. Some of the things I love about this film is the commentary of an outsider made to feel even more foreign by the welcoming and rejecting nature of suburbia. It's something that Burton obviously knows something about. He based this story on his adolescent years living in Burbank, CA and how he was made to feel isolated, weird and alone. He has admitted that Scissorhands is his favorite, and most personal, work.

Danny Elfman also declared Scissorhands his best work. It's not a secret that people either love Burton and Elfman or they hate them. I happen to adore them both and I feel their work, though wonderful on its own, was and is meant to always be married together. Their numerous collaborations would not be the same without each other. That goes with Depp as well. I love repeat collaborations because when it works it just works. These three men have the ability to make magic, and on Scissorhands I believe that's what they did.

As The Inventor, Vincent Price was the only actor who role was written specifically for him. Though obviously not planned, I think this was a perfect note for his career to end on.

If you haven't seen this film, I really hope you do. Especially if you grew up feeling like an outsider, a loner or a weirdo... just like I did. It's a love song to the weirdos who in turn would obsess over this film for years to come.

{all photos found via Pinterest}