Space Oddities- Edward Scissorhands (1990) Review

Created in the year 1990, Tim Burton’s questionably best movie Edward scissor hands follows the story of a Frankenstein-esque created man with scissors for hands due to his creator “not waking up” one day to be able to attach his hands, he is greeted by Peg (An Avon representative) that decides to go up to his European inspired castle and try to sell him some products however due to his mind of a small child she pseudo adopts him and takes him to her home in suburban America where he is treated as something totally different and out of the norm due to his scissor hands and scarred complexion.

Fig 1. Poster for Edward scissor hands

After the introduction to the film we are brought to a shot of a heavily stereotypical 50’s America, buildings, cars, home décor and clothing all tucked inside the American dream of a suburban area “houses huddle together like a candy-colored wagon train” (Maslin, 1990). However in direct contrast to this we are then panned to the view of Edward’s castle that is towering over the top of suburbia, this European inspired castle gives off the feeling of horror and reminds you of many other horror movies where an evil conniving demon has been living in a castle overlooking a calm and peaceful town.

Fig 2. Edwards’s castle

Fig 3. Castle overlooking peaceful town.

The inventor of Edward has an incredibly creative mind and Burton uses this in one of the films scene, while reminiscing about his past we are cut to a vision of before Edward was created to a horrific machine clad in iron and a robot with club like hands with red eyes creating something undoubtedly monstrous, however as we move further down the menacing machine you realize that this machine isn’t a monster creating monolith but actually a cooking creating contraption. This changes your view on the inventor immediately to turn him from a crazed scientist to a misunderstood old man who from this scene uses the idea of his heart shaped cookies to come up with the concept of a robot with a heart “Engaged in fanciful cooking experiments, the lonely inventor turns one of his cookie-cutting machines into a boy” (Peter Travers, 1990)

Fig 4. The cookie cutting machine

Finally Johnny Depp’s Portrayal of the innocent yet dangerous created individual that is Edward Scissorhands is sensational “summoning anxiety, melancholy and innocence with heartbreaking conviction. And it's all in the eyes: his dialogue is cut-to-the-bone minimal.”(Marc Lee, 2014). Lee couldn’t of said it better Depp’s acting would have been tested even possibly today even further down the line in his career but in the 90’s he would have been working all out on minute details that some may not have noticed just to get the feeling of the character over to the viewer and he achieved that with what seems ease.

Image links

Fig 1. Poster, Edward Scissor hands http://www.impawards.com/1990/edward_scissorhands_ver1.html Accessed on 9th Nov 2015

Fig 2. Screenshot, Edwards Scissor hands https://fogsmoviereviews.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/edward_scissorhands_hill.png Accessed on 9th Nov 2015

Fig 3. Digital Painting, Dracula’s castle, http://deelock.deviantart.com/art/Dracula-s-Castle-304586786 Accessed on 9th Nov 2015

Fig 4. Screenshot, Edward scissor hands, http://www.alicia-logic.com/capsimages01/esc_063Machinery.jpg Accessed on 9th Nov 2015

Bibliography

JANET MASLIN. (1990). Edward Scissorhands (1990). Available: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE2D81338F934A35751C1A966958260&partner=Rotten%2520Tomatoes. Last accessed 09th Nov 2015.

Peter Travers. (1990). Edward Scissorhands. Available: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/edward-scissorhands-19901214 Accessed on 9th Nov 2015

Marc Leww. (2014). Edward Scissorhands, review: 'a true fairytale'. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11298442/Edward-Scissorhands-review-a-true-fairytale.html. Last accessed 09/11/2015.