Tim Burton recently received his
much-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award in the form of a Golden Lion at the
Venice Film Festival.
Presented with the
statuette, Burton declared it “more beautiful-looking” than the “bald, naked
man” given out by our own Academy. He’s
the youngest-ever recipient of the award, but a quick glance at Burton’s canon
proves his worthiness: Beetlejuice (1988), Batman Returns (1989), Edward
Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
(2005). Burton has packed more cinematic
variety and quality into his last two decades than many directors display over
an entire career.
Burton was in Venice to present some footage from the upcoming Sweeney Todd, which he described as an “old-fashioned horror movie with music in it." Viewers remarked on the muted color palette, which Burton has used before in Sleepy Hollow and other films. The December release is his sixth collaboration with Johnny Depp and his fifth with Helena Bonham Carter, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child.
