Edward Scissorhands is one of those films that leaves you feeling enchanted in the weirdest and most wonderful way.
What draws people to the film even more – besides, of course, it’s 90s heartthrob leads Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder – is the score – one that was composed in collaboration with the director, Tim Burton, himself.
Composed by GRAMMY®-winning composer Danny Elfman, the score is what ties the themes of the film together and brings this ethereal and eerily beautiful fairytale to life.
This Halloween, conductor Nicholas Buc is immersing audiences in this story as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is presenting the Australian premiere of Edward Scissorhands in Concert Live to Film at Hamer Hall on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October.
Speaking to WHO, Buc unpacks why experiencing the film live in concert is so powerful and why it feels like “the music is another character in the film”.
“I think the extraordinary thing about Elfman’s score is how beautifully it captures the strange mixture of wonder and sadness that sits at the heart of Edward Scissorhands,” he said. “It can be incredibly delicate and innocent one moment, and then suddenly dark, grotesque or deeply moving.
“I think Elfman has a wonderful ability to write music that is completely unmistakably him. You hear a few bars and you know you’re in his world.”
What is Edward Scissorhands about?
Edward Scissorhands (1990) follows the journey of Edward (played by Johnny Depp), an artificial man with scissors for hands who is left orphaned and unfinished by his creator (Vincent Price in his final role).
Longing for connection in his town’s suburban community, he eventually sparks a romance with Kim (Winona Ryder), raising suspicion and jealousy amongst the town due to his uniqueness.
Despite its 90s heartthrob leads, the film – directed by Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas) – is very ethereal in its style and leaves audiences with a tale of love, acceptance, and what it means to be misunderstood.
A collaboration between two industry legends
The score of this film is one of the early collaborations between Elfman and Burton – a partnership that lasted across multiple notable feature films including Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Planet of the Apes (2001), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), where Elfman actually voiced Jack Skellington.
“Burton and Elfman are a pretty extraordinary combination,” Buc told WHO. “Burton creates this bizarre visual world that is simultaneously gothic, funny, beautiful and slightly unsettling, and Elfman somehow manages to create exactly the same world with sound.
“What I love is that the music doesn’t just accompany the images, it feels as though it comes from the same imagination. Edward’s innocence, the strange suburban environment he enters, the sense of fantasy and the darker elements of the story are all there in the score.
“I think that’s why the film feels so cohesive. You could almost take the picture away and the music would still conjure up this very particular world in your imagination.”
‘It feels almost like the music is another character in the film’
The in-depth collaboration between Burton and Elfman made the film and score almost “inseparable”.
“I feels almost like the music is another character in the film,” Buc said. “When you watch it with a live orchestra, you suddenly become much more conscious of just how much storytelling is happening through the music.
“There’s also something quite magical about watching a familiar film while hearing 70 or 80 musicians create its soundtrack right in front of you. You’re watching the film, but you’re also watching the orchestra and you start to notice things you might not normally notice.
Buc added: “Selfishly, as a conductor, it’s a lot of fun! There are moments where the music has to line up with the film with almost ridiculous precision, and then there are other moments where you can really let the orchestra sing.”
Buc also confessed that there is a “danger” that accompanies this kind of performance.
He admitted that it’s easy, as a conductor, to become “so obsessed with getting everything synchronised that you forget you’re actually making music”, and that “finding that balance” has been his goal in preparation for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming Halloween performance.
“For me, the exciting part is finding the point where all of that technical precision disappears and it just feels like the orchestra is telling the story along with the film,” he revealed.
Edward Scissorhands in Concert Live to Film will take place at Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall, on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October at 7.30pm.
Tickets are available at mso.com.au.
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