In one of our many clear outs of the little office that can be found in the depths of Pall Mall Barbers I found this interview Richard had with Paul Arendt at the Guardian Newspaper.
Interview by Paul Arendt
Tuesday January 29, 2008
The Guardian
Cut the music ... Sweeney Todd
I can't say I'd use this film as a training video. Slitting your customers' throats isn't a good business model - you wouldn't get many repeat customers. I don't think I would employ Johnny Depp's Sweeney Todd, either. He looks like a bit of a madman.
I loved the scenes of Victorian London in Tim Burton's movie; and it was great to see the old barber shops with the traditional red and white barber's pole. The red represents blood and the white represents bandages. Years ago, barbers were also surgeons. They would pull teeth and perform bloodletting, so they were no strangers to gore. But I don't think many of them went as far as Sweeney.
Sweeney's razors look more like samurai swords than professional tools. They were obviously made to scare. I've never come across a set of razors of that scale and shape. The traditional shave using a straight razor and strop - a piece of leather used to sharpen the razor - are things of the past now. We use a disposable safety blade for hygiene reasons.
Lathering and preparation is the key to good shaving. Sweeney doesn't apply the soap properly. He brushes it across the face when what you should do is work it in to the skin, softening the stubble and bringing up the bristles. You don't often see Johnny Depp actually shaving a customer - it looked as if they might have used someone else's hands to do the work.
I wasn't sure what to make of the music. Obviously, there's a connection between singing and barber shops - think of barber shop quartets - but I suspect my clientele would be relieved that we don't serenade them while we work. They wouldn't want to hear my voice, anyway.
· Richard Marshall is the owner of Pall Mall Barbers, London. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is on general release
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