Corpse Bride

Tim Burton's creations always intrigue me in a bizzare way. Yesterday I finally had time to go for Corpse Bride, his newest movie.

The story is based on a Russian folklore. Victor the shy kid was forced to marry the young and beautiful Victoria, the daughter of a declining family. They fell in love immediately after seeing each other, but there is always something waiting to go wrong. After make a mess out of the rehearsal, Victor went for a little practice in the dark forest at night, and accidentally married Emily, the corpse bride.

Like the rest of Tim Burton's movies, the world we see is so different from the world we live in, yet it reminds us continuously of your very own life. In the story he portrayed two worlds. The land of the living is dull and without colour with people all living like zombies and working like robots. The land of the dead is however very colourful, with the dead having an happy (after)life underground, singing and dancing every day and night.

[minor spoiler alert]

The story began with a blue butterfly. Bright and colourful, it served as the introduction of the boring human world: People breathe, and their hearts beat, but they do not feel life and even chased the butterfly away. The same butterfly also appeared again later to visit the lonely corpse bride, but the reaction it got was very different. Sadness did not prevent her from adoring the butterfly and the life it represented. The full moon was beautiful, but only in her eyes. Perhaps sometimes we pay attention to the beautiful things in life only after we lose them? The nature, a dead pet, Too often we learn the way of life through loss and regret.

Some say that the story ended abruptly, but the final scene was so beautiful it made me weep. I wonder if the butterfly was the afterlife of another beautiful lady?

Impressions on Corpse Bride: 9/10

The songs are very nice, making the soundtrack a must-buy item. Following is an excerpt from "Tears to shed", a song Emily sang with the black widow and the maggot:

If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain
In the ice or in the sun it's all the same
Yet I feel my heart is aching
Though it doesn't beat it's breaking
And the pain here that I feel
Try and tell me it's not real
I know that I am dead
Yet it seems that I still have some tears to shed