He creates a dichotomy between the gothic and idyllic-the dark and the light-but since it's Burton, the darks and lights are warped by the funhouse mirror of his creativity. In Beetlejuice, the dichotomy is between down home (and recently deceased) couple Adam and Barbara and the pretentious big city Deetz family. They're dark, demented, and nightmarish, but they also have a strange innocence and element of childlike wonder, too. In terms of cinematic style, Burton's films are-interesting. Pee-wee Herman is a happy loner.īurton's gothic/idyllic dichotomy is very apparent in this still from 'Edward Scissorhands', in which he uses a juxtaposition of the town and Edward's home to drive the point home. Batman is a recluse, as is Edward Scissorhands. In Brubaker's own words:īurton’s heroic characters are troubled loners, isolated from the rest of the world. His heroes are lowly nerds/goths/super crime fighters that are 100% happy with their lonely existence secluded from others. In terms of the narrative, Burton's films, at least from this time, tend to feature a protagonist that Brubaker calls the "heroic loner", which is quite a departure from the traditional underdog hero that was (and still is) popular in films in that Burton's heroes aren't lowly nerds that desire companionship or acceptance from others in their community. Films like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and his two contributions to the Batman franchise contain a number of his narrative tropes, as well as his iconic gothic/idyllic imagery. Video is no longer available: /181425324īurton's body of work has gone through several changes throughout his career, but the "esque" of his style really comes from his earlier work from the late 80s to the mid-late 90s. His style is so unique that he has joined the ranks of filmmakers whose names have made the transition from moniker to adjective, like Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, and Alfred Hitchcock. In this video essay, Fandor's Philip Brubaker defines exactly what "Burtonesque" is, from the concept of the "heroic loner" to his surrealistic humor. Experiencing his brand of cinema is a lot like walking into an abandoned amusement park, or a haunted carnival, or a nightmarish circus-it's entertaining-and even endearing at times, but it's also extremely dark and deeply disturbing. If you watch films like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, or Corpse Bride, it's quite clear that they were all directed by the same comically macabre individual, Tim Burton. How do you describe the work of Tim Burton? Easy-you describe them as "Burtonesque".
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