By: Ava Rogha
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005) is a stop-motion animation that explores the themes of “love” and “death” in a different way than ever before!
Victor Van Dort has been arranged to marry Victoria Everglot by his traditional parents, to help the Everglot family’s financial situation. Even though the couple's marriage is arranged, Victor is deeply in love with his bride and wishes nothing more than to impress her on their big day.
"I always hoped to find someone I was deeply in love with."
With no past experience on how to tell his vows on his wedding day (except a messy rehearsal with the Everglots), Victor (Johnny Depp) heads to the woods with a ring to practice. As he is practicing his speech to a twig, little does he know that the "twig" is actually a hand that belongs to a dead bride, who takes his vows seriously!
Victor is pulled down into the Land of the Dead to get to know his soon to be bride. But no, not Victoria (Emily Watson) — Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), a corpse bride that was brutally murdered by her ex-husband. As Victor learns more about the tragic story of his new bride, he finds himself trapped in a situation he cannot get out of, and Emily is so infatuated by Victor, that she tries to keep him in the Land of the Dead for as long as possible!
Desperate to go back up to his REAL bride Victoria, Victor tricks Emily into thinking he’s leaving the Land of the Dead to plan a meeting between his parents and his new bride. However, his plan backfires and Emily is exposed to Victor’s secret bride.
An enraged Emily pulls him back down and accuses him of cheating, but it turns out that, technically, he was cheating on Victoria all along!
"Tell me my dear, can a heart still break once it's stopped beating?"
The pain in Emily’s eyes is evident when she realises she will never be good enough for Victor simply because she’s dead. Poor Emily was taken away her chance to live in the first place because she married the wrong guy, so it’s painful to see her having her not-so-beating heart broken, again!
The most memorable scene from Corpse Bride, is Emily’s heartbreaking performance of “Tears to Shed”, where just like the rest of us women, she feels the need to compare herself with the other woman. Accompanied by her “friends” – more precisely some insects — the corpse bride speaks of all the reasons why Victoria is the better choice for Victor.
"If I touch a burning candle, I can feel no pain. If you cut me with a knife it's still the same. And I know her heart is beating, and I know that I am dead. Yet the pain here that I feel, try and tell me it's not real. And it seems that I still have a tear to shed."
We empathise with Emily who had her life robbed from her by her ex-husband who, as illustrated in the movie, murdered her. Although we yearn for Emily to have her happy ending with Victor more than anything else, realistically speaking, that is not possible. For the couple’s marriage to be valid, Victor has to kill himself.
Victor makes amends with Emily in the Land of the Dead, and feels so bad about what he did that he’s willing to finally marry her. In the meantime, Victoria moves on and finds her “perfect” groom, or so she thought. It turns out, Emily’s cruel ex-husband is still out there looking for more women to torture. I bet you did not see that one coming! With everything Victor already knows about this man, he is not hesitant to come for Victoria’s rescue.
I don’t want to spoil too much, but with Victor being stuck in the middle of a love triangle, it comes to a point where he has to choose between life and death — and two beautiful brides. If you were in Victor’s shoes, who would you choose?
"Perhaps he does belong with her, Little Miss Living, with her rosy cheeks and beating heart."
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