Tim Burton is still very much associated with the spooky and the macabre – with some of his best-known fantasy horror movies being Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, and Sweeney Todd. However, they are all fun and have a wicked sense of humour behind them. Therefore, we wouldn’t compare watching Burton movies to being at a funeral.
But that’s exactly what Burton himself did, while at the Lumière Festival in France, where he received an honorary award recently [via Deadline] “I don’t really watch my movies. It was strange seeing the clips. I got quite emotional. It feels like each film you do is part of your life and is very deep and meaningful so it’s like watching your life flashing before your eyes – that’s why I likened it to a funeral in a way, in a beautiful way. It captures moments of your life.”
“It’s re-energized me. That’s why this festival is so great because it’s purely about cinema, rather than business or awards or anything else,” he added. “All studio executives should be forced to come here to reinvigorate them. To remind them of why they wanted to make movies in the first place. It should be part of their job.”
Burton has been criticised for the last decade – or more – of his career, with most people agreeing that the quality of his films has fallen off. People are divided on what his last good film was – some say 2007’s Sweeney Todd, some say 2003’s Big Fish. But generally people would like to see a return to his 80s and 90s heyday.
Burton says that he’s probably done with big corporations like Disney, and is looking at a more independent route. “Here’s the thing. Independent film, I don’t know. I’ve only worked mainly with studios so I never really understood what an independent film was.”
“I only know if I’m making a film when I’m actually on the set shooting. I try to go back to the root of everything. It springs from a seed and then it grows. I am working on ideas and things but it’s all very early days. We’ll set how it goes.”
While we wait to find out what Burton’s next project will be, check out our guide to scary movies for kids.