Sleepy Hollow (film) Totally Explained

Everything about Sleepy Hollow Film totally explained

Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 period horror film directed by Tim Burton, interpreting the legend of The Headless Horseman and based loosely around the Washington Irving story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The third film collaboration between Johnny Depp and Burton, the film also features Christina Ricci, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Richard Griffiths and Christopher Walken. The story centers on police constable Ichabod Crane sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman. The style and themes of the story take inspirations from the late Hammer Film Productions. Sleepy Hollow had been in development since 1994 and was originally intended to be directed by Kevin Yagher. The film labored into development far enough for Burton to direct, who had unsuccessfully worked on Superman Lives. Filming took place entirely on location in England where the crew built an entire soundstage. Sleepy Hollow would be released with box office success and critical acclaim, grossing roughly $206 million worldwide and scoring a 73 percent approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Plot

In 1799, New York City police constable Ichabod Crane is dispatched by his superiors to the upstate hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, to investigate a series of brutal slayings in which the victims have been found decapitated with their heads missing. A frequent user of new, though so far unproven investigative techniques such as finger-printing and autopsies, Crane arrives in Sleepy Hollow armed with his bag of scientific tools only to be informed by the town's elders that the murderer isn't of flesh and blood, rather a headless supernatural warrior from beyond the grave who rides at night on a massive black steed.
   Crane doesn't believe them and begins his own investigation, until he comes face to face with the Headless Horseman. Boarding a room at the home of the town's richest family, the Van Tassels, Crane develops an attraction to their daughter, the mysterious Katrina, even as he's plagued by nightmares of his mother's horrific torture when he was a child.
   Delving further into the mystery with the aid of the orphaned Young Masbeth, whose father was a victim of the Horseman, Crane discovers within the Western Woods both the Horseman's entry point between this world and the beyond, the gnarled Tree of the Dead, and his grave.
   He finds the Horseman's skull is missing though the murders continue until Crane uncovers a murky plot revolving around revenge and land rights with the Horseman controlled by Katrina's stepmother, Lady Van Tassel, who sends the killer after her. Following a fight in the local windmill and a stagecoach chase through the woods, Crane eventually thwarts Lady Van Tassel by returning the skull to the Horseman, who regains his head and heads back to Hell along with her. His job in Sleepy Hollow over, Crane, Katrina and Young Masbeth return to New York, in time for the new century.

Cast

Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane: A New York police officer with an interest in science, sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a string of grisly murders. Although he's squeamish, high-strung, and unnerved by the sight of blood, he's determined to reform law enforcement and the justice system. Ichabod uses innovative techniques such as postmortem examinations and scientific methods, even inventing a few gadgets to examine evidence more thoroughly.
Christina Ricci as Katrina Van Tassel: The love interest of Ichabod, she's the only heir to one of the richest farmers of the neighborhood. She inherited a vast knowledge about witchcraft and herbs from her late mother.
Michael Gambon as Baltus Van Tassel: After Peter Van Garret is murdered, he's placed as the leader of the city. He is killed by the Horseman in the climax of the film.
Miranda Richardson as Lady Van Tassel / Crone: Wife of Baltus and stepmother of Katrina. She is revealed to have been the one who controlled the villainous plot amongst the citizens of Sleepy Hollow.
Marc Pickering as Young Masbath: An orphan who looks towards Ichabod as a father figure. In the act he helps him investigate the murders of the Headless Horseman alongside Katrina.
Casper Van Dien as Brom Van Brunt: A strong and charming man who is somewhat romantically involved with Katrina. He mocks Ichabod at first, but later helps him fight the Horseman before being slain by the spirit.
Jeffrey Jones as Reverend Steenwyck: The reverend of the village. He is shot and killed by Baltus.
Ian McDiarmid as Doctor Lancaster: The only Doctor and surgeon in the village; murdered by Steenwyck.
Michael Gough as Notary Hardenbrook: The local banker and possibly the oldest citizen in the village. He hangs himself due to the insanity the town goes through.
Richard Griffiths as Magistrate Philipse: A city official who is the fifth victim of the Headless Horseman.
Christopher Walken as Hessian Horseman: A brutal and sadistic mercenary sent to America during the American Revolutionary War. He is killed though his spirit lives on through The Headless Horseman (portrayed by Ray Park).

As was the case with Edward Scissorhands, Depp was Burton's first choice for the part, although Burton was still required to examine other options before casting him. Brad Pitt was offered the role while Liam Neeson and Daniel Day-Lewis were considered. Burton was eventually able to persuade the studio to cast Depp.
   Producer Scott Rudin once quoted, "Basically Johnny Depp is playing Tim Burton in all his movies," though Burton personally disapproved of the comment. Depp, however agrees with Rudin's statement. According to Depp, Edward Scissorhands represented Burton's inability to communicate as a teenager. Ed Wood reflected Burton's relationship with Vincent Price (very similar with Edward D. Wood Jr. and Bela Lugosi). Sleepy Hollow showcased Ichabod's feelings that reflects Burton's battle with the Hollywood studio system. For his performance, Depp took inspiration from Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowell and Basil Rathbone. Depp initially wanted to play the character with a long prosthetic snipe nose, huge ears and elongated fingers, although his suggestions were turned down by Paramount Pictures as they felt the design to be too outrageous.
   Burton and Gough had previously worked together on Batman and Batman Returns, with Gough portraying Alfred Pennyworth. During the casting phase of Sleepy Hollow, Gough was staying in retirement, though Burton persuaded him to join the cast.
   The two secured a deal with producer Scott Rudin, who sold the project to Paramount Pictures. The deal called for Yagher to direct with Walker scripting; the pair would share story credit. For a variety of reasons, the project went through the development hell process and looked as if the film would never be produced, but in the summer of 1998 the film was brought back into Hollywood film circles. Tim Burton who had previously worked on the now canceled Superman Lives project was looking to direct a horror film for the first time in his career, as he was a high valued fan of the genre. Rudin and his producing partner Adam Schroeder felt the script to be a perfect vehicle for Burton and the deal was signed, as Burton was very much impressed with the script,
   Burton was excited to be working with Rudin, a studio executive he first met when he brought Edward Scissorhands to 20th Century Fox. Burton felt him to be "intelligent, eccentric and a good, strong producer that comes in handy".
   The original intention had been to shoot Sleepy Hollow predominantly on location, and towns were scouted throughout upstate New York and the Hudson Valley (including Sleepy Hollow itself), and Sturbridge, Massachusetts. According to production designer Rick Heinrichs, the film was to have a $30,000,000 production budget at the time. The idea to film in these areas were dropped as the filmmakers felt "[thelocations] were not expressive enough". Using a number of Dutch colonial villages and period town recreations was considered as well. But when no suitable existing location could be found, coupled with a lack of readily available studio space in the New York area needed to house the production's large number of sets, they were forced to look elsewhere. Rudin said, "We came to England figuring we'd find a perfect little town, and then we'd to build it anyway." Filming began on November 20, 1998 and lasted until April 1999. This included a month-long location shoot at Lime Tree Valley on the Hambleden estate near Marlow, Buckinghamshire, where the town of Sleepy Hollow was constructed around a small duck pond in a style production designer Rich Heinrichs termed "colonial expression by way of Dr. Seuss". Burton took the idea of filming in Lime Tree Valley as it reminded him of Hudson Valley.
   |} The various Hammer Film Productions as viewed by Burton in his childhood were a key inspiration for the design of the film. Mario Bava's Black Sunday also was looked upon as well. While the production team was always going to build a substantial number of sets, the decision was taken early on that to fulfill Burton's vision best would necessitate shooting the movie in a totally controlled environment, which meant that all the interiors and virtually all of the exteriors, other than those shot on location at Lime Tree Valley and a few other brief scenes, would be shot on stages at Leavesden. Some studio work took place at Shepperton Studios, where the "Tree of the Dead" set was built. In total, 99% of the film was filmed on sets.
   The cast and crew often said "The feeling one had walking around Sleepy Hollow's sets, and in particular the town at Lime Tree, was almost as if you were walking around the inside of Burton's head."]]
   Burton hired Emmanuel Lubezki as the cinematographer upon viewing his work on A Little Princess. Initially Burton and Lunezki contemplated shooting the film in black and white and in the old square Academy ratio. When that proved unfeasible, they opted for an almost monochromatic effect which would enhance the fantasy aspect and make the "unreal believable". Sleepy Hollow was the twenty first highest grossing film of 1999 in the US. Based on 102 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Sleepy Hollow received an average 73% overall approval rating; the film was more balanced with the 27 critics in Rotten Tomatoes' "Cream of the Crop", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, receiving a 70% approval rating. By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 65 from 35 reviews.
   The film was so criticized for its amount of violence and bloodshed that Burton had to defend the film in a public interview. To this day, Burton feels he received some of the best reviews of his career on Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow was nominated for three Academy Awards. Rick Heinrichs and Peter Young won Best Art Direction-Set Decoration. Emmanuel Lubezki lost Best Cinematography to Conrad Hall in American Beauty while Colleen Atwood lost Best Costume Design to Lindy Hemming's work on Topsy-Turvy. The film dominated its run with The Saturn Awards, while having Danny Elfman and Christina Ricci both winning respective categories. In addition Depp, Burton, Andrew Kevin Walker, Christopher Walken, Miranda Richardson, Atwood and the special effects and make-up departments were all given nominations for their work. There, the film was also nominated for Best Horror Film before losing to Final Destination.

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