We take a look at one of our favourite alternative Christmas heroes, Edward Scissorhands
The image of a young Winona Ryder staring wide-eyed into the snow as Johnny Depp creates the greatest ice sculpture known to cinema in her honour, is enough to warm the heart of any Scrooge. As haunting as it is heartfelt, Tim Burton’s 1990s dark romantic fantasy Edward Scissorhands has become a Christmas classic, following the strange, bittersweet tale of the wonderfully peculiar Edward.
"The film follows the strange, bittersweet tale of the wonderfully peculiar Edward"
With his dark lips, ashen make-up and hair teased on end, Scissorhands is in many ways a perfect representation of the 90s grunge aesthetic of the decade, belted in S&M leather and spikes. Costume designer Colleen Atwood drew on inspiration from the Victorian era, while his iconic metal fingers were created and designed by Stan Wilson. Depp became an unlikely heartthrob for his vulnerable portrayal of Edward, and reportedly “wept like a newborn” when he initially read the script, moved by film’s tender themes of isolation and self-discovery.
The brilliance of Edward is heightened by the bright colours of Burton's suburbia: the candy-coloured pastel houses and colourful housewives dressed in neon knits and lavender A-line dresses in constant contrast to Edward’s stormy shades. Burton was inspired by Chuck Jones cartoons and gothic horror in the formation of his surrealist Scissorhand-land, a world punctuated by Edward’s topiary sculptures which stand in every garden.
Watching the film now, we are also reminded of Depp’s off-screen romance with Winona Ryder, which turned them into the teen icons of their generation; remaining still – though long separated – one of pop culture’s greatest couples. Depp famously had Winona Forever tattooed on his bicep, a mantra which has mutated since their break up into the rather less romantic Wino Forever. The film was also the first of many pairings between Burton and Depp, who have since worked together on Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factor, Dark Shadows and Sweeney Todd.
We love Edward Scissorhands because it champions the misfits. It sits somewhere between The Addams Family and Wes Anderson – charming, sad, amusing, fired by Depp’s heartbreaking conviction. The film finishes with an elderly Kim telling her granddaughter that Edward, an immortal soul, lives on, and is responsible for creating the town’s snow with ice shavings. "Sometimes,” she says, “he can still catch me dancing in it."
Words by Mhairi Graham
