Edward Scissorhands Analysis

Edward Scissorhands is a film that marked the beginning of one of the most inseparable and successful collaborations in film history: director Tim Burton and costume designer Colleen Atwood. This film was for Atwood an opportunity to create a world distinct from reality, a task that is achieved by representing, the oneiric universe of the eccentric filmmaker in an authentic way.
The colorful suburban neighborhood that Burton stages in the film is the model of perfection of American culture in the 1950s, where women carried the burden of community life. Atwood ratifies it with an apparel of quilted textures of luminous and monotonous tones for the inhabitants, establishing pink, green, and yellow as priority colors among the ladies. Edward,

on the other hand, does not fit in with the aesthetics of the community and the Boggs family.
Edward is a character that, despite his sinister aspect, inspires tenderness. The initial concept of the personage was devised by Tim Burton, in which influences of German expressionist cinema are noticeable. Inspired by the Victorian era of the 19th century, Atwood added pieces of old machines, vinyl and tacks to Edward’s leather costume.
His buckles and scissors are key elements that symbolize his difficulty to communicate with others, as well as representing the initial enclosure suffered by the subsequent inconvenience to coexist with the people around him. The basting of the garment resembles the scars of Burton's favorite character: Frankenstein, while the rest of his appearance reminds us of Robert Smith, leader of the band The Cure.
Undoubtedly, the binomial Burton-Atwood is one of the most successful in cinema. Atwood brilliantly conveys the sensitivity of Burton’s complex universe, which has given life to such a charismatic character as Edward Scissorhands.