Phantom of the Opera

[fajrdrako]

I saw The Phantom of the Opera today. The movie, not the stage production. I saw it on stage in Toronto years ago, and loved it for its sheer spectacle. The movie.... well, we're all used to spectacles in movies, so they had to compensate with dramatic images, and I liked that very much indeed.

I always like Gerard Butler and I certainly liked him here, though my friends were of mixed opinions as to whether he was a weak or strong character. In some scenes I thought he was mimicking Antonio Banderas. Oddly enough, I think the character I liked best was Andre - played by Simon Callow. Interesting costumes, on the whole, though not successful in evoking the time and place they were trying to evoke - somewhat more successful at just being weird or creepy or strange. I don't think I felt as much sympathy for Christine or Raoul as I should have. And I felt a lot of sympathy for the Phantom. Now that I have actually seen a production of Don Giovanni, the Phantom's opera and its imagery made a lot more sense to me than it did before.

I liked the image of the rose at the end of the movie.

And now I can't stop the music from replaying itself in my head.

Comments

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

I saw Phantom in Toronto as well. I've never found Christine or Raoul particularly sympathic - the Phantom is almost always played up for sympathy.

I thought the Raoul in the movie was better than most. Better than the one I saw in Toronto, who's heavy vibrato alone turned me off.

I think Phantom has become less historical and more 'mythical,' which makes the costumes fine by me. It's a theatre - people wear all kinds of weird shit in the theatre. Plus they were no doubt playing it up for the big screen. That said, I laughed silly at Raoul and Christine's dress at the masquerade... they looked like Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

I think it's the best rendition for film we'll ever get, by mainstream hollywood at least. It's not specifically movie material when done all in song.

I'm reading the book right now, trying to find out how it originally was written. I was a little peeved that they did not kill the Phantom at the end of the film. I'm quite sure he died on the stage? Not sure about the book?

Remember the old Claude Reins version? I ought to re-watch that some day.

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

Gerard Butler = very, very pretty. Music = very, very pretty. Costumes = very, very pretty. Needless to say, I will be seeing this movie.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with all of that! Now, I found myself wondering this morning: since Gerard Butler, and the costumes, and the music, are all so very pretty, why do I not find myself ecstatic over this movie? I liked it, but without the degree of enthusiasm I might have wanted, expecially considering my love of musicals. Perhaps it's becuase the music is so very familiar. (I often play the CD.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

In their way, Christine and Raoul are simply viewpoint characters through which we get to see the Phantom. Yes, I agree that Raoul in the movie was better than most, and I particularly liked the scene where he is trying to save Christine and gets chained to the grate in the water in the cave. Sometimes his hair bothered me.

Yes, there's a lot of myth to it - in both style and concept.

When was the book written? How does it end?

I've never seen the Claude Rains version but I'd like to.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

It was written in 1911. I am still only fifty pages into it so I don't know as yet how it ends. It's fun to read. I believe it was intended to be as much a horror story as a romance *see the silent 1920s version*, and so far that seems the way the book is playing out - like a murder mystery.

The Claude Reins version, I think, is quite a departure from what I've ever seen. I'll know better once I finish the book but in that version someone throws acid at him, thus disfiguring him, which was different. He's already tutoring Christine and continues to tutor her, in secret. It seems more a father/daughter relationship than what's been played out in the musical.

I'll let you know when I finish the book. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That sounds like fun! I've always thought of the novel as being one of those 'turn of the century gothic novels' that have sort of become public myths - the character and the name becoming more famous than the book itself. I just looked it up on Wikipedia and I'm surprised to see how many movie versions there are of the story.