Now
Haunting in Select Cities |
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Gerard
Butler .... The Phantom |
Joel
Schumacher .... Director Jeff
Abberley .... executive producer |
Overture |
Perhaps we may frighten away the ghost of many years ago with a little illumination... Our story begins at an auction. Items from the once thriving "Opera Populaire". A poster from one of the theatres productions. A papier mache' musical box in the shape of a barrel organ. And most startling is lot 666, a broken chandelier in pieces. how did it get that way? Hold on.
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Think of Me |
Angel of Music |
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Angel. The piece ends with the Phantom making his first physical appearance to her... through her dressing room mirror.
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The Phantom of the Opera |
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Music of the Night |
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Prima Donna |
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superstar. Even though that stands in sharp contrast with the Phantom's written instruction, the managers give in to her request, casting Christine in a silent role while giving their Prima Donna the lead role... and adorning her with song.
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All I Ask of You |
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love. they agree to keep their romance secret, but unfortunately someone did overhear...
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Masquerade |
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he also expresses his dissatisfaction and concern over Christine's secret engagement to Raoul. In fact, he still claims her as his own.
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Wishing
you were Somehow |
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abduction.
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The Point of No Return |
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Christine realizes this is indeed the Phantom, and removes his mask exposing the disfigured beast below. Angrily, the phantom releases the chandelier, crashing it down to the crowds below. During the confusion, he grabs Christine and again escapes to the bowels of the opera house. Eventually, Raoul arrives in the Phantom's lair as well were he is welcomed with a lasso around his neck. the Phantom offers Christine a choice, She either spends the rest of her days with him or she sends Raoul to the death. Christine chooses to save raoul, she will live her days with the phantom. she shows her choice by passionately kissi8ng the monster, something he never expected. he is so shocked that he lets both her and raoul go. the Phantom disappearing somewhere in the labyrinth under the opera House.
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After many years and false starts, the Phantom of the Opera is finally haunting movie theatres around the country. before i talk specifically about the film I must admit that I am a fan of the stage production. I must also admit that the idea of Joel Schumacher directing left me under whelmed. In fact, I am prepared to rip the film to shreds. But, fortunately, that won't be necessary. The rumors have been flying for years... Antonio Banderas will play the Phantom... Michael Crawford, the original stage Phantom is not out of the running and would make many purists happy... John Travolta has been mentioned to wear the mask... Shekhar Kapur who brought ELIZABETH to the screen is attached to direct... Well, as they say... Far too many notes for my taste... the speculation is over... Coming from a theatre background, I always found THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and Andrew Lloyd Webber in general as polarizing as any recent Presidential election. We've got the Purple States that love the show and the Orange states that despise it. The folks in the purple states still seem to carry the majority as the Broadway and London production continue to break box office and show run records. Then we have the orange states, where we have the very vocal opposition. They devote much of their time to vitriolic hatred toward the show and its creator (I am not making this up). there strategy involves repeating negative lines over and over again in hopes that they will eventually become true. just like in the election, most of the people don't fall into either category, rather those of us who like theatre or like movies. These people (and many in the purple states) will be the people who will enjoy this film. (Of course, many in the extreme purple states will hate this film as it has gone through some changes and Michael Crawford is not starring in it.) In the theatre, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is quite a feat of staging. Hal Prince weaved a quickly moving piece filled with both spectacle and heart. Now, in adapting the show to the screen there are areas that succeed and those that fail. One of the greatest advantages to the film version is in its use of the opera house. This setting is in itself a character of the film. Even upon first viewing, someone can determine the workings of the theatre, even secret passageways. being able to understand the theatres layout helps keep the story in perspective. Peppered throughout the film is material featuring an old Raoul, Vicomte de Chagney. Shot in a beautiful grainy black and white, it offers some insight into the story unavailable on the stage, including a glance at the fate of both Christine and the Phantom. This technique is similar to material used for the film CHICAGO and again works well. Also included is an extended section examining how a young side-show orphan transitioned into a murdering phantom and how he found solace in the bowels of the opera house. This is material I'm not in love with. It is well done but, other than some new musical scoring done by Andrew Lloyd Webber, it is somewhat of a distraction. Lloyd Webber also composed a new song that is played over the closing credits. LEARN TO BE LONELY is not the greatest song in the show, but it will be the only one eligible for Academy Award consideration as it is the only song written for the film. Oscar voters will often reward a song from a movie with several good songs in it. "Lonely" is sung in the credits by Minnie Driver who did not do her own singing during the film as Carlotta. One area where the sheer size of the film is a burden to the story comes in the heart department. With all the focus on fabrics, textures and tunes, some of the more heartfelt segments are watered down. that emotional tug could turn this good film into a great one. I do have to reconsider my initial opinion about Joel Schumacher, someone I did not think had it in him to deliver a worthy Phantom. In hindsight, his visual focuses seem to be appropriate for the story and he brought many valuable things to the story. The greatest accomplishment of all, for everyone in both purple and orange states, is that THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which cannot be seen without shelling out close to a hundred buck a seat, is now more accessible for a fraction of that cost. |
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