The Phantom of the Opera
LT and I finally watched Phantom last night...and on Rachel's movie scale I am giving it a 9.5/10. Having long been a huge fan of the "real theatre" version of Phantom, and of the original book by Gaston Leroux, I was a bit afraid to watch the movie version lest it betray what can only be called the sanctity of the musical...but I must admit it was actually done quite well. There were mistakes, yes...there were items omitted (one of them crucial in my mind)...some lines were changed and others were spoken instead of sung, but overall it was a great success. The fact that Emmy Rossum played Christine as if she were on a heavy dose of Valium and clearly her voice was dubbed (although I believe it is HER voice dubbed over, and that is fabulous), and that Patrick Wilson seemed weak at points (and a bit young) was offset by the TREMENDOUS supporting cast. Minnie Driver made me actually almost like the diva Carlotta, Victor McGuire was the perfect Piangi, and Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds (whom I have been completely in love with ever since A&E's Jane Eyre) were DIVINE as the new owners of the Opera Populaire. Gerard Butler played an 8/10 Phantom, partially due to the lack of vocal strength -- come on, the Phantom has to boom and resonate! -- and partially due to being WAY too hot to be some guy stuck interminally in the bowels of the opera house. The masquerade ball was not as colorful or entertaining as it is on stage, and the Phantom's "Mask of Red Death" costume is not anywhere as grand, but overall I think justice was done (as best it can be in cinematic format) to the musical as a whole. The "neat and tidy" ending that Hollywood added is credible, and the black and white footage that has been added in to tie everything together is a nice touch. This musical is as good as it gets when it comes to musical theatre, thanks to the brilliant teaming of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice...see it performed for the full effect. But if it had to go to the big screen, this is one hell of a way to pull it off!
posted by ET at 5:34 PM
7 Comments:
I actually never saw the musical, but I pretty much hated the movie. :( I generally despise muscials on film, but I tried this one because of the promise of spectacular visuals and gorgeous costumes, which it did have in spades. I just couldn't take the overwhelming cheese, but I don't know if this was the fault of the filmmaker or of Mr. Weber. I do agree that Gerard Butler was way too attractive and young to be a believable phantom, though.
I saw the musical when it came to OKC three years ago. Loved the visual effects! And the music I sang for years in vocal in high school.
If you don't LOVE the musical, the film would probably not do much for you. Trying to capture "Phantom" on a camera just doesn't work. And the movie seems to mainly focus on Christine, who seems to be in some bizarre trance (or just bored) through most of it. I loved the music long before I saw the stage performance, then the stage performace BLEW ME AWAY. The movie, not so much. But it did stay true to most of the music and the storyline, which is "all [we can] ask of [them]."
"...then the stage performace BLEW ME AWAY. The movie, not so much."
I don't think you understand my rating system, then (and you ARE using "MY" system). A 9.5/10 would basically be nearly the perfect movie. And when you say "the movie, not so much" it makes me think it was more in the 7-8 scale for you. Doug owns this movie. I might just have to watch it sometime.
I think that as this movie goes -- meaning that this is a difficult item to translate from stage to screen -- they did a nearly perfect job. So the 9.5 stands. The reason I would not give a 7 or 8 is because of the cast. As I mentioned before, the casting was spectacular, and any movie with Ciaran Hinds deserves to be bumped up at least one point.
I'm going to have to agree with you on Ciaran Hinds. Any woman that can play a man that well in Lara Croft (I've seen them both and never noticed) gets me approval!
Um...Ciaran Hinds IS a man.
I have not seen Lara Croft, so I have no idea what you are talking about.
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