It's opera from start to finish, but somehow because one feels familiar with the songs having heard many pieces over the years beforehand, as soon as one moves into unknown musical territory it gets back on track into a familiar melody. I absolutely loved the film The Phantom of the Opera. The film is full of spectacular and fantastical choreographed scenes which remind me of the boom bang, in your face effects of the fantastic Baz Luhrmann Moulin Rouge film of 2002. The mask itself is beautifully made and a thing of sculptured beauty.
The phantom in this version with mask removed, is a man some of us thought a better catch than Raoul! In Lloyd Webber's opera version the mask is now merely symbolic of a man hiding behind a cover. I think most of us would not consider the phantom to be anything like as unsightly or frightening in a horror movie way as earlier film versions have shown him to be. The feud between the two men continues as they fight for Christine's love. But Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny played by Patrick Wilson arrives on the scenes and soon it is clear that Christine recognises him as her childhood boyfriend.Īs the new patron of the opera Raoul is soon in a situation where he recognises her. He soon thinks he has found the love that can bring peace, comfort and contentment to his broken heart a heart broken my lack of worldly love. Wearing a sculptured mask at all times which almost enhances his rugged chiselled jaw line, Erik nurtures the singing talent of Christine in a Svengali like way as if he has a hold over her, which draws her to him. She rescued him from a freak show situation where he was daily abused by his carers all because his face was disfigured. But unknown to Christine the kindly Madame Giry also offered refuge to Erik many years earlier when she herself was a young girl and when he as a young boy was shunned by society and laughed at as a freak. The orphaned Christine Daa was brought up by Madame Giry played by Miranda Richardson. Throughout the film Rossum performs her own songs and she does it very well too with a delicacy complimenting the age she is meant to be. Erik mysteriously tutors Christine the beautiful young soprano in the dungeon like cavernous depths of the Opera Populaire and as he does so, he falls in love with her.
She is an orphan girl being secretly trained to sing as an opera soprano by the Phantom called Erik, played by Gerard Butler. The film timing was good and I left the cinema feeling as if I had been entertained.Ĭhristine Daa is perfect as the ingenuous heroine played by 18 year old Emmy Rossum.
Set in 1870 Mid-Victorian Paris it is full of familiar music and graceful costumes making a spectacular musical extravaganza. The long awaited PG13, 2hrs 23 minutes film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is an enchanting, dramatic, suspenseful and sad film. Short Review of Costume in The Phantom of the Opera
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