The Phantom On Film
I will admit it. It may not be fashionable, but I am a musical
theatre buff. In my youth I attended countless stage
productions, drinking in the delights of the theatrical
experience. A movie can never truly capture the atmosphere of a
darkened theatre, the audience sat spell bound as the stage is
set on fire (Martin Guerre) or a chandelier comes falling down
right above their heads (The Phantom Of The Opera). Yet it is to
the second of these musicals' on screen adaptation that I must
now look.
Let me say from the start that I enjoyed Joel Schumacher's
movie. There are many who have been critical and it is true that
the film is by no means a faithful replica of the stage show.
Yet Andrew Lloyd Webber's adaptation is a far cry from the
original novel by Gaston Leroux to begin with. Forget the
previous film incarnations with the like of Lon Chaney and
Claude Rains: Lloyd Webber's Phantom is a far more sympathetic
and sexual beast. His tortured soul and haunting voice have
entranced countless female theatre-goers.
Gerald Butler does an admirable job of capturing the enigmatic
Phantom. Charles Hart's lyrics tell a tale of a man's love for a
woman, his desire to be close to her through her music and the
promotion of her career and the madness that ensues when he
realises she is incapable of love ignoring physical defects,
when she chooses the safety of a childhood sweetheart. Emmy
Rossum plays the youthful love interest Christine, a woman
haunted by the death of her father and struggling to cope alone
in the world and Patrick Wilson is her ardent suitor, Raoul the
Vicomte de Chagny. The supporting cast are excellent, but at the
end of the day it is Rossum and Butler that steal the show.
The sets are sumptuous and the costumes magnificent. Yet there
are times when the movie appears to be trying to still be a
stage show: in the graveyard scene for example a smoke machine
is clearly being used for the mist, with no real effort to hide
the fact. Such moments jar, but are thankfully few and far
between. Jokes, particularly between the two managers have lost
some of their humour and there is a far greater reliance on
visual humour, such as the addition of a midget. What's more,
for visual effect some movements have been put in that make no
sense: why would Raoul be walking through the foyer whilst
Christine is still singing on stage?
These are minor inconveniences however. The raw sexuality of
Past The Point Of No Return is stronger in the movie and a
particular high point for this viewer. The effects are
spectacular, the cast strong and the story line as true to
Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage production as any fan could hope
for. It is a movie worth seeing for any musical lover or just
the plain romantic at heart, although I would also advise a
visit to the stage show. A movie can never equal the
unpredictability and freshness of theatre, although this one
definitely comes close!