The audience can look skywards to the hem of Carlotta’s dress as it floats down around her, dream-like. In these large staged pieces, the medium of a film is better able to separate certain components and showcase them as a part of the whole. Both songs have moments in which the entire ensemble faces “the audience” and sings to them before the piece ends. Apart from the lyrics, the staging for large numbers like “Masquerade” and “Prima Donna” feel very theatrical. Christine drops the Phantom’s rose after hearing Raoul’s song so the Phantom has to say goodbye (but he doesn’t leave). The theme of this struggle between light and dark continues in these lyrics with the Phantom’s “Music of the Night” versus Raoul’s “All I Ask of You”. There are beautiful lyrics like “And you’ll live as you’ve never lived before” alongside masterful lyrics like “Insolent boy! This slave of fashion”. I sang the entire musical around my house for months after my first real viewing.
The Phantom of the Opera’s theme is just grand. Second of all, Webber’s songs are compelling and the staging and cinematography of these pieces offer greater freedom to the story. I have to concede that the film is cheesy at times, but these moments pass and the visuals and grandeur of the set pushes them farther out of the viewer’s mind. There’s also the contrast of the lofty, lonely path of the Phantom’s artistic genius and the lighter promise of commitment and simple love from Raoul. There’s the contrast between the hidden, boundless, exciting world of the Phantom and the safe, steady, springtime innocence of Raoul. This play between light and darkness adds another dimension to the film. She is outlined in light and she looks angelic as her other love interest (Raoul) recognizes her.
In another scene, when Christine is singing a solo in front of a full house, her face is lit up with a spotlight and the barrettes in her hair sparkle like diamonds. Christine’s face is only half lit as she follows after his dark figure. It’s incredibly dramatic The combination of this lighting with the set pieces create a mysterious, adventurous, and thrilling atmosphere around the Phantom. As Christine approaches the Phantom’s lair, candles rise out of the water and light themselves one by one. This grittiness is paired with soft and fuzzy lighting that makes this scene feel medieval. In the scene where the leading lady, Christine, first finds the Phantom’s underground canal, murky water scatters light onto the ceiling of the passageway and candles glow along moss-covered walls. However, I believe The Phantom of the Opera deserves much more love than the hesitant praise it has garnered so far.įirst of all, the set designs and lighting are phenomenal. Others understandably had some leftover hate for Schumacher’s previous history of decimating existing material ( Batman & Robin (1997)). Some critics felt the source material was not respected Gerald Butler did not portray the complexities of the outcast Phantom effectively and the direction went over the top. One one hand, the film has a stinging 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, and on the other hand it was nominated for three Academy Awards. As amazing as that may sound, it’s critical reception was mixed. It’s essentially a very intense episode of The Bachelorette, with the welcome addition of secret passageways and opera. The Phantom of the Opera (2004), directed by the late Joel Schumacher, is a movie based on the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the same name. I was excited I had finally found the film again, but worried it would not live up to the expectations my subconscious has been building up for so long. I googled it and seventh grade choir class came rushing back to me.
I got out of school a week later and the film buried itself into my subconscious.Ī few years later, I saw the film on Netflix. The theme would crescendo every once in a while and I’d change seats to try and get closer to the board and hear more of it. The candle-lit hidden passages, the soft and snowy cemetery, and the grand masquerade hall were all so wonderful above another dreary day of junior high. I couldn’t hear a word of it over everyone’s conversations, but it looked so beautiful.
The first time I watched Phantom of the Opera (2004) was in seventh grade choir class, the week before summer vacation.