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 "The Phantom of the Opera" Chris' Review: "But clearly, Madame Giry, genius has turned to madness." An apt quote to describe my feelings about the screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. I've seen the stage version 4 times. My disappointment with the film version can only be attributed to Mr. Webber's involvement. So as much as I consider Phantom to be the work of a genius, as he turned to the silver screen, such genius turned to madness. Not that the film doesn't have it's positive aspects. On opening, we're treated to a gorgeous play of cinematography and special effects as the auction (filmed in black and white) is swept away like dust off of old memories. It's a beautiful adaptation of the opening act in the musical. The power of the music and the boldness in the color with the flames of the stagelights being lit, the filigree of the opera house as it's wiped to it's original brilliant luster will bring goosebumps. Throughout the film, the cinematography, costumes, lighting and backgrounds are all so well done that it makes the failures in the film just that much worse in contrast. With all this beautiful stuff to look at, I became appalled at the inconsistent editing. The opening scene with it's powerful music and spot on fades and wipes, is faded into introductory scenes of the new owners of the opera house... but the powerful music is still playing... it's completely out of place and to make matters worse, the timing of the cuts are drastically offset to the music. We go from brilliance to inane in an eyeblink. It happens regularly throughout the film. There will be moments when the music is inappropriately playing in the background or the timing just seems terrible or the pace is too rushed or too slow... then there will be another moment of brilliance, like when the jewels of Carlotta are faded into the fireworks display for the Masquerade number. Even in the telling of the story, the editing was drastically inconsistent. Overall I found the film to be much easier to follow than the stage version. The sequence of events was clearer in the revamped order and without the stage to constrict the scenery. Unfortunately, the editing is also at fault for a number of problems. The scope of the Phantom's lair is never really understood. It's immensely cavernous and you don't get a good impression of that or even a shot that alludes to the vastness until near the end when Raoul stares down the winding staircase. With all the tools of Hollywood at your disposal, you'd think that you could find some way to infer the size, or at least put that staircase scene nearer the beginning. The biggest goof in the editing, in my opinion, was the deficiency in showing the control that the two men in Christine's life had over her. You never get the feeling of the Phantom having an almost hypnotic control over her or of her blossoming love for Raoul. Just, all of a sudden, she does what the Phantom wants and is just automatically in love with Raoul. There is no progression nor depth to the feelings of control, which ends up being on of the main themes of the story. Another great disappointment was when the signature songs are performed... I couldn't sing along. Now, this may be a personal preference... since Webber was involved from start to finish on this project, it had to be his idea to rewrite the verses. Maybe he was giving a shout out to all the people who have seen the stage play, giving them something new, but I found it distracting and disappointing. I wanted to hear the words that I knew. I wanted my head to be filled with the imagery of the original lyrics and I was assaulted by revamped words to the same songs. Another addition to the screenplay, was the swordfight in the graveyard. During this the Phantom was defeated and only saved from death by Christine asking Raoul (Patrick Wilson) for a mercy. It made the Phantom look weak. The Phantom is supposed to be viewed as nearly god-like until the final scenes when all of his illusions are broken down and we see the man behind the mask. What was the point in having him be defeated? It just kind of ruins the drama of the ending by showing his human/monster/weak side too soon. Probably the biggest tragedy in Phantom is that we're on the big screen, we have the gamut of Hollywood's arsenal at our disposal, and we have a couple weak shots to show the genius that is the Phantom. He's supposed to be a master engineer, architect, magician....yet we only have a couple dances of fire and some cutting of ropes to make things fall. The stage version had more special effects than the movie. I was looking forward to seeing just how brilliant and magical the Phantom could be, and we're only ever shown a sneaky fellow in black. This is one of those missed opportunities. Whew... ok, finally I'm getting around to the performances of the actors: We'll start off with the Phantom (Gerard Butler). Why was this guy cast? I remember seeing Michael Crawford come out on stage. I was sitting 20 rows back and I could feel the presence of this man. It radiated from the stage and you knew, without make-up or a word spoken, this...was...the...PHANTOM. The weak excuse for a human being that was cast in the movie version lacked not only that "Phantom" presence, but he didn't even have the power of voice to carry the music. Only near the end was there any energy put into the performance, when the Phantom is supposed to be forced back down to our human level ... that's when he chose to offer that presence and power. The rest of the time he was this weak, mumbling creature. I again fault Webber for part of this because he insisted on all of his actors actually singing their parts. Maybe Butler could have pulled it off if he had been given a voice to back his performance. Instead, I'm left wishing for a Phantom with a spine. Christine (Emmy Rossum), on the other hand, was perfect. Sweetness of voice coupled with a light operatic tone that would make Sara Brightman drop her jaw. Her acting was nothing spectacular, but she did an ok job with it... as well as anyone who's character is being bullied around by the two men in her life can do. The rest of the cast was adequate if not interesting. The choice of Minnie Driver playing Carlotta really got me. I've always pictured her in the role and I think she did a superb job with it. Strangely enough, Driver was the only person to have a dubbed singing voice, since Carlotta was doing the more difficult operatic singing. This being strange because Driver actually has an album recorded. Webber was nice enough to give her the newly-created, end credit song, though. Overall, I think the movie could have been improved greatly by a different cut. Bring back the editing crew and put it together again and maybe we'll have something. Also, for goodness sake, replace the Phantom. So while I am only giving this two thumbs up, I will probably get the DVD as it's my favorite musical. I'll definitely buy it if they come out with a directors cut.   Jim's Review: In Jim's stead: Guest Reviewer Madrigal Costello offers up her review of the movie: BackHome - Info - Reviews - Map - Message Board - Photo Album |
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