Note
Having seen the musical almost a decade ago (and loving it so much that I was crying at the end) I was really curious
about this film and almost afraid it would disappoint me.
After his success with the musical on stage Andrew Lloyd Webber decided it was time to make a film of the Phantom of the Opera. He chose Joel Schumacher to be director and they wrote the screenplay in the south of France in 1989. Andrew Lloyd Webber insisted that the actors did their own singing. So Joel Schumacher chose his cast wisely and all the main characters sing their own roles, except for Minnie Driver, who plays the annoying diva and didn’t have Opera singing experience.
Plot
The film begins in an old damaged Parisian Opera Populiare with the auction of several objects. These objects causes
memories of the Opera’s glory days to come to life. These glory days are, however, tainted with the shadow of the Phantom
(Gerard Butler), who considers the Opera Populaire as his. When the diva extraordinaire La Carlotta (Minnie Driver) refuses
to perform at the Opera due to threats of the Phantom, Christine Daae (Emmy Rossum) takes her place on stage. In secret
the Phantom has tutored her to be an opera singer and his plan comes together. While tutoring Christine he has fallen madly
in love with her and his hope is that by giving her this success she will stay with him. But Christine gives her heart to
Raoul de Chagny (Patrick Wilson), a young beneficiary of the Opera. Christine is torn between her mentor and Raoul. This
causes Raoul to set a trap for the Phantom, But it does not work out as planned and the Phantom kidnaps Christine. He tries
to get Christine to love him by threatening to kill Raoul. Due to the pleading and arguing of Christine he realizes he can’t
make her love him and lets them go and disappears when the gendarmerie comes rushing in his lair underneath the Opera.
Acting
Gerard Butler makes a strong Phantom. His acting as a tortured musical genius in love with a very young girl (Christine is
sixteen in the story as was Emmy Rossum when she played her) is very consistent and pure. The immaturity of Emmy Rossum
as an actress is clearly visible, but it is not too disturbing as she plays an insecure girl torn between lovers. Patrick
Wilson was disappointing. Playing a young duke he was not convincing and his love for Christine was laid down too thick.
The music
I always loved the music of the Phantom of the Opera. It tells the story by itself. In this movie Gerard Butler as the
Phantom speaks only eight lines. He sung the rest. The theme song is extremely recognizable, but maybe repeated a bit
too much throughout the film.
Verdict: Does it compare with the actual musical played in theaters? No. But it is a amazing film. Go see it
when you enjoy the genre!