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Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS VOL. 6, No. 3 |
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 Emmy Rossum as Christine with Gerard Butler as The Phantom |
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PHANTOM of the OPERA The Movie |
It's short on scares, but
who the heck cares?
of TheColumnists.com
Don't know why, but I expected the worst from the movie
version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running stage musical "Phantom
of the Opera." I'm not a big Webber fan and I've seen so
many "Phantom" movies in my lifetime that I couldn't
believe another retelling of the story, even with Webber's by
now overly familiar music, could sustain my interest.
When I learned they'd cast two virtual unknowns to play The Phantom
and Christine, I figured they were cutting their losses and putting
all the bucks into production values. I will go so far as to
say my enthusiasm for seeing the musical "Phantom"
movie was in serious need of psychological viagra.
Well, all I can say now is that I couldn't have been more wrong if I'd purposely set out to do so. The short and simple truth of it is Webber's "Phantom" is a magnificent movie, rich and engrossing and masterfully made. It's an automatic Oscar contender for Best Picture--another incentive for Hollywood to start bringing back musicals as fast as possible.
There are ways to see this movie, of course, and ways not to see it. If you plan on waiting for it to turn up at your local multiplex, you are a gibbering idiot. I drove up to Canada to see it at the incredible Colossus theater in Langley, B.C., where every seat is like a box at the Kennedy Center, the projection is flawless, the sound system is perfection and audience members behave as if they've been invited to a presidential inauguration.
If you're lucky enough to see it at such a palace, prepare to be stunned by the sheer majesty of the production. As I watched the crowds of dress extras teeming across the screen in the lavishly mounted opera rehearsal sequence at the film's beginning and heard the thundering organ chords of the "Phantom" theme, I felt my spine tremble and tears actually came to my eyes. It lifted me. No doubt about it.
For me, the movie's primary miracle is the casting of Emmy Rossum as Christine. This girl is pure magic. There are lots of young women who are incomparably beautiful, as Rossum is, but precious few who also can act in such soul-stirring fashion. Then, when you find out she also has a rich and powerful operatic singing voice, you ask yourself: How can this much talent and beauty be vested in one person?
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TV's 'As the World Turns' soap opera, played the young Audrey Hepburn in TV's 'Audrey Hepburn Story' and played Sean Penn's murdered daughter in 'Mystic River' before being cast as Christine in 'Phantom of the Opera.' |
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Composer Webber personally picked Rossum to play Christine. Don't forget he also picked Sarah Brightman to be the stage Christine. And they say lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place. This should be a lesson to all meteorologists: Check with Andrew Lloyd Webber before ever believing that again.
The knottiest job of all had to be casting The Phantom. Don't we all close our eyes and automatically hear the great Michael Crawford singing that role? Lots of people had been rumored to have the movie role locked up, including, of all people, Antonio Banderas. They chose instead Gerard Butler, a little known Scottish actor, who probably looked appropriately hunky while also coming up to par with a robust singing voice.
In the early stages of the film, I decided Butler's voice just wasn't grand enough. But he picks up steam as the movie goes along and seems quite acceptable to me in the final analysis. His relative inexperience as an actor shows a little, but it's an all-around good performance.
Some have criticized the performance of Minnie Driver, who plays Carlotta, but doesn't sing for herself. Not me. I loved Minnie, who's like a volcano stuffed into a fancy dress. She's explosive and plays the intemperate diva broadly, as she should be played. What's not to like?
Those who come to "Phantom" expecting it to retain the horror of the Lon Chaney silent film or the numerous remakes will be disappointed. This phantom isn't grotesque. He wears a mini-mask, sort of like the one Claude Rains wore in the 1943 Universal "Phantom," and when we finally see his scarred face, it hardly looks like something worth hiding in catacombs to conceal. In fact, if this phantom had gone for a cosmetic makeover, he probably could have walked off with Christine at the end of the film and saved the Paris Opera House some really unfortunate insurance claims.
If there's a real letdown anywhere in the movie, it's the famous "unmasking" scene where Christine, led down into the catacombs by her secret admirer, yanks his mask off when he isn't expecting it. He manages to hide his face, so she never sees it then--and there's no shock whatsoever. Furthermore, director Joel Schumacher does a poor job of building up to the "moment." Without the shock of seeing The Phantom's ugly face, what's the point of even retaining the famous sequence?
But that's just carping. You barely notice the few things of that nature because you're so swept up in the turbulence of the Opera House environment in the late 19th century. Schumacher does a splendid job of recreating that period and filling every frame with bustling backstage life. And the music seems a lot richer as background to a film than it ever did for those who only now it from recordings of the stage score.
One of the truly marvelous things about "Phantom" is how far some of the people in it have come from their almost universally humble beginnings. Director Schumacher, for instance, started out directing stuff like "D.C. Cab," starring Mr. T and the popular "brat pack" movie of the 1980s, "St. Elmo's Fire." Emmy Rossum began her career in the TV soap "As the World Turns." Her beautiful singing voice was silent when she played the young Audrey Hepburn in TV's "The Audrey Hepburn Story" and in Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River," in which she played Sean Penn's murdered daughter.
Likewise, who would expect Gerard Butler, who played the title role in Wes Craven's "Dracula 2000," to inherit one of the most sought-after musical roles in recent film history? He was in the "Masterpiece Theatre" production "The Jury" as part of a fine ensemble cast, but his last film, the dreadful "Timeline" from the Michael Crichton time-travel novel, showcased no talent of his that made him seem a potential star of "Phantom." And though Patrick Wilson, who plays Christine's love interest, Raoul, was in HBO's acclaimed "Angels in America," he also was in last year's "The Alamo," a film that made few friends anywhere.
I love the idea that these people all came together to create a memorable film musical from a beloved musical stage play. They'll forever be remembered for "Phantom of the Opera," a film that is certain to take a similar place in film history that the stage show now holds in the English and American musical theater.
©2005 by Ron Miller.
The photos are courtesy of "The Phantom of the Opera"
film. This column first posted on Jan. 10. 2005.
Ron
Miller is a former nationally syndicated television columnist
and the author of "Mystery! A Celebration," the official
companion book to PBS' "Mystery!" series. He's the
television columnist for Mystery Scene magazine and teaches classes
in mystery for the Academy of Lifelong Learning at Western Washington
University in Bellingham, Washington.
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