Last night, after a satisfying dinner of sushi with my brother we went to see The Phantom of the Opera. Neither of us have ever seen it on stage, though the screenplay was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, so I was not concerned that I would be seeing something that deviated from the original intent (or storyline) of the stage version. We loved it. The music was great and Gerard Butler manages to look sexy even with half his face yucked up. How does he do that? There were times when the ludicrousness of the characters’ actions comes into play, but it is a musical after all and it is to be expected. I know that the stage version is quite a production, but there were some truly beautiful shots in the movie. Like this one and this one. I also enjoyed that you are torn between the two leading men, albeit one is a bit off, mentally. It is nice to feel sympathy for the villain, ponder the way our lives mold us, and the redeeming nature of love.
That being said. I read this incredibly funny review from the BBC. It is pretty scathing but one of the criticisms was that “they’re forced to sing through their dialogue and adopt grand postures.” Really? Well I thought that characters were supposed to sing, in an opera. Silly me.
–Jane, wonders what the Phantom would ask of her