Now on to my scrutiny of the movie. I need to
earn my title of resident drama geek.
To begin with the first picture, I think the Phantom's lair is far too lavish. It depends on which version you go by though. In the original novel, The Phantom (who goes by the name of Erik), lives under the Opera House. This is consistent throughout all the versions, but in the novel the lair is set up like a house or mansion. It is also protected by a large lake (there are other security measures within the lake, but now I'm off on a tangent.) The "house" is divided into rooms, like any other house. There are normal doors and hallways and things like that.
In the silent film starring Lon Chaney, it appears to be a dungeon of sorts. While I own and have seen this movie, I am not all too farmiliar with it, so if I miss something please let me know
.
The musical sets it up like another level, a large basement if you will. The musical also features the lake, but downplays its significance (along with many other key aspects of the novel). In the musical, the lair appears to be only one room. On stage there are only a few candleholders, his organ, and a chair (although that's probably for the convenience of it).
The picture of the lair in the upcoming movie looks like a sort of demented creepy palace. Erik was a minimalist and needed only his music and the love of Christine, so this bothers me. I like the use of candles, but I think it was overdone and gives the whole lair an orange tone. Too much gold as well.
I don't like the flower in Christine's hair. Made me feel as though I was looking at trailer pics for Carmen. Other than that she looks the part. My concern lies in staying true to the vocal score. Webber wrote the part Christine for, and in accordance with the range of his wife, Sarah Brightman. Because of this, Brightman did an amazing job vocally, and put a lot more passion into the piece than most actresses would have.
Next on my list: Raoul. For starters, if that scene doesn't take place at Daae's gravesite, I will be very, very upset. There are only two scenes that take place outdoors in the show. The rooftop scene (think "All I Ask of You") and the scene where Christine is visiting her fathers grave. Once again the musical deprives us of the significance of that visit, but I'll spare you the details. There is absolutely no reason for Raoul to be bleeding. Another note on costuming, Raoul was a Viscount. He would not be wearing what appears to be a doublet, nor would he have a SWORD with him. He would also not have Fabio hair. In both the musical and the novel, Raoul's weapon of choice is a pistol, which he ONLY brings out when he goes to the Phantom's lair.
I like the Phantom's costume. See, I can say something positive
. That's it though. He is too young (I know the actors age can't really be helped, but his
percieved age is certainly fixable. From what I can tell, he is not disfigured in the least. This connects to something from the first picture I didn't mention before. In the first picture (I need someone else's opinion on this, because it might just be me) it doesn't even look like he's wearing the mask. If my ruling is right, I will be a pissed off Katie. He
needs to appear disfigured beyond the mask. At this point he looks like he's just heading to a masquerade (side note....the masquerade scene is a scene I would love to see a picture of if someone can find it).
Last picture (congrats to those still with me). The only thing I don't like is the head next to him. Detracts from the simplicity and beauty of the scene. I also loathe them giving him a low cut shirt for the sex appeal. Ah well...que sera, sera, I guess.
All in all I am very excited about this movie coming out. Another movie to watch for is Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy coming out May 6, 2005. Phantom, if done correctly, is an amazing musical, and it would be a shame for it to be immortalized poorly. Please expect my post-movie review after it comes out
.
Cheers,
Katie.
I've never seen Webber's acclaimed musical, but hear it is quite grand to see. The university dance and drama society had a trip to go see it last month in London, but I had work on.
