::phantoms of sir lloyd webber's musical::
this review is long overdue, i'm well aware, so here goes. for those who don't know me, allow me to make privy to you some well-known facts. i have seen the phantom of the opera 5 times in los angeles. i saw it 4 times while it ran at the ahmanson theatre and once at the pantages. once with michael crawford, once with robert guillaume, and three times with davis gaines. i am a huge fan, even if i'm not as active in my pursuit of the Broadway Musical as i one was. josh caught me singing along to aspects of love last night because i was just, plainly, in the mood for a good musical. still, i should really take some singing lessons if i know what's good for me. and josh.
this review assumes that the reader is familiar with the story. if you aren't, read gaston leroux's the phantom of the opera and even susan kay's fanfic phantom. interestingly enough, this appears to be out of print: amazon is selling it for a pretty penny. and, for pete's sake, get some culture in your life! by any means possible!
Really Useful Films-- the moment this moniker flickers on screen someone in the audience snickers. this is when i stand up and yell "uh, DUH! if you knew ANYTHING about andrew lloyd webber and what this film (which has been in the talks for at least 15 years, if you ask ANYONE who knows ANYTHING) is about in the least you would KNOW that
the film is beautiful overall. rich in color and warmth. as the chandelier rises in the opening scene, after the auction, the film unpeels from the grainy black & white film of "present day" paris to a full color version of the opera populaire in its heyday. drinking and debauchery seem to be a pastime of the poor, the stagehands, and the ballerinas (except for christine and meg, of course). the sounds feels better the second time around. as a musician, and very sensitive to scores and soundtracks, i found the first time around that the sound was less than sufficient. but i now know it was the theater. along the lines of music, i do have a couple of things to whine about. first, while minnie driver acted the part of carlotta better than i have ever seen it done before. still, why didn't they find someone who was able to sing the part as well? the voice-over was out of synch on several occasions, despite the effort to pan away from her during various songs. then they throw in a closing song that roles during the credits just to prove that ms. driver really knows how to sing. she just doesn't do opera. slackers & hackers, sheesh!
second, in the same vein, whoever revamped the orchestration on the title track made me ill with those random Casio keyboard brand hand claps. honestly, who thought of that? they should have to sit in a room for 24 hours listening to nothing but poorly executed, artificial hand claps. a number of real, live percussion instruments would have sufficed quite unobtrusively. also on the title song, i didn't quite get the part where the singing alternates between "i'm thinking and i'm singing" to "i'm really, actually singing!". one suspends belief as it is when taking in all that a musical offers in the first place. why add to the confusion of characters singing their lines?
third, there are random flashbacks which allow one scene to segue to another, seeming to allow for the passing of undisclosed amounts of time. they are consistently disruptive to the flow of the film and hardly serve a purpose to the telling of the tale. rather, they disrupt our thoughts and simply beg the question "why am i here?" -- their true purpose is mysterious. additionally, there were two other happenings which alarmed me, as a fan. first, the chandelier does not fall at the figurative end of act one. what? Excuse me? what's going on here? why did you change That? also, the decision for costuming during masquerade is questionable in my eyes. we hear:
my favorite scene of the entire movie is when they sing "prima donna". everything leading up to that is perfect (the array of notes from OG, the moment when carlotta starts to walk out of the theatre and a patron says "would you please give this to ms. daae?", the song itself [everyone is brilliant, here. they shine like true, honest champs. i love it!], the was the scene melts from one room to the next as carlotta changes costume. pure brilliance!). yea! i actually was thrilled with this entire scene!
i've gotten long winded here, but gazing through my notes, i'll leave you with these queries which are still burning on my brain, in no particular order:
this review assumes that the reader is familiar with the story. if you aren't, read gaston leroux's the phantom of the opera and even susan kay's fanfic phantom. interestingly enough, this appears to be out of print: amazon is selling it for a pretty penny. and, for pete's sake, get some culture in your life! by any means possible!
Really Useful Films-- the moment this moniker flickers on screen someone in the audience snickers. this is when i stand up and yell "uh, DUH! if you knew ANYTHING about andrew lloyd webber and what this film (which has been in the talks for at least 15 years, if you ask ANYONE who knows ANYTHING) is about in the least you would KNOW that
The Really Useful Group (RUG) was founded in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is an International entertainment company actively involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing.so, if you put two & two together, you MIGHT just be able to infer that Really Useful Films is part of the whole family of companies. why don't you just go HOME already? you make me SICK!" but the moment this happens in my head, i realize that i might get pummeled by her fake poodle purse or the smell of her cheap perfume, so i keep my mouth shut and don't actually say anything at all. amateurs, though. amateurs.
the film is beautiful overall. rich in color and warmth. as the chandelier rises in the opening scene, after the auction, the film unpeels from the grainy black & white film of "present day" paris to a full color version of the opera populaire in its heyday. drinking and debauchery seem to be a pastime of the poor, the stagehands, and the ballerinas (except for christine and meg, of course). the sounds feels better the second time around. as a musician, and very sensitive to scores and soundtracks, i found the first time around that the sound was less than sufficient. but i now know it was the theater. along the lines of music, i do have a couple of things to whine about. first, while minnie driver acted the part of carlotta better than i have ever seen it done before. still, why didn't they find someone who was able to sing the part as well? the voice-over was out of synch on several occasions, despite the effort to pan away from her during various songs. then they throw in a closing song that roles during the credits just to prove that ms. driver really knows how to sing. she just doesn't do opera. slackers & hackers, sheesh!
second, in the same vein, whoever revamped the orchestration on the title track made me ill with those random Casio keyboard brand hand claps. honestly, who thought of that? they should have to sit in a room for 24 hours listening to nothing but poorly executed, artificial hand claps. a number of real, live percussion instruments would have sufficed quite unobtrusively. also on the title song, i didn't quite get the part where the singing alternates between "i'm thinking and i'm singing" to "i'm really, actually singing!". one suspends belief as it is when taking in all that a musical offers in the first place. why add to the confusion of characters singing their lines?
third, there are random flashbacks which allow one scene to segue to another, seeming to allow for the passing of undisclosed amounts of time. they are consistently disruptive to the flow of the film and hardly serve a purpose to the telling of the tale. rather, they disrupt our thoughts and simply beg the question "why am i here?" -- their true purpose is mysterious. additionally, there were two other happenings which alarmed me, as a fan. first, the chandelier does not fall at the figurative end of act one. what? Excuse me? what's going on here? why did you change That? also, the decision for costuming during masquerade is questionable in my eyes. we hear:
Flash of mauve...we see: black. and white. and gold. save for raoul (in dark blue and gold) and christine (in pink). very confusing.
Splash of puce...
Fool and king...
Ghoul and goose...
Green and black...
Queen and priest...
Trace of rouge...
Face of beast...
my favorite scene of the entire movie is when they sing "prima donna". everything leading up to that is perfect (the array of notes from OG, the moment when carlotta starts to walk out of the theatre and a patron says "would you please give this to ms. daae?", the song itself [everyone is brilliant, here. they shine like true, honest champs. i love it!], the was the scene melts from one room to the next as carlotta changes costume. pure brilliance!). yea! i actually was thrilled with this entire scene!
i've gotten long winded here, but gazing through my notes, i'll leave you with these queries which are still burning on my brain, in no particular order:
- why does christine look like a porn star when she wakes up from the music of the night? i mean, that lingerie? the eye shadow? why wouldn't the phantom take advantage of her?
- why are meg's boobs so big? i mean, she's a dancer, right?
- what's with the midget?
- why does the phantom play with dolls? that's just odd if you ask me. then he gets all angry-like and burns them. weird.
- speaking lines that were once sung--who are you trying to fool? we ALL know it's a MUSICAL!
- the dancers during "point of no return" must go. now.
- what's up with the three random guys decked out in gold paint that have a split second on the screen when the phantom shows up during "masquerade"?
- The Cape. seriously, did christopher walken come on set one day and shout "i've got a fever, and the only prescription is MORE CAPE FLINGING!"
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