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THE
MOVIE MYSTIC
By Stephen Simon
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
The film version of the wildly successful musical stage version of PHANTOM
is a melodramatic (in the BEST sense of that word), deliriously romantic,
tragic (in the best sense of THAT word), and epic love story. In addition,
it is one of the most gorgeously designed, costumed, photographed, and
directed films I have seen in a very long time. The film has both a new
prologue and epilogue that were not in the play and they contribute beautifully
to the story of Christine and her tragically obsessed admirer.
The body of the movie is faithful to the play while, at the same time,
it takes full advantage of the richer and more abundant medium of film.
For instance, the Phantom's first foray with Christine into his underground
hideaway grotto is a breathtakingly beautiful and mystical visual journey,
whereas, on stage, most of it had to implied.
The cast is amazingly wonderful, particularly Emmy Rossum who plays Christine
with a deep sense of compassion, innocence, and gentleness. Gerard Butler's
portrayal of The Phantom is alternately powerful, menacing, tragic, and
fragile. Rarely do filmed versions of successful musicals rise to the
quality of their staged counterparts; however, I must say here that I
enjoyed this PHANTOM even more than the two different stage versions
that I have seen.
Cynics need not even THINK of watching this film as they will go shrieking
into the night after the first few scenes; however, for those of you who
enjoy classic love stories like ROMEO AND JULIET and, maybe THE
WAY WE WERE, you are in for a wonderful and moving two and a half
hours... and a good cry.
(Stephen
Simon produced such films as Somewhere in Time and What
Dreams May Come, produced and directed INDIGO, and
wrote The Force is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire
Our Lives. He also co-founded The Spiritual Cinema Circle http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com/
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