Help! POTO Character Ages?!?

[DBillyP]

Posted: 12/26/04 at 11:11am

Please forgive me if this has been discussed prior to my asking.

I saw the film yesterday, and I am confused about the ages of the characters. The film begins in 1919. It then flashes back to, if I remember correctly, 1870, 49 years earlier. I was able to determine from her gravestone, that Christine was therefore 16 during the major events of the film. How old are Raoul and Mme. Giry? Isn't Raoul somewhere close to Christine's age? If Mme. Giry has a daughter that is roughly Christine's age, then she must be, even at a conservative estimate, mid-30's. (Though I think Miranda Richardson looks much older than that.) That would put her, conservatively, in her mid-80's in 1919. So, why does Raoul look like he is so much older than her in the B/W sections of the film?!?

And isn't the Phantom roughly the same age as Mme. Giry? He looks so much younger than her during the film.

Can anyone help?!?

Thanks!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 12/26/04 at 11:37am

HEhe. Oops, Billy, you latched onto one of the film's little flaws. At the very beginning I was completely confused by Giry's appearance at the auction, especially given her relative youth compared to the decrepit Raoul.
At any rate, I think it's safe to assume Christine is a teenager (I thought she was supposed to be around 19 in the novel), Raoul is probably just a little older, and Giry should be somewhere around her 40s if she's the ballet mistress already.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 12/26/04 at 11:45am

Joel Shumacher (sp?) has stated that he wanted to make the characters younger than they are in the stage musical. In the stage version, Christine is probably 19 or 20 (although usually played by an actress in her 30s, I guess due to the vocal demands of the role), and Raoul is probably a few years older. The Phantom is probably in his 40s. Personally, I think this makes a lot more sense both artistically and logically, as if Christine were 16 (as in the film version), she wouldn't yet be vocally mature enough to be singing leading opera roles, no matter how talented she is.

[LilMiZBroADwaY23]

Posted: 12/26/04 at 3:31pm

I think whilst figuring out with the book years and also the musical years, Christine was twenty three at the time. Raoul, around thirty, Phantom, forties and I believe GIry would also be in her forties.

In order to get the actual ones, you'd have to incorporate the book.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 12/26/04 at 4:50pm

i noticed that too..so i was thinking it was Meg not Mme Giry..but i know that's wrong