If you had directed "The Phantom of the Opera" — Page 2

" I haven't seen the film, but reading that makes me assume that Madame Giry speaks like that guard from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "I'm French! Why do you think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king? " "

She (Mme Giry) is the only character in the movie who uses the French accent so you can't help noticing it. And it is annoying.

I didn't mind Gerry and his scottish accent but, Raoul (Pat Wilson) really had to get rid of his American accent! He didn't even seem to try to make it sound more British or something (I wouldn't like a whole cast with French accents!) Emmy, at least, when she sung didn't sound exactly American...I'm American myself and was annoyed with Wilson's accent.

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Where to start?

How about with a far better wig for poor Patrick Wilson. It's homage to Gloria Vanderbilt. And some major script work on the insipid, de-balled part of Rauol. He barely even speaks until 45 minutes into the film--and then sounds like an American. Then, he repeatedly tells Christine he'll protect her, and barely ever does. Though he wins the sword fight in the ludicrous scene in the graveyard (Christine to unknown driver: "Take me to the grave of my father!" I guess it's as well known a spot as Grants Tomb in NY... And I love the way she doesn't notice, uh, who the driver is.) The man is wimped out beyond belief for a major character in a romantic triangle. (SPOILER:) The last sequence should be a push-pull among the three, but poor Wilson looks sniffly and ready to burst into tears, chained up, helpless. You root for the Phantom to get this girl.

The movie is full of narrative lapses -- start with that silly businss of Christine heading out to the graveyard. You may accept it on stage, but watching her charge off into the fog alone, she simply looks ridiculous. But working backward from that--you never can quite figure out what everyone has been doing between the set pieces. How does this group of people live? Eat? Sleep? Prepare--this is an opera company where everone seems to know every role, and can go on at any time. Why, after the Phantom's threats and act of murder does everyone go about their business in the opera house, and then say "he's gone!" And then he appears in MASQUERADE, and they are shocked, yet do ... nothing. Again, Raoul, standing around, looks impotent in more ways than one. Also, moving the falling chandelier from the middle to the end, frankly leaves the middle with a hole in it.

The film script needed to be rethought with more attention to all the characters. They are so inadequately drawn for a film, where the music simply can't do all the work. I also felt like Christine didn't really give a damn about singing! She is sort of thrust into the spotlight. Okay, she's young. But she seems to have no ambition, and it makes her wispy and a pawn. Ironically, only the Phantom has any dimension. But I still wonder how he learned to dress himself so elegantly (who cut his hair? Giry?) and to appear so au current, after such a subterranian life. The lapses in logic are everwhere.

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Updated On: 1/2/05 at 06:57 PM

-Done away with that awful vouge dance in "Masquerade."
-Switch the "Chrsitine I loooooooooooooooooooooove yooooou" to spoken rather than sung.
-Cast a fat Carlotta. I loved Minnie but she really was out of place.

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was judy kaye fat when she originated the role on b'way?

i have to agree with x-naying that horrible "vougeing" during "Masquerade". i half expected the solo male dancer to start break dancing in the middle of the ballroom. this was a case IMO that the movie did not improve what was originally conceived on stage. "Masquerade" was such a spell-binder on-stage, it left alot to be desired on film.

Updated On: 1/2/05 at 08:47 PM

I would have chosen people that could have actually sung the songs, and still have been able to add emotion into the characters. I personally would have chosen people that could sing better, because this is a Broadway show... Hugh Jackman as the Phantom, and I would not have included Emmy Rossum, and Minnie Driver. And as much as Patrick was decent, they could have found someone BETTER...
This is kind of how I feel about this movie, all the actors/actresses could have been better.

"It felt like I had been in the theater for all three uncut versions of Lord of The Rings. " midtowngym, is that bad? Because I would love to see all three of the LOTR movies uncut in theater at the same time.

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Kangaroo--it IS bad, because it's NOT Lord of the Rings, which would be 14 hours of wonder and enjoyment. POTO felt like 14 hours of torture.

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"(SPOILER:) The last sequence should be a push-pull among the three, but poor Wilson looks sniffly and ready to burst into tears, chained up, helpless. You root for the Phantom to get this girl."

WHAT? But Raoul is supposed to be almost annoyingly noble! I know he's a French count, but at that point there's supposed to be the annoying stiff-upper-lip, holding head up high, being steadfast, BRITISH nobility that if you weren't so caught up in the show would REALLY piss you off! I mean, the man has lines like "Why make her lie to you to save me?"!! It's about as defiant and annoying a last-stand as you're going to get!

B) He gets chained up? When does this happen? In the UK stage show, he spends the entire time sort of hanging/standing on his tiptoes stuck in the lasso.

Re: The Phantom's clothes: maybe there'll be a deleted scene which shows him sitting in the candlelight sewing his costume for the Masquerade scene.

sallybrown: When I saw the movie I didn't catch the "I love you" from Christine to Raoul either, but, I went on some other message boards and the had a whole topic on that. In the final scene just before she kisses the Phantom...I'm goning to watch for that the next time I see it on the 21st.
About the French accent: I didn't say I didn't like it or anything...I would just feel kind of wierd if everyone were talking/singing with French accents.

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Well, yeah, I don't really hear their accents when they're singing, but, Raoul and Christine had speaking parts...And it would just be a struggle to understand them if they had French accents...But, when I (at least) listen carefully to American and British people singing I can tell the difference. (PAST the point of no return) (at LAST consume us.) the "a"s..listen carefully.

I HATE PATRICK WILSON. I HATE RAOUL de CHANGY!
...Sorry, I had to get that out of my system!

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Don't hate Patrick. You can dislike the characer of Raoul all you want but Patrick is a wonderful actor. Truly.

And, I personally loved his work in The Final Lair scene. Very moving, in my opinion.

*SPOILER*

The "I love you" between Christine and Raoul is as follows:

Phantom: "You try my patience; make your choice."
Shot of Raoul's face
Shot of Christine who looks at Raoul and mouths "I love you."
Shot of Raoul's reaction to the message.
Christine begins singing: "Pitiful creature of darkness..."

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Updated On: 1/3/05 at 06:42 PM

I was kind of put off by how the actors weren't shown singing at the start of the movie. When Raoul goes to see Christine in her dressing room his face is blocked by his arm or her... i mean we all know this is a musical, lets see them sing. thankfully that didn't last too long.

butler and rossum are growing on me tremendously, but i think patrick wilson is better on the CD than in the movie. too bad, he's so cute.

I think they took the audio straight from the movie and put it on cd. I mean, it even had the sound effects from the movie. If I had directed it, I would have taken out Notes 1. It was SO long and boring.

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