I saw the "Phantom of the Opera" lying on a cot with fever and a running nose. And by Rairakhol standards quite late in the night. I had not seen a Hollywood musical before, at least not completely, though Chicago, Moulin Rouge and Phantom of the Opera were on my wishlist for quite a long time. I hardly had been interested in musicals. Anybody who happens to view any number of Bollywood movies surely can skip these musicals. It doesn't get better than here in India "Hum Apke Hain Kaun" Who can forget it for both good and bad reasons. As for me I slept through the whole ordeal. :)
but what really caught my imagination in the Phantom of the Opera was
1) Gerard Butler.
King Leonidas, whose thundering voice commanded an army of Spartans to fight the most fearsome battle according to Hollywood standards is a legendary tale of courage, now singing in an opera was way too much to digest. What was he doing there and if he was there how the hell did he manage to sing.
I guess he did manage to get a team of Fat opera lady singers along with his Spartan army to dine with him in Hell!
2) the Promo of the movie... Featuring a bone chilling masterpiece by Andrew Lloyd Webber which hardly seemed to be the music of opera. It sounded more like a rock anthem. whatever it was, I was really done in by the trailer.
3) A.R.Rehman:I mean I had read somewhere that he had played for Andrew Webber. But i was really not sure whether this was the one. As it turned out this was not it.
The Opening of the film with the celestial music sweeping away the remains of the Opera from the B&W background to the past filled with Light and colour had a great first impression and that was where I decided to watch it completely irrespective of my aching head.
and What a Film!
Gerard Butler and Emmy Rosseum were rightly cast in the Film and Gerard really did justice to the Character of the Phantom.
The music is top notch and the songs portray the real theme of the story.
The title song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber is remarkable...
There are some really remarkable moments in the film, one of my favourite is the ending, the phantom leaving its mark on the grave of the one he loved. The Ring and the Rose, lying beside his beloved...
well you can watch it if you want to...
