My views: 10
I first watched this film in 2005 because my sister's friends were obsessed with it (I think mostly because they thought Gerard Butler was hot), and we happened to own it on VHS. I must admit, at first I didn't really understand it. I didn't get why the phantom kept killing people, or why Christine thought he was her dead father. But something about the film intrigued me. I've always loved musicals, but I was used to them being lighthearted and fun. This was probably the first dark musical I saw, and it spoke to me on a deeper level than I was used to. And, if nothing else, Emmy Rossum has a killer voice. So I kept watching it.
As I look back over my data, I see that most of my views of this movie took place in 2005 and 2006, which I now find very interesting. At the time, I was in high school and struggling with very serious clinical depression. Though I didn't realize it then, I think part of the reason I was so fascinated by this film was that, strange as it seems, I could relate to it. No, I wasn't caught up in a bizarre love triangle with a deformed murderer and an opera patron, but I understood the motivations of the characters who were. I could relate to Christine's longing for a past that can never return, to Raoul's futile attempts to turn his confusing world into something he could understand, to the phantom's despair and loathing of a world that had rejected him. And then, despite the darkness of most of the film, it ends on a hopeful note. I really needed that reminder of hope at that time in my life. I'm not positive that that's the reason I kept watching it, but I think that was at least part of it. I also really enjoyed the music and the acting (although I must confess that I never saw in Gerard Butler what my sister's friends did).
I don't want to make it sound like this movie cured me of my depression, because it definitely didn't. But I find it noteworthy that I have not viewed this film since my recovery. This was certainly not a conscious decision, and it could be simply that I got tired of it after 10 times. Perhaps I no longer felt the need to watch it once I had the soundtrack on my ipod, since the songs make up almost the entire film. I do still listen to the soundtrack quite a bit (I'm listening to it right now, as a matter of fact), but I haven't seen this movie in over five years. I suspect that it wouldn't speak to me now the same way it did then, but I could be wrong. Since my first viewing of this film, I have become enthralled with dark, passionate musicals, so at the very least I am greatly indebted to Phantom of the Opera for introducing me to those.
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