Hello out there, I just watched Phantom of the Opera, the new one that came out, and I thought it was beautiful yet I was very confused on what was going on. The guy in the beginning(the old guy) shows up in random places in the movie and at the end he places the flower on Chrisitne's tomb right next to the Phantom's rose and the ring. Who was he? And, did Christine end up with the other guy or the Phantom? Did she love him? I felt that she didn't love him and loved the other guy. Am I confused or what. Let me know okay, bye.

By the way, who agrees with me that the music was great in that movie.

poseidon

Hello Greatinbed,

I agree Phantom of the Opera is sometimes a little confusing due to the flashbacks. I believe I have figured it out but if I am wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

At the beginning when the items are being auctioned at the now closed and rundown Opera Populaire, 2 people were bidding for the monkey musical box. The woman I believe was Madame Giry (who saved the Phantom and hid him in the opera house), as an old woman and the man was in fact the aging Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny.

The Vicomte won the music box and took it to the cemetery where he placed it on the grave of Christine who died at age 63. The name on the Headstone was Countess de Chagny. I can only assume that when Christine escaped from, or was released from the clutches of the Phantom, she married Raoul.

I like to believe Christine probably loved both the Phantom and the Vicomte but her love for Raoul was stronger especially because the Phantom was initially intending to kill Raoul, also Christine and Raoul had been childhood sweethearts.

Again I believe the significance of the ring and the rose at Christine's graveside was the Phantom letting Raoul know that he was still alive, still in love with Christine and had not forgotten her.

Yes, I agree with you the music was beautiful and haunting. My personal favourite is 'Masquerade'. Phantom is certainly my favourite soundtrack.

I hope this has helped.

Poseidon

nymphetamine

Ive never seen phantom of the opera. Is it really good? Why does that dude wear a mask all the time?

greatinbed

Thank you for writing to me. Poseidon, I had that feeling too but why did Christine betray the Phantom. Didn't she love him too? I mean, all the people were setting a trap for the Phantom during his Don Juan play and Christine played along with it. Why was she so cruel and unmasked the Phantom so all could stare at his deformed face? It just doesn't make sense.

To respond to crankiebabie, the Phantom his his deformed face under the mask. When he was smaller, gypsies treated him like a road show "beast" because of it and that it why he is bitter towards the world. People would pay the gypsies to come and see him, they treated him really bad and laughed at him. Sad, really.

Back to Poseidon, why did Christine feel she was under the power of the Phantom? Oh, by the way do you know of any bands or groups that sing
"ro-pera"<-- (that's what I like to call it) because the music was excellent. Let me know and thanks to those who responded. Apreciate it a lot. BYe.

poseidon

Hello again Miriam (Greatinbed),

To be honest I am not the worlds greatest expert on The Phantom of the Opera and can only give you my interpretation.

Before Christine's father died he told her he was going to send her an 'Angel of Music'. When she joined the Opera Populaire the Phantom singled Christine out as his prodigy who he could mold and teach. (Similar to 'Trilby' by George Du Maurier where Svengali took over the life of Trilby and taught her).

Christine thought that the Phantom was in fact the Angel of Music her father had promised to send her.

Christine had not actually seen the Phantom, only brief glimpses, until Raoul appeared back on the scene and became patron to the opera house. The Phantom realized he had an adversary and decided that Raoul had to be killed.

She was basically kidnapped by the Phantom and taken to his underground lair where she really saw him for the first time. I am not really sure why Christine pulled off his mask but I feel either curiosity got the better of her or she wanted to let the Phantom know that his disfigurement was of no consequence.

The reason Christine helped in the plot to arrest the Phantom and bring him to justice for the murder of the stagehand is probably because he was a murderer and she feared for her and Raoul's life. Because he had realized that Christine's love for Raoul was greater the her love for him.

I am afraid thats about all I can say about the Phantom of the Opera. I hope it has given you an insight. Please remember though this is only my interpretation.

BTW, I have had a quick look around the Internet for a rock version of the soundtrack but without success. I feel sure there is likely to be one somewhere though. It would be interesting to know what it was like. There are Rock Opera (ro-pera) bands and a quick trip to a search engine should reveal them. Of course you could also post another question in the 'Music' or 'Opera' threads of AskmeHelpdesk.

Poseidon
(Cy)

greatinbed

Poseidon, thanks a lot for the help. I still feel that Christine played the Phantom in a cruel terrible way. Why did she kiss the Phantom at the end of the movie if she loved the other guy? And with the way she sang to him during the Don Juan play when she and the Phantom were singing together, Christine made it seem like she was coming on to the Phantom. They were singing a sng about having sex for goodness sakes! I mean, I couldn't help but cry for the Phantom, he loved her a lot and she didn't love him back yet still played with his feelings. Cruel!!!!

I dunno what her problem was, anyway, do you know any good operas that I could also go and watch? Have you heard of Amici, the opera band? they are amazing. Bye.

aubreyy

a note to you poseidon, the old woman at the beginning is actually meg which is madame giry's daughter & christine's best friend. but everything else i believe is right(:



anyways, phantom is hard to understand. but i've watched probably 100 or so times, so i've pretty much figured it out by now. it's a WONDERFUL movie, my faorite. <# (:

great job andrew lloyd webber!

missa8324

The part where Christine and the Phantom are down in the lair, and Raoul comes to save her.......
The Phantom basically tells Christine that if she truly loves Raoul and wants to save his life, she needs to pick the Phantom over Raoul. This is where they're singing the song "The Point of No Return", and the Phantom is saying after you decide, there's no going back. Raoul is telling the Phantom in part of the song "Why make her lie to you to save me?", which means why make her be with you when you know she'd only be doing it to save Raoul. Christine decides to be with the Phantom, because she loves Raoul so much, and that's why she places the ring on her finger and kisses him. It is pretty cruel in a sense, I agree, since she is only choosing him to let the man she truly loves go, but I probably would've done the same thing.....
Anyways, that's when the Phantom knows without a doubt that Christine wants Raoul and not him, which is why he lets them go. He loves her too much to kill Raoul, or hurt her in any way. She comes back to give him the ring he gave her, and then he's singing about how there'll be no more music of the night since Christine picked the "happy or lighter" life over his "darker, more seductive" life, if that makes any sense.
I loved how the movie ended, where Raoul goes to visit his wife's grave and sees the flower--which the Phantom usually left for her--with the ring on it. It's like his way of saying I've never stopped thinking of you or loving you, and thought you should have the ring back as a token of my never-ending love for you. I thought it was the perfect way to end it, especially since you weren't really sure as to what happened to him at the end, and now you know he's still alive somewhere. My mom, by the way, told me the old lady at the beginning who was trying to win the mechanical monkey from Raoul was actually Madame Giry who helped the Phantom escape when he was younger. Just so you know that. The beginning is one of my favorite parts of the movie......it gives me chills every time I watch it! I love when the chandalier is first exposed and the music kicks in, and while the chandalier is being raised the opera house is returning to its former self.....very powerful stuff and amazing to watch over and over again!

gabra_123

Absolutely loved the weber version for the music, but for the story, the mini series with burt lancaster was a lot easier to follow.