Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Phantom of the Opera's lavish Baroque-ness + loads of pictures

First off, let me say that I feel totally unqualified to write any POTO-related post! I haven't read the book, haven't seen the stage production. . . Fairly new to the phandom of the Phantom, I am just a girl who happened - quite by accident - upon a movie called "The Phantom of the Opera", and found myself being swept away!

Oh, and this will be a relatively brief post, unfortunately, because I don't have much time left to write it! I've been meaning to write a POTO-themed post all week, to join in with Alexandra's Phantom of the Opera week. Tonight came, and I panicked a bit, realising this was my last chance to write this post!! Fortunately America is a day behind Australia, otherwise I would already be too late!

[This post is rather image-heavy - I hope it doesn't take an awfully long time to load. . .]

~The Stunning Baroque Splendour of POTO~

I'm going through bit of a Baroque stage at the moment, especially after watching this excellent series. A couple of observations on The Baroque: it is more of a living entity than an art movement. And: the Baroque can be a bit silly at times, but at its best, it is extremely powerful - it grabs your attention, then sucks you into its vortex of drama (often melodrama), emotion, romance, and beauty. It isn't subtle, and it doesn't appeal to everyone, but if you ask me, there is an almost unequaled scale of power, passion, and human longing and emotion in the truly great Baroque works of art. Yes it's messy and over-the-top, but I love it for that! 

The Phantom of the Opera well and truly embraces that Baroque spirit, in the story, the music, the set design, costumes. . . you name it! And it is glorious to behold! Every element of this production - the colours, the textures, the music - everything melds together to create a most amazing experience. The word delirious comes to mind - a sort of dazzling, dizzying assault on the senses.

~PICSPAM!!~

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4 comments:

Alexandra said...

Absolutely sumptious!! The chandeleir is incredible. One thing I absolutely loved about the movie was the chandeleir. Even with the big one in the stage version, it's impossible to completely capture that chandeleir, and I *loved* the chandeleir crash on the film! The pic is amazing. And the lair is INCREDIBLE.

The "Think of Me" scene...the backstage (I *loved* all the backstage shots)..."Masquerade", the graveyard...the film is definately a feast for the eyes!

Thanks so much for participating in this week! I hope you enjoyed it!

And anyone who loves POTO is qualified! ;-) We're all one big happy, crazy family. And just like a family we are allowed to sometimes have differing opinions, but in the end, we all share a common bond in our love for POTO! ;-) But I do encourage anyone who likes the film to look into the book, stage version and the various cast recordings...if nothing else, to just get lots more of POTO!

Thanks for the beautiful post!!!

The Editrix said...

Thanks so much, Alexandra. :-)

But I do encourage anyone who likes the film to look into the book, stage version and the various cast recordings...if nothing else, to just get lots more of POTO!

I will definitely do that!

Jo March said...

I have not seen the movie, although I've listened to the entire opera on CD a million times (well, maybe not *quite*) and read the script about the same number of times, as well as seen little bits and pieces of different movies and stage productions. I'm LONGING to see the movie in full though, and see it on the stage! My dad has loved POTO for many years, and that he's got me hooked on it, it's time he took me out to see it :P (BTW that was his idea, not mine :)

Charleybrown said...

I too am just getting familiar with POTO. I know of many friends who love the music but outside of the main songs, I've never really got hooked yet. I bought the DVD this year and think Emma Rossum makes a wonderful Christine!