Phantom of the Opera has many religious undertones or actual references but the two main things I want to focus on are his living space and the lights and darks. The film is based on a man who has a facial deformity and lives in the underground labyrinth of an opera house in France and is extremely talented but unable to live with others because of how they judge him. In this film though, the music and lighting go hand in hand along with his hell-like home depict a certain depravity of existence.
The song that resonates most with the two different worlds represented is “Music of the Night.” The lyrics discuss the differences between the light and darkness that is interesting.
“Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination
Silently the senses abandon their defenses
Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender
Turn your face away from the garish light of day
Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light
And listen to the music of the night”
“Let the dream begin,
let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write
The power of the music of the night”
In this class we have talked about how the darkness is representative of evil or suppression, but the Phantom sings this song and makes you wonder why your senses are sharpened more in the dark than in the day and that in the day we are more like to be constrained than if in the dark. It makes me wonder why it is that when we day dream we have thoughts that are fanciful but normal, but when we dream, we have crazy and unlikely occurrences. The Phantom is seen as evil and causing trouble as he torments humans from his underworld of manipulation and powerful wiles, but he actually does have a lot of knowledge.
Thus is reminds me of how it says in the Bible that the devil is as wise a serpent. The Phantom knew how to cajole Christine into believing he was God’s gift to her. Her Angel of Music. And yet in reality he was obsessed with her and could not stop until he had her. The world he had built for her was one of imitation and nothing as good as experiencing the light of day and the fresh air.
The Phantom blamed the people above him for behaving the way he did, but Christine says that it is his heart that is bad and everything else, such as the murder of stage hands and actors were symptoms of his heart being wrong. The film is extremely powerful in its portrayal of light and darkness as well as the experience of tremendum or an awe or fear of what will come next.
No comments:
Post a Comment