Phantom of the Opera
What:
Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Where:
Melbourne International Film Festival
When:
Sun Aug 11, 1pm, Regent Theatre
Tickets:
here
Win:
We have one double pass for the Sat Aug 11, 1pm screening to give away. Just email win@threethousand.com.auwith the subject line 'Mad, disfigured composer seeks opera understudy,GSOH, enjoys quiet evenings, boating, live organ music'.
Seeing a silent film accompanied by a live score is a thing of wonder - anyone lucky enough to have caught the Blue Grassy Knoll's performances for Buster Keaton comedies won't need further convincing. MIFF offers one more chance for you to see the 1925 classic Phantom Of The Opera accompanied by organist David Johnston. (Stop humming Lloyd Webber. It demeans you.)
The grand scale of the film needs a big screen - it has enormous, gothic set design, dozens of shrieking ballerinas, and the famous 'red death'sequence where the Phantom's entrance is so spectacular that it forcesthe previously black and white film into sudden technicolour. Lon Chaney, as always, created his own makeup for the living skull of the Phantom'sface, and when it's revealed his stare feels like it could rip rightthrough the fourth wall.
But you know what? Before the film even begins, the organ makes its entrance as it is hydraulically lifted upfrom underneath the Regent, lights flashing and smoke machine pumping.To hell with rock and roll; these levels of bombast can only come from a Wurlitzer.
Format: Cinema
Mood: Epic
Keywords: Silent film, Live score, Lon Chaney
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