Reviews

What the hell happened to Dario Argento and his visual ability? Let alone the fact that he's never been able to write a consistent screenplay, we would at least have expected that he astonished us with his well known, creative use of the camera. Alas, Il fantasma dell'Opera is flat, uninventive, boring and unfunny. Argento and Gerard Brach tried to bring out the irony and the amusement that are, after all, apparent in Leroux's novel, but failed the attempt. So the characters, though often grotesque, are never interesting, and the only good intuition is the realization that Julian Sands, can play the Phantom without needing a mask. Motivations are absent, scary moments miss conspicuously, the gore is gratuitous and the film seems to be a patchwork of sequences with no connection whatsoever. We don't understand Christine (in the book she was Swedish, here she's French, because Argento had to accommodate the character to his daughter's - very Roman - looks) and why she is so attracted by the Phantom, whom she meets immediately, without his voice's seduction. We don't understand why they make love (it's that impossibility that made the Phantom such a tragic anti-hero), and the only thing we found amusing (if only for the wrong reasons) is the use of rats (no trace of it in the book, in spite of what Argento said) as an erotic toy. No charm, no reason, no memory of the old Master of Horror that we all loved and appreciated. I hope this is simply a "faux pas", not the unmistakable signal of a faded genius' decline.

The never-ending story, or, how to take Roy Ward Baker's film on the subject and remaking it without fantasy but with lots of money. A real insult for the viewer's intelligence and for the victims of this tragedy. One of those cases, like Gone with the Wind, in which masses of people are taken for inexplicable reasons in the absent vision of a narcissistic director. Two hour and a half of absolute boredom, rescued by the wonderful sinking. The script seems to be done by a 12 year old kid: maybe that's the reason why kids loved it that much. Besides, Kate Winslet is too old looking for plausibly falling in love with a spoiled brat like Di Caprio appears to be, no matter how he's dressed (he never, ever ever seems like the charming artist vagrant he declares to be). Mr. Cameron, you're a damned lucky guy, but I preferred you when you did Terminator!

Gee, people, this is surely going to win an Oscar! It's the same story as in Kolja, only without the humor. There's a cute child, a grumpy old lady, lots of violins in the ever-present soundtrack, many tears, the misery of a people, some sociological comment and every way of exploiting the so-called civilized people's interest in a Country so obviously uncivilized that only one person in the whole film can read and write! I just hope that, when Oscar time comes, the Academy members will prefer Benigni's Giosue' to this Josue' in search of a father. Surely Mr. Salles must have treasured his reading of the book "Cuore" by Edmondo De Amicis.

I would reccomend this film to everyone. Not only to the fans of the rocker Luciano Ligabue, but to all film-buffs. Because it's sincere, moving, funny and true. Because Ligabue is a born storyteller and a film lover, and every frame of his film is made with love and care. Because his characters are loved and ask to be loved. Because most of the Italian debut films are lousy and this one, done by an outsider, is a real joy to watch and to listen at. Because Stefano Accorsi is gorgeous and reminds me of Andrea Pazienza, who was, like Freccia, beautiful and talented and good and lost his life because of the heroin, that Ligabue shows as it is, unglamorous and ugly, without indulging in easy moralisms. Because it's a film that speaks to our heart, our ears, our souls. And because I lived the experience of the FM radios and it was exactly like that. Thanks, Luciano!