The Phantom of the Opera

During the play, Don Juan, Christine unmasks the Phantom, revealing his horribly derranged face. In a fit of anger, the Phantom cuts the only rope supporting a huge chandelier, causing it to fall into the audience and set fire. The Phantom then drags Christine off to his lair, much to the horror of her lover, Raoul who, led by Madame Giry attempts to follow them.

On his way, Raoul falls into a flooding chamber, one of the many traps the Phantom has planted. He quickly escapes and then continues on his quest to find Chrisitine. Once he reaches Christine and the Phantom, locked in a struggle of wills, the Phantom realizes his presence, and opens the gate to his lair. When Raoul enters, Raoul turns when the gate closes, and the Phantom throws the punjab lasso around Raoul's neck, ties him up, and offers Christine a choice. She can either live with the Phantom, thereby allowing Raoul to live, or else choose a life of liberty, away from the Phantom, while leaving Raoul to death.

She tells the Phantom that he is not alone,and she and the Phantom then share a passionate kiss. The Phantom is overcome with emotion, because he has never before been touched by any motion of love, and he realizes that he wants Christine to be happy. He tells Christine to take Raoul and go, therefore condemning himself to a lifetime of misery and loneliness. Christine unties Raoul and we see the Phantom sitting in front of the monkey music box, crying and singing. Christine enters and the Phantom sings "Christine, I love you..." Christine then returns the ring which the Phantom had recently given to her.

Christine and Raoul leave, and the Phantom is left alone and unloved. He watches them leave in his gondola, and Christine looks back over Raoul's shoulder. The Phantom, overcome by sorrow and emotion, picks up a candle holder and smashes the numerous mirrors. Behind one is a passage, leading to who knows where. Upon hearing the mob coming for him, he flees in dispair, never to return. Meg Giry enters and finds the Phantom's half-mask lying next to the music box.

We then switch back to the old Raoul, we see him take the monkey music box to Christine's grave, where he places it carefully. Lying on the grave is a red rose with a black satin ribbon tied around it,like the roses the Phantom gave to Christine throughout the movie, and on the ribbon is the ring which Christine gave back to the Phantom, apparently meaning that the Phantom lived all those years.

april

The Phantom of the Opera mistake picture

Deliberate mistake: As Christine approaches the Phantom in his lair (just after he has abducted her), we see that she is wearing very dark black eye-shadow. Back in the dressing room after coming off stage, as she talks to Raoul, we saw her face in close up and she was not wearing any eye-shadow at all, even though the Phantom leads her through the mirror just after she has managed to slip on a robe over her undergarments and she has not yet changed to go out to supper (Raoul says she is to be ready in 2 minutes). Her hair becomes 'bigger' and wilder, too. The change in her appearance is a reference to her descending (voluntarily, I might add - he didn't drag her through that mirror) into the Phantom's dark existence and to her sexual awakening. (00:28:45 - 00:37:10)

More mistakes in The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom: Softly, deftly, music shall carress you. Hear it, feel it, Secretly possess you.

More quotes from The Phantom of the Opera

Trivia: In one of the 1919 flashback scenes, Raoul looks out of the car window at a Swarovski jewelry store. The Swarovski crystal company made the chandelier for the film, valued at over $1.3 million.

More trivia for The Phantom of the Opera

Question: During point of no return, the phantom has no disguise on. If everyone was after him, why didn't anyone stop the performance and capture the phantom?

Answer: During "Point of No Return, " the Phantom shares a stage with the very vulnerable Christine. He is still masked, though it is a mask other than his trademark white face covering. The Phantom is well known as a murderer and an escape artist. This is the the equivalent of a hostage situation. To rush the stage might risk lives, and everyone in the know is proceeding with caution. During the song, we do get glimpses of police moving about, and Raoul and others looking concerned, subtly signaling one another and considering their next move. The stage crew seems confused. The dancers go on with the show. And law enforcement officers await the right moment to advance. It also gives us the opportunity to enjoy a dramatic musical number that rushing the stage would interrupt.

Michael Albert

More questions & answers from The Phantom of the Opera

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.