The Phantom of the Opera (1998 film)

The Phantom of the Opera
Italian theatrical poster
Directed by	Dario Argento
Produced by	Claudio Argento Giuseppe Colombo Aron Sipos
Written by	Giorgina Caspari (English adaptation)
Screenplay by	Dario Argento Gérard Brach
Based on	Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux
Starring	Julian Sands Asia Argento Andrea Di Stefano
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography	Ronnie Taylor
Edited by	Anna Napoli
Production company	Cine 2000 Focus Films Medusa Produzione MiBAC Reteitalia
Distributed by	A-Pix Entertainment Medusa Distribuzione Telet
Release date	20 November 1998
Running time	99 min. 106 min. (director's cut)
Country	Italy
Language	Italian French
Budget	$10,000,000 (estimated)

The Phantom of the Opera (Italian: Il fantasma dell'opera) is a 1998 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento, adapted from the novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux. However, there are many differences between the book and the film (the biggest being that the Phantom is not disfigured).

In Paris 1877 a pack of rats save an abandoned baby from a basket that was flowing along a river. They raise him in the underground of the Opéra de Paris. This child becomes the Phantom of the Opera, a misanthrope who kills anyone who ventures into his underground chambers, just as rats are killed whenever they venture above ground. The Phantom (Julian Sands) falls in love with the young opera singer Christine Daaé (Asia Argento), while she sings alone on stage one night. He appears before her and tells her that her voice fills his heart with light. After leaving, he speaks to her using telepathy and the two begin a romantic relationship.

The aristocratic Baron Raoul De Chagny (Andrea Di Stefano) has also fallen in love with Christine, though at first Christine offers him only a platonic relationship. Later, she ruminates that she may be in love with both men. One night, the Phantom calls to her and she descends to his lair across an underground lake in a boat. Upon arriving, she finds him playing an organ and he tells her to sing for him. Christine sings the same song he heard her sing when he first saw her onstage. After making love in his bed, the Phantom reveals his past to her. He tells her to stay in the lair while he goes to secure the role of Juliet for her but she refuses to stay alone, causing him to storm out. Christine grows angry with him and as he leaves in the boat she shouts that she hates him.

The Phantom threatens Carlotta, the show's spoiled diva, not to sing but she ignores the warning. During her performance as Juliet, the Phantom brings down the chandelier injuring many of the audience members. When he returns to Christine, she refuses the role he has secured for her. He becomes angry and forcefully rapes her. After Christine awakens, she witnesses the Phantom covered in his rats and petting them. While he is playing with the rats, she escapes on the boat. She flees into the arms of Raoul, and they ascend to the roof, where they confess their love for each other. The Phantom watches and breaks down crying when he sees them kiss.