Wednesday 22 June 2011

Phantom of the Paradise 1974




Phantom of the Paradise was a cult film directed by Brian de Palma. The film follows an aspiring songrwiter (Winslow Leach) who's music is picked up by Swan, a well known music producer. Ecstatic with the musical attention Swan pays Leach, he becomes obsessed with the idea. Only to learn that Swan has taken full credit for all his musical works and has completely dismissed the credit of Leach. Through a series of events, Leach's face becomes disfigured and he soon finds himself held as a prisoner in the middle of Swan's Musical Factory, where he is forced to create musical hits that are performed by  popstar after popstar, churned out by Swan.
The musical is a combination of Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Faust, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It is described as a rock and roll musical, parodying almost all music genres of the 70s decade from glam rock to country. The music was all written by Paul Williams and there are a few recordings of him performing the songs on the soundtrack. I'm obsessed!

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