Halloween Countdown (Day 15: A Night At The Opera)

For those of you who just tuned in (in otherwords, didn't read the previous blog entry), I decided to watch this when I saw the trailer at the beginning of the SAW 5 DVD. The visuals grabbed my attention, the concept is intriguing, it stars.....Paris.....Hilton? When will you ever watch a film that has Sarah Brightman (who rose to fame for her role as Christine in "The Phantom Of The Opera") and Paris Hilton (who rose to fame because of a sex tape) at the same time?

I'd say it's worthy of a blog entry, don't you? Oh yes, there will be spoilers.

I was surprised to find the full version of the film at time of writing, so if you're reading this and the video has not been removed from YouTube, check it out if you want to see what a crossbreed of SAW and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, set in the future, would look like, all to the sound of goth/industrial metal mixed in with, you guessed it, opera.

97 minutes later.....

If that description above was strange enough on the screen, try watching it. This is just a whole new level of crazy. But at the same time it's watchable, even with the scenes that are just painful to watch. And I'm not talking about the gore.

This blog entry is a little different from the previous ones, in that I start writing shortly after the movie ends. But with this, it was late at night, I was pretty tired, and to be honest, I didn't know what to make of it. First of all, I was a little confused by the story. And secondly, even though the movie is stupid on many levels, I found myself enjoying it, but I didn't know why. So I decided to write up on it the following day, with a clear head and more energy to type out a blog entry.

Ogre from the band Skinny Punny.....as you do.....

Okay, I did look up the story on Wikipedia and watched a review of the film, but I will do my best to write my first impressions of the movie once it finished. Even if I wasn't drinking a few glasses of wine while watching it (in an effort to feel more "sophisticated" while watching an opera), I would have still been confused by a couple of things.

The story begins in the not too distant future, where people suffer from organ failure.....the reason why is never explained, so already I'm asking questions. We are given a glimpse into the futuristic setting of the film and its society, as well as the introduction to the characters.....through comic book panels. Yep, even from the outset, you know the budget of the movie is pretty low.

Soon afterwards, we are introduced by our somewhat narrator who is the Grave Robber (played by the writer of Repo!, giving himself a Richard O'Brien type role, a la Rocky Horror), who talks of the Repo Man, through images of mutilation by his hand, and runs into our heroine, Shilo, who I can't help thinking sounds like Avril Lavigne fronting Evanescence throughtout this film.

Unbeknownst to her, is the daughter of said Repo Man.....well, I only figured out that Shilo was in the dark of her father's profession halfway through the movie. And this is an example of the main problem I had while watching it first time around.

.....besides Paris Hilton, of course.....

From what I gather, the difference between a musical and an opera, is that the story progression in a musical sets up the lyrics, while in an opera, the lyrics set up the story progression. For me, musicals are easier to follow because of the dialogue, whereas in an opera, following the storyline through the words is like trying to follow the plot in a Shakespeare play you've never read or studied in school. Sure the language is English, but not conventional English. So unless you know the plot beforehand, some of it will just go over your head. Especially when you have more than one character singing at the same time.

So I was asking myself questions throughout the movie such as: why can't Shilo go outside? I know she's meant to have a disease, but it doesn't look like its contagious, and she's able to go outside, whether its to meet up with the villain, Largo, or to visit the mausoleum of her dead mother. Infact, why is there a secret tunnel to the mausoleum? It wasn't clear to me at the time about her father's intentions to hold on to her to keep her safe, by questionable means, regarding the medicine he provides for her. For a while, I thought it was that Zydrate stuff that she was dependent on, because of the colour.

I was a little confused by Largo's actions throughout the movie. I guess it's to show the complexity of the character, but for a good while, I thought there was going to be a twist where he was actually Shilo's father, and not the Repo Man (who will be referred to as "Giles", in reference to his Buffy character, as I'm too lazy to remember his character's name). I figured as much, as the film talks about the events of 17 years ago, and I assumed Shilo's mother was pregnant at the time she ditched Largo for Giles.

There are others I had which I gradually figured out (such as Shilo not knowing her Dad's profession), or just gave up on trying to find an answer (such as why Paris Hilton goes to the Grave Robber for her fix of Zydrate from the black market, when her father is the owner of the company who makes the stuff in the first place). But storyline and motivations aside, the biggest questions I had were the ones where the movie takes weird turns, visually and musically.

I will talk about the music in a little while, but when I say "weird turns", its nothing to do with the songs themselves, which vary in tone and mood, but it's the flow that I'm confused by. And it doesn't help when the characters are over the top themselves, especially with their quirks ranging from wearing masks of dead people to taxidermy. To take three examples off the top of my head:

• After one of the opening numbers where the Grave Robber first meets Shilo (and who laughably gives away their position twice by screaming during the chorus), the slow driving, heavy riffing music is followed by....what sounds like a sea chanty that I think is meant to be the jingle for GeneCo. And even that's followed by some strange number involving the two brothers fighting for control of the company.....just as well I have a glass of wine.
• After the song where Blind Mag (played by Sarah Brightman, who actually looks stunning in this movie) comes to talk to Shilo at her home, only to be kicked out by Giles, Shilo confronts her father who refuses to help Mag from the Repo Man.....by acting like a bratty teenager, who suddenly changes clothes, along with the lighting of her bedroom, and becomes even more like Avril Lavigne.....and Joan Jett suddenly appears, playing guitar alongside Shilo while she sings. Giles slaps her, everything goes back to normal (well, in context to the rest of the movie), and he apologises afterwards.....and I pour myself another glass of wine after watching that scene.
• After the song that precedes the final act, where all the characters are gearing up for a showdown at the opera, which its intense beat and violent visuals of Giles kicking ass, we get to the theatre.....and it suddenly turns into a parody of a rap video, with a wigga conductor, a rock band onstage, an old lady working the turntables, a group of female dancers moaning and writhing about onstage, and some woman flashing.....and I quickly down the glass of wine I just poured after the Joan Jett incident.

Seriously, Joan Jett?????

It's scenes like these that not only prevent me from taking it seriously (and it's hard enough to do that when it includes Paris Hilton), but I couldn't help but slap my face in either disgust or disbelief at what I'm watching. And yet, that's the beauty of this film. It's so stupid, but at the same time, the over the top characters, striking costumes and settings, a storyline that twists and turns (if you could follow it), along with the ongoing musical numbers, these are staples that (to the best of my knowledge) can be found in an opera.

If there were two aspects of the film that kept me glued to the screen, one of them was the feel of the movie, with its brilliant visual style, memorable characters, gruesome scenes, and even the storyboard segments, while it does look like the makers were cutting corners, actually fit the comic book tone of the film. So there were a lot of laughs to be had, as well as being engaging in terms of drama.

I'm sure there were some attempts at parody and satire about the divide between the rich and the poor, celebrity culture, and the popularity of plastic surgery. But to me, they didn't translate well onscreen. And I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but it has to do with the fact that this movie stars Paris Hilton.

Now I know her role is synonymous with her real life; rich daddy, plastic surgery, musical aspirations, and even the ending where she becomes head of daddy's empire. But you can't help but think that if she wasn't involved, the film wouldn't have been regarded as bad as it was made out to be.

Plus I think people put her in movies like this and "House Of Wax", just so people can see her in pain onscreen.

But the other aspect of the movie I enjoyed was infact, the music. While I do admit some of the numbers are a bit rubbish and somewhat silly, and it took a while to get used to the vocal delivery from the cast, the industrial goth styling of the soundtrack made me feel that I was watching a series of connected music videos.

The vocal talents of the cast can be hit and miss on their own merits (that said, if that was Paul Sorvino's singing voice, I'm well impressed). But at least the music accompanying them carries them along. I looked at the names of musicians involved in the soundtrack, and to me the most notable were Shawn Crahan (Slipknot), Blasko (Rob Zombie), Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction), Ray Luzier (Korn), Richard Patrick (Filter/brother of Robert "T-1000" Patrick), and Sonny Moore (aka Skrillex).

Top 5 tracks (in order of appearance)

Legal Assassin - I remember an episode of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" where there was some curse (or something) that made all the characters sing out their lines like they were in a musical. It was a fun little episode, and it came to mind when I saw Anthony Stewart Head (who played Giles) listed in the cast credits.

I thought he was the best part of the movie, in terms of character, switching from loving father to ruthless psychopath throughout the film. His vocal talents are not only impressive when singing, especially on this track, where you can feel the pain and loss in his voice. But when he puts on an evil tone of voice when he gets angry, it seems to come out of nowhere, which is either comedic or unsettling, depending on how you view it.

And of course, he's the one who dishes out the most punishment onscreen.

Zydrate Anatomy - I will admit, this song is a little cheesy. But given the tone of the movie, with its similarities to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I did find myself tapping my foot to the beat, even if the lyrics do have some stupid repetition to them, and it does include the "vocal talents" of Paris Hilton. But it's fun to hear the Grave Robber take the lead on this track.

And hey, the guy wrote the screenplay and the music, so why not?

Chase The Morning - While the dialogue in this piece comes off as forced, as are the rest of the songs in this opera, it is still a pretty good number which includes the vocal talents of Sarah Brightman, a very catchy beat that's eerie but upbeat, complete with a female soprano sample in the chorus.

Also did I mention Sarah Brightman looked great in the movie?

At The Opera Tonight - Hands down this is my favourite track from the entire movie.  If I was to make a comparison, it would be similar to "Anothre Brick In The Wall (Part 3)" from Pink Floyd's "The Wall", which acts as a precursor to the second act of the album.

It has that sense of urgency to it that you know is building up to something, as it features contributions from all the main players in the opera, with borrowed elements from previous songs, and it's helped in the film by showing Giles donning the Repo Man uniform and taking out guards sent to kill him as he makes his way to the opera. This scene, music and visuals, kicks, ass.

.....so imagine my shock at the following scene, which I mentioned earlier.

I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much - To be honest, I was taken back by the tenderness of this song, and while it does have a fast paced groove throughout, the lyrics do have a hint of sadness to them, especially the refrain of the song's title used effectively.

I found it a sad scene, even though I was still confused by all the revelations thrown in at the end.

And on a final note.....

Keeping with the opera tone of this blog entry, I will finish this article with my favourite opera number of all time: "Belly Button Fluff" by Zig & Zag.