Phantom of the Paradise: Difference between revisions
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[[File:potp.jpg|frame|"My music is for Phoenix. Only she can sing it. Anyone else who tries, dies."]]
{{quote|''"He sold his soul for rock n' roll!"''|Tagline}}
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A musical [[Cult Classic]] from 1974, directed by Brian de Palma.
Winslow Leach is an aspiring singer/songwriter who's quite thrilled when powerful music producer, Swan ([[Paul Williams]], who wrote all the film's songs), expresses an interest in using his music -- a rock version of ''[[Faust]]'' -- to open The Paradise, the ultimate rock theater. However, Winslow quickly finds out that Swan wants absolutely nothing to do with him after taking his music. While Winslow gets lucky the first time he sneaks into Swan's mansion (by meeting Phoenix, a cute wannabe singer), he isn't so fortunate the second time, where he's beaten up by Swan's men, framed for drug dealing, and sent to prison for life.
Life in prison isn't so kind to Winslow. His teeth are extracted for experimental purposes, and he winds up with a set of sharp metal replacements. One day, when he hears one of his ''Faust'' songs on the radio -- watered down into cutesy pop and performed by Swan's most popular band, the Juicy Fruits -- he manages to escape prison, but ends up in a freak accident with a record press, severely deforming his face and damaging his vocal chords. Angry and desperate, Winslow heads to The Paradise and dons a cape and a mask, now becoming the titular phantom. He attempts to kill The Juicy Fruits (now retooled into "The Beach Bums") with a bomb, but fails. When he confronts Swan alone shortly thereafter, he's put off-balance by Swan's now conciliatory manner.
Swan not only gives Winslow a shiny new voice box, but the opportunity to have his music produced properly. Winslow agrees, but only if Phoenix can be the only one to sing his songs. Swan agrees and insists that Winslow sign a contract with his own blood. However, Swan doesn't care to keep his promises and instead hires glam-rocker Beef to perform with "The Undead" (previously The Beach Bums). Outraged, Winslow decides to take matters into his own hands...
A combination of ''[[Phantom of the Opera]]'', ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'', ''[[Faust]]'', ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (novel)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', and ''[[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari]]'', ''Phantom of the Paradise'' is rather polarizing film, having been a complete flop when it was first released (though at least receiving an Oscar nomination for its soundtrack). It's now considered a cult favorite.
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{{tropelist}}
*
* [[Affably Evil]]:
* [[All Part of the Show]]:
*
* [[Camp Gay]]:
* [[Clumsy Copyright Censorship]]: A rather unfortunate case. Swan's record label, [[A Worldwide Punomenon|Swan Song]], was featured in many scenes, including long shots and panning shots. At about the same time they were filming, [[Led Zeppelin]] manager Peter Grant started a ''real'' [[wikipedia:Swan Song Records|record label]] with the name, and beat Phantom by a couple months with their first album release. Grant threatened to block release of the film, so [[Brian De Palma|dePalma]] and his editor ''[[Clumsy Copyright Censorship|very poorly]]'' covered up the offending words with the new label name, Death Records. Even worse, several long take scenes with too much movement were reedited so as to not show the original name, wasting the long single take shots. That name was '''everywhere.''' [http://www.swanarchives.org/Production_Fiasco.asp Luckily, the original takes survive in the hands of a fan], though who knows if they'll ever be used in a future release.
* [[Deal with the Devil]]:
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]:
* [[Downer Ending]]
**
*** {{spoiler|Yeah, but the extremely mocking lyrics Swan sings to "The Hell of It" over the credits seem to suggest that Swan somehow won in death anyway.}}
*** {{spoiler|Paul Williams, not his character Swan, sings "The Hell of It", and it's not directed at Winslow(who obviously didn't "die in vain" or "love himself as he loved no other"). If it ''is'' supposed to be Paul Williams singing the song as one of his characters, this troper thinks it's ''Satan'' singing it ''about Swan''. So we're back to [[Bittersweet Ending]]}}
* [[Dramatic Unmask]]:
* [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot]]:
* [[Glamour Failure]]:
* [[Glam Rock]]:
*
* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: Winslow is initially sent to (the real-life prison of) '''Sing-Sing'''. Doubles as [[Fridge Brilliance]] for this troper.
* [[Large Ham]]:
* [[Nice Hat]]
* [[Only One Name]]:
** And Philbin. Arnold Philbin, that is.
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]:
* [[The Piano Player]]:
* [[Playing Against Type]]:
** For example, here's the chorus of "The Hell of It":
{{quote|
''Nobody liked you, you're better off dead<br />▼
''Goodbye (goodbye), we've all come to say goodbye (goodbye), goodbye (goodbye)<br />▼
▲Nobody liked you, you're better off dead<br />
''Born defeated, died in vain<br />▼
▲Goodbye (goodbye), we've all come to say goodbye (goodbye), goodbye (goodbye)<br />
''Super-destructive, you were hooked on pain<br />▼
▲Born defeated<br />
''And though your music lingers on<br />▼
''All of us are glad you're gone<br />▼
▲Super-destructive, you were hooked on pain<br />
''If I could live my life half as worthlessly as you,<br />▼
▲And though your music lingers on<br />
''I'm convinced that I'd wind up burning too. }}▼
▲All of us are glad you're gone<br />
* [[Government Drug Enforcement|Record Company Drug Enforcement]]: Death Records does this with all
▲If I could live my life half as worthlessly as you,<br />
▲I'm convinced that I'd wind up burning too. }}
▲* [[Government Drug Enforcement|Record Company Drug Enforcement]]: Death Records does this with all there musicians, for example when one of the "Beach Bums" complaines that he's too sick to sing, Philibin just shoves some pills down his throat and shoves him back on stage.
*** He wasn't just sick, he heard the ticking from the bomb.
** Also happens later with Beef, when he doesn't want to perform because of the
* [[Sequel Escalation]]:
* [[The Seventies]]
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]:
* [[Soul Jar]]:
* [[Stalker with a Crush]]:
* [[Villain with Good Publicity]]:
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]:
{{reflist}}
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