While the stage performance of ¡°The Phantom of the Opera?is approaching a record-making 100 shows in Shanghai, this ¡°most personal work?of Andrew Lloyd Webber has hit the big screen worldwide.

A collaboration by director Joel Schumacher and Lloyd Webber, the 140-minute film, not surprisingly, retains the glamour and suspense of the original stage show that has been viewed by millions of people all over the world. Assisted by cinematic modes of expression, the movie version distinguishes itself through its emphasis on details.

By this, I do not mean only the gorgeous costumes and settings ?especially in scenes like the masquerade ?but more importantly, details that have been implanted in the story-telling. Schumacher¡¯s camera takes the audience to the backstage, where the dancers, singers, prop makers are in awe of the performance of Christine (Emmy Rossum) and fear the legend of the Phantom (Gerard Butler). A major change in the film concerns the past of the Phantom. His childhood plight has been more directly portrayed, with an added flashback scene via the narrative of ballet mistress Madame Giry (Miranda Richardson), which makes his agony and desperation as a lonely adult more understandable.

Some of the details can be very touching. After placing a music box ?belonging to the Phantom ?on Christine¡¯s grave at the end of the movie, the fragile Raoul (Patrick Wilson), along with the audience, notice a rose with a ring encircling the stem, which has obviously been left by the Phantom as the ring is the one he intended to give to his protege Christine during their last encounter in his lair.

But generally, the movie, which was first planned in 1988, has too much the appearance of a filmed stage show, with most of the scene taken in indoor environments and most lines besides major scores sung instead of said. Even the intermittent appearances of an aged Raoul as he leaves the auction house seem quite unnecessary, though the director¡¯s attempt to hold the story together with this is evident.

When a reputed musical like this is turned into a movie, it is only natural that the audience will pay particular attention to the music itself. Though the original performance of Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford is incomparably superior, the crew in this long-awaited movie version have done a job better than expected. Rossum, only 17 years old when the film was made, has a sweet voice that very well portrays Christine¡¯s innocence and kindness, while Butler sings under the icon mask of the Phantom with an intensity and passion that sometimes enchants the audience but at other times terrifies them. Diva La Carlotta (Minnie Driver), the only actor in the movie that does not sing for herself, nevertheless adds an amusing air to her role and leaves a deep impression on the audience. Lloyd Webber wrote new music for the movie, including ¡°Learn to be Lonely?that accompanies the closing credits. Shao Zongwei