The Phantom of the Opera

I try to balance my reviews between objective observances on the more technical aspects of a movie (cohesive storytelling, editing, sound, etc.) and personal enjoyment. Sometimes, personal enjoyment will overwhelm the technical aspects, but where appropriate, I try to achieve some balance. With 1925's Phantom Of The Opera, I have to admit that, in large part, the three stars is for the technical aspects. If I were just grading on that, in fact, it might be a little higher. I didn't not enjoy the movie, but it is kind of erratic in how the story unfolds. It tends to jump around (I researched the movie and am aware of multiple cuts of the movie, so that may be part of it) in the narrative, or just jump from plot point to plot point and tell you after the fact what's up. I don't know how much of that can be attributed to the time, though. The silent movie era is an altogether different beast, in much the same way video games are different prior to the NES. Give a modern kid Super Mario Bros and they're like to appreciate it. Give a modern kid Pitfall or Jungle Hunt or Adventure, though, and it's likely a step too far back in time, and that's kind of what I feel silent movies are now. What made them work in the time is so far removed from the now, it's hard to appreciate. It can still be done well (The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari is legitimately good), and for portions of this, it's fine. But it also gets rather silly at the end, and that may be modern bias. I can step back and be objective to a point, but only to a point. Some of the silent movie acting and filmmaking nuances are and forever will be lost to me. It's a function of time. But it's still not a bad movie. It didn't connect with me fully, but I can see the charm and appeal of it. Everybody plays their parts well, the make-up on The Phantom is iconic, and taken at face value, I'm sure it scared the living daylights out of people back in the day. I'm glad I saw it, and would recommend seeing it just to experience the history of it, but it also likely requires a certain kind of mindset to appreciate fully. Hooptober 2022 movie #28/31