MovieChat Forums > The Phantom of the Opera (1989) Discussion > So...(spoilers)

So...(spoilers)

posted 9 years ago by iii_3
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I've watched this movie several times since I was 6 years old (yeah, fun times along with "It"). My mother was clueless and I somehow confused it with a fairytale when I was in West Coast Video by looking at the cover (looked like Labyrinth).

Anyways, my question has to do with Victorian-Era Christine's end. Was she shot, and then knocked the candles over, smashing the mirror and falling down dead? I think so, but I never needed that part to make sense, until now. It seems that she died this way, and then was reincarnated in modern times. The Phantom spent the time in-between searching for her/waiting for her to return.

BTW, I always liked this version and better yet, the Charles Dance version of the story more than the ALW version. The storylines seem to be more rich to me. I like that The Phantom's obsession led him across time. He's horrific.

[–] oneiroi 9 years ago

We don't see Christine's demise in the Victorian era (that I can recall). You're onto something with the broken mirror and the reincarnation though. The movie doesn't make it clear and viewers, and the filmmakers themselves, refer to the Victorian era segment as time travel. From a storytelling standpoint, that makes no sense. Remembering a past life, however, does.

The catalyst for the memory is when Christine is knocked unconscious while auditioning on stage, a mirror breaking behind her. This idea is reinforced since the present day accident is inter-cut with her as Victorian era Christine falling onstage after a similar accident while rehearsing an opera (Faust, in which she played Siebel). This past-life recollection ends much as it started, with the breaking of a mirror and Christine regaining consciousness in the present day. If she time-traveled, wouldn't the people at the audition say something, along the lines of "holy sh!t, you disappeared - and now you're back!"

My interpretation may be completely at odds with what the filmmakers intended, but frankly, it makes more sense to me. For some reason that time-travel explanation really annoys me.