PG.Net Ambassador
Posts: 4619
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:42 pm
Location: Long ago, in a land far, far away...
Mystery Angel
Fri May 26, 2006 1:52 am
~
The 
Hidden Plot *****SUMMARY OF THE MIRROR/AOM*****
paragraph summary: Through clues shown, we see that Erik is using the Phantom's power - hiding behind him - to beckon Christine forward. Both Erik and Phantom spirit come for Christine. Christine sees only Erik in the mirror - her first time to see Music - not yet sensing the spirit behind him ...
NEW FEATURE!!! - Watching the clues as you read helps - the screen is small so some are harder to see, but it still helps. (note: if you get a notice saying "we're sorry, this video is no longer available"- it's usually a temporary Youtube glitch and you may have to refresh the page until it plays, or come back to it later. This doesn't happen often though...)
Christine comes out from dressing area tying her robe. Before candles blow out - the area beyond dressing table mirror is now apparent where it never was before (chair for table is still gone). Now the room has broadened out, and past the table we see another table with a runner and figurines of people around it (Swedish?), a black box-like object in the center. Beyond the dressing table, we see a chair, a red pillow on it, and above that a portrait and above that shelves with more of the same type of figurines on them. (This can best be seen by putting movie on pause, zooming in, and, using the buttons on your remote, “scooting” to the sides of your widescreen version.)
Another closeup: As for the table itself, when flames go out showing that same table M Giry took the rose from and Raoul laid the champagne bottle on - again, the table has changed (and the door was locked.) The globed lamp, books and portrait fan are still there, but when the candles blow out, only THREE of the 4 ovals glow in the portrait fan. (3- Phantom spirit - the symbolism of "3" showing he is coming or already there) Before flames go out, they show an oval portrait of a woman who appears to be holding a baby, next to the vase and portrait fan, and that ceramic vase of pink roses is now magically on the table. Two children are on the vase- (perhaps signifying Raoul and Christine when they were young since they were just talking about it in Little Lotte) and there is green on it (Christine's color in movie). The vase stands between the portrait fan (red - 4 ovals - Erik) and the 3 lit candles that are suddenly magically on the table now too. (3- Phantom spirit) Perhaps showing that Raoul has come between Erik/Phantom and Christine. The roses are pink now, as they always are when she is with Raoul, so this could be showing that he had swayed her from her AOM, since in this same scene she apologizes to Erik. There are 3 books on the table, and they appear to be sitting on top of an old-fashioned type of music box -
3- Phantom - over "music"- Erik & Christine who are both Angels of Music.
Showing who is in control (at least for now)
a new clue found: On the dressing table, the candles there again seem to show symbolism. On the LEFT there are FOUR - all symbolic of Erik (left side and 4). And they are outside the mirror. Notice ONE of the candlesticks shows it as a pink rose. (and "1" is her number) Perhaps another clue showing that Raoul has gotten to Christine, and is starting to pull her away from Erik. On the RIGHT there are THREE - all symbolic of Phantom spirit (right side and 3). And they are reflected in the mirror which means magic in symbolism and is connected to phantom spirit.
I think this shows that they are both there, and Raoul has put a slight wedge between her and Erik. (because she apologizes that her soul was weak.)
Christine has stopped in front of the doors. When Raoul walked in, he could be seen entering her room in the mirror through those doors. Now, however, after they show her staring toward mirror - her image is not there. In fact, half the mirror image on left has disappeared, including the arch with roses - there is only one half of it - in right hand side of mirror. It appears as if a step might be by the door - reflected in the mirror - however there couldn't be. The overhead shot showed this. The red rose is no longer on the dressing table either. When the Phantom spirit is nearby, the red rose Erik gives her is absent or is dying—important to remember. But all the pink roses near big mirror, except for ones at dressing table, have all turned white. The mirror disappearing could show that the Phantom is the one in control here, (left side missing- Erik) and because Christine's image didn't show that she is not caught up in his control ... yet.
before:
after:
To explain all the “enchanted” changes in the room: We believe much of it signifies Christine and what she’s feeling at the time/what is going on at the time. First shot in Little Lotte, the pink slipcover is thrown over chair. The light is far away, standing on floor at end of table since it was taller at first (?) - and with all the pink roses surrounding her - it’s as if pride is trying to get in and interfere with who she's supposed to be - bringer of Light. But there's more about the pink rose and the symbolism for it. (more soon)
Pictures = memories. Raoul entering room in Little Lotte brought back memories of her childhood, the mother she had, the Swedish figurines (her father was Swedish.). The 3 books by the lamp suggest the “dark stories of the North” from Little Lotte song, and the books they read to each other as children. And the vase of pink roses suddenly there signify that Raoul has helped her get into pride. As in, "You sang like an angel tonight." She was giving credit to someone else, but he turned it around and gave her all the credit. (King Music's upcoming words and her apology also point to this). Could also be why Erik's rose is no longer on her dresser - she’d succumbed to that pride and forgotten about his part in her triumph.
The Phantom/Angel unleashes his anger toward Raoul in song: “Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, basking in your glory. Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!”
CHRISTINE: "Angel, I hear you, speak, I listen, stay by my side, guide me. . . (when she sings “listen”—there is a flash of light to the right of screen—when Erik sings “listen” in NOWL, the mist all clears away—showing to “listen” is very important in this movie, just as silence is.)
before:
when she sings "listen":
In the overhead shot of the room, we see amost all the pink roses are gone, including ones by the door. There are still pink flowers, but few pink roses. (door was locked. No one could have moved them.) There are a few mixed with white ones in the middle, but all that's about to change. If you zoom, you'll notice Christine is wearing pointed shoes. She's not in stockings yet. Also notice to the far right is a throw rug overlapping the other rug. There are thick and thin stripes in it - but it isn't set up as stairs and they are too narrow to be stairs - also, with the way the chairs sit at the edge of the stripes, there is no way they could balance if those were stairs, It looks like a design in the rug. The stairs would have been a little past the flowers - there are no stairs in room or a step by the door. Yet Raoul stepped up when he came to her, as if ascending a throne. (symbolically) And there appeared to be a step by the door when half of room disappeared in mirror.
CHRISTNE: Angel, my soul was weak, forgive me. . ."
These lines are at first confusing. She just TOLD Raoul that she wouldn’t eat with him three times - and was very strong about her refusals. While he was there, all she could talk about was her Angel of Music. Yet she’s saying her soul was weak and asking him to forgive her. We feel it's because she got into pride, as all the pink roses - especially those now on the vase on the table that weren't there before -show. The rose symbolizes Christine (to Erik), and when the rose is pink, she's in pride and leaning more toward Raoul. (Such as the pink rose on her dress in Masquerade - a dress clearly out of place at a ball of that nature.)
When the rose is red, she's thinking of her Angel.
We think Erik gets mad, besides also being angry at Raoul for interfering, because pride is taking over her and she's forgetting that some of the credit goes to him - King Music. The praise for her debut had gotten to her head. She'd received audience adulation, Meg's praise in chapel, then, when she was coming into the room, all the people outside wanted to cheer her success, but M. Giry avoided them and closed the door. Then she praised her, and told her Erik her teacher was pleased with her, and then Raoul praised her, too.
Anxious, she sings, “Enter at last, Master.”
She has just given him - and the Phantom spirit - permission to enter.
ANGEL/ERIK: Flattering child, you shall know me. See why in shadow I hide. Look at your face in the mirror; I am there inside. . .”
He even sings “shadow” more whispery - another definition for “shadow” in dictionary is: "Phantom or spirit." He’s saying, “see why in Phantom I hide”... Also, notice the changes in mirror image from last scene. There appears to be a step right in front of her, now reflected in mirror, but when she takes the first few steps she walks level and straight. Also, her mirror image appears further away than she really looks in "real life." AND all the pink roses have magically changed and are now white (explanation soon)
Also notice, her image is back.:
When she looks in mirror, she looks as if she is superimposed on him, as if they are one. This is even clearer in companion book.
CHRISTINE: “Angel of Music, guide and guardian, grant to me your glory. . .Angel of Music, hide no longer, Come to me, strange Angel. . .”
When she sings, her mouth is not moving- she is singing to him in her mind. We know he hears her, because he continues the song from where she left off - first without his lips moving, as you can see in his reflection in mirror - then aloud. Symbolically, we found that telepathy - (mind reading) - is most often used when someone is overcome and cannot speak. She was overcome with wondering disbelief and delight to see/meet her Angel (in the mirror) after nine long years of only hearing his voice. Perhaps he was also overcome at first, to see her walk toward him and hear her asking him to come to her. And this is his first face-to-face meeting with her in all that time. But more than that, they both share the spirit of Music and are linked by that too. The way they show them as one in the mirror also leads to this idea.
A white mist surrounds her. (symbolic meaning for mist: "indeterminate, a change is taking place.") She sings to him in thought - as she does whenever she’s overcome. (This is important to remember.) The pink flowers that had been at the mirror are now all white. He influences her to take his glove - and you hear two voices. One singing, one whispering (we believe this shows that one is Erik and one is the Phantom spirit.)
*To understand this scene and what’s really going on here, we have to jump ahead to the Don Juan opera. Don Juan - which Erik wrote under Phantom's influence - is a foreshadowing of what will happen in movie, (as all the songs sung in the actual operas are) but also a recap of this moment at the mirror, because there is only one part of song sung in past tense. Sung by Don Juan (Angel/Erik) to Passarino (Phantom)
This line:
DON JUAN (Angel/Erik/King) : “When you met, you wore my cloak, she could not have seen your face. "
translated:
When Phantom met Christine at the mirror, Phantom spirit wore the King’s cloak, she could not have seen Phantom’s face. (known who was really there)
This is the first time we see that Erik is influenced by the Phantom, and we believe the Phantom (not Erik) is an evil spirit, as is shown in many upcoming scenes and in a lot of clues as well as lyrics, text throughout companion book, etc, where they actually call the Phantom a spectre, with lines such as, Meg "sees the spectre of the Phantom leading Christine across the roof." (p. 92)
The King’s cloak (from above line of song) has gold lining. (red and gold are kingdom colors - meaning, the king's colors) That’s something important to remember for upcoming scenes. Also, notice in picture above, the left side of Erik's face (symbolizing him) is in darkness and only the right side with mask shows (symbolizing Phantom spirit.)
The Angel of Music is not bad or evil. He is a flesh and blood man (a King in this fantasy, as is shown later) who made a mistake. In his hurt and loneliness, he relied on the Phantom spirit who deceived him into thinking he was a friend. Because the Angel was well versed in magic and lived among gypsies, this could have been the opening where he invited the Phantom spirit into his life since there are clues the spirit was there at the gypsy fair, too.
From J.E. Cirlot’s Dictionary of Symbols:
Mirror – imagination ... magic; moon (as in reflecting the real image the way the moon reflects direct light); soul's multiplicity; door for soul to be freed to the other side.
Lake - mirror; occult and mystery (according to Ancient Egyptian thought) because of the underground lake that the sun passes over during the 'night-crossing.' - Land of the Dead.
And Erik was trapped in his lair, a place he considered hail, where there was an underground lake But however it all happened, the whole idea of the overall plot of the deeper story is to save Erik- King Music - her Angel from this darkness and bring him into the light with Christine, his intended queen, as many clues show her to be. Christine brings light. (Whenever we see her, there is light around her, following her, or with her in some way.)
PHANTOM/ERIK: "I am your Angel of Music/come to me, Angel of Music."
Notice something important: He calls her Angel of Music, just as she calls him that. (And he does this throughout movie). She is also Music. They are both rulers in this realm. She is in training from the “Master” - the King - and is still an apprentice, his student, but he is shaping her into his queen (more of that in MOTN). She is Music too, (as is shown in other clues in later scenes.) They are one. It's what she wanted all her life - for the Angel of Music to come to her and guide her - and that's why they called her Little Lotte. Music was ALL she ever wanted or asked for. And Music WAS Erik.
RAOUL: “Whose is that voice; who is that in there?”
PHANTOM/ERIK: ”I am your Angel of Music”
RAOUL: ”Christine, Christine!”
PHANTOM/ERIK: ”Come to me Angel of Music”
We see her step up to the mirror, (but again, there are no stairs), as if she’s now ascending a throne to her king. (Another important thing to remember for later.)
Once she takes his hand and steps through the mirror with the Phantom/Angel, the pink roses on her clothes disappear, and her dress sparkles white in those places. Also the pointed shoes are suddenly gone - she is now in stockings. A symbol book list one member posted shows this as a sign of humility. Another clue that all pride has vanished.
Another thing about the lack of footwear on her part: the only times she is without shoes is when she is with the King - Erik - in the movie. In PONR, he wrote the opera, designed the costumes (as we see in NOWL). And had her barefoot in PONR.
The disappearance of the shoes here could show he didn't want her to have Raoul's protection as "shoes" symbolizes Raoul. (symbolically shoes protect the upright spirit) Maybe Erik wanted all forms of outside protection removed, so he could be her only protection - the only person she would rely on. She was “under the Angel of Music’s wing...” as he wrote in later note, and that symbolized safety. But we also think it was a sign of humility - explained more in next scene. Her lips tremble, and the moment she steps through the mirror to him, we can now see they are glossy and different color than what she looked like before—her face looks as if it has come more alive. It is always this way when she is with Erik.
before (her lips were pink- no shine to them):
after: (her lips are more coral/golden- and glossy)
Here are the symbolic meanings of roses from a symbols website to help understand these scenes and why the same roses suddenly change color from scene to scene:
Red rose: romantic love, passion, i love you, you are beautiful, or congratulations - truth will be disclosed/secret meeting/silence
Full blown opened up roses: engagement, committed, or love at first sight.
Black: the color of death, but can also mean major changes in the future.
Fiery red: flaming passion
And a single rose means, “you’re the only one.”
Pink: a lesser love
Here's more I found on three websites:
Roses are known as "the Queen of Flowers"
Red Roses were dedicated to Aphrodite and Venus (Christine is symbolized as Venus a number of times in the movie, and as the queen of this fantasy)
The White Rose stands for innocence and purity, also silence, secrecy, and reverence. Sometimes called the "flower of light, the white rose also means spiritual love and anticipation of happiness. (the roses turn from pink as they were in Little Lotte to white at the mirror scene with Erik, and all of the above applies. Secret/silent meeting between them, a reverence from her to be in his presence; she brings the light; and she is anticipating happiness to be with him, and they share the same spirit- Music- and the love of it and each other in it.)
*“red” is the color of King Music or Erik, and “black” is the color of the Phantom spirit through clues in both the film and the companion book.
* the number “3” is symbolic of the Phantom’s power, as is shown in every scene where “3” is mentioned or shown symbolically.
* for this movie, “left” is the side that is true - the Angel. (Erik)
“Right” is the side that is false - the Phantom, and the mask is symbolic of Erik hiding behind the Phantom. Symbolic meaning of masks from an HP sleuther's book on symbolism:
masks: "In nonliterate as well as in highly civilized cultures, expressions of the presence of supernatural entities. The person wearing the mask feels internally transformed and takes on temporarily the qualities of the god or demon represented by the mask."
(But that doesn’t mean Angel has resorted to Phantom control all the time we see him in it. Yet he IS hiding behind the Phantom ... (more clues/reasons will be shown throughout upcoming scenes)
The interesting thing about right (what they show for Phantom spirit) being false and left being true (what they show for Erik the King) is that it is the exact opposite of what the true symbolism for these are - from research, “right” is true/good, and “left” is false/evil. But in this movie –“eye of gold, true is false ... “ --It is reversed - like another of the reversals we see. (more on that soon)
*When we see a reversal - i.e. Little Lotte mirror scene - left going to right - and bridge reversal in PONR - I believe it shows that their roles have reversed. (Phantom's and Erik's)
**COMPANION BOOK CLUES**
P. 81: They show Christine looking in mirror at Erik/Phantom. Her white robe in the book has pink roses all around it, and a pink rose looks to be at her waist. In the movie, if you look really hard, you can see a few of the small pink rosebuds - which companion book shows going down her whole collar. But the pink flower at her waist wasn't in movie. Again, we feel this is a clue to show the "pink rose" is when she's in pride or leaning toward Raoul "a lesser love." (as pink roses symbolize) Also in book, they only show the mask - the good side of Erik's face - the left side - is completely obliterated though it’s a frontal shot. If this was just a trick of the picture, her face should be that way too, because her face is superimposed beneath his.)
**THE SPOKEN WORD**
In the movie, they broke away from song to speak lines they had sung in the play—sometimes speaking for only a few lines. Here is the connecting link I’ve found with the spoken word—
sung: "Come to me Angel of Music"
spoken: “Whose is that voice. . .who is that in there?” ("who" is Angel of Music and it's his voice - him)
“Christine! Christine!” (actually shouted, not spoken, but she is also Angel of Music, so it’s her too.)
**SOUND SIMILARITIES IN SONGS by Redrose**
AOM from ‘Insolent boy’ until AOM phrase
AOM phrase when Christine heads to mirror
**MUSIC ANALYSIS by Phantoms Star**
2.) Harp: After Christine sings, “Stay by my side, guide me,” we hear the sound of the harp. She’s referring to Angel here. I think to her (deep down) she wants him to be her guardian.
3.) Cymbals: We slightly hear the brushing of cymbals after Angel says, “I am there inside.” I think we slightly hear them because Angel is there but relying on the Phantom spirit at this point (from what we know from the Don Juan scene.) He’s not fully himself at this point.
4.) Flute:
Angel of Music, guide and guardian
Grant to me your glory (after this line, we also hear the harp)
Angel of Music, hide no longer
Come to me strange angel
We hear the flute here because Christine is calling to her Angel of Music. The sound of the flute is really emphasized here because I think Christine is deeply reaching out to her Angel since he is right there in front of her. This is the first time they meet face to face.
5.) After Christine sings, “Come to me strange angel,” we hear the slight brushing of the cymbals again, which I think again shows Angel is there but not fully because he’s relying on the Phantom’s spirit.
Link to Phantom of the Opera - click to read
Last edited by honeyphan on Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:02 am, edited 8 times in total.
Music brought them together...One kiss bound them for life...
And two hearts were entwined for all eternity
*Thanks nightsmusic for avatar! *E/C Banner/manip made by me (from The Treasure)
*More full E/C manip/paintings in my album
~ *Captain of the Hidden Plotters ...Is there a "Hidden Plot" in 2004 POTO movie? You decide!
The Hidden Plot (HP)
E/C Phanphics (more to come soon) THE QUEST (HP-bk.1) THE TREASURE (HP-bk. 2 - adult) REFLECTIONS of the SOUL A PHANTOM CHRISTMAS CAROL SYMPHONY in the TWILIGHT - adult -click links to read
And two hearts were entwined for all eternity
*Thanks nightsmusic for avatar! *E/C Banner/manip made by me (from The Treasure)
*More full E/C manip/paintings in my album
~ *Captain of the Hidden Plotters ...Is there a "Hidden Plot" in 2004 POTO movie? You decide!
The Hidden Plot (HP)
E/C Phanphics (more to come soon) THE QUEST (HP-bk.1)
THE TREASURE (HP-bk. 2 - adult) REFLECTIONS of the SOUL A PHANTOM CHRISTMAS CAROL SYMPHONY in the TWILIGHT - adult -click links to read
