I have read some of the previous threads regarding Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera movie - but instead of writing a reply to one of those threads, I decided to start this new thread -- and one of the many reasons being that my opinion seems to be, once again, quite different from the previous writers.

I have fallen in love with this new song, "Learn To Be Lonely", from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA movie musical. I know that there seems to be no lovers to this particular song, BUT still I want to defend this song, because the song captures beautifully the new soul of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Joel Schumacher's new Phantom.

Having seen the movie now for the fourth time, I am both soaring and still upset why Lloyd Webber didn't use this beautiful new theme more within the movie. The new melody appears only twice in the movie, towards the end of the "Masquerade" scene (the long, loving gaze between the Phantom and Christine) and in the graveyard finale -- and both are simply too brief scenes for this touching music, which tells something very essential of the Phantom's character and his love for Christine. I, personally, would have cried my eyes out if Gerard Butler had sung the song after releasing Christine and Raoul from his domain. Or earlier. Or later. -- Whatever.

Find more thoughts and my full review here: http://www.moviemusic.com/comments.asp?id=phantomoftheopera2004&author=all

KEN

NP. (only in my mind) the new song's melody.

One of the interesting Phantom threads here at MM:
http://www.moviemusic.com/mb/Forum1/HTML/013292.html

[Message edited by Ken S on 01-05-2005]