I am not a Phantom I am a rat Julian Sands as Erik essays

I am not a Phantom I am a rat Julian Sands as Erik essays A child is born, shunned by his own mother. He is brilliant and artistic, possessing skills untouched by even the greatest masters in many areas. Perhaps he is also insane, not relating to the human race. Eventually, he will come to be known as a ghost, haunting the world of normal people as he passes in and out of sight in one of the greatest centers of musical performance in the world. Passionate, he falls in love, and in jealousy he falls even further. This plot line has the potential to be studied in depth by sociologists, psychologists, historians, and artists on so many levels, exploring the child himself and the life and events that build around him. Similar to any number of ancient myths and fairy tales, this love story about an extraordinary outsider was first introduced as "Le Fantome de l'Opera" by Gaston Leroux, a French journalist in the late 1800's who happened upon bits and pieces of historical truths and superstitious rumors that were incorporated into this groundbreaking and originally under appreciated novel. Nearly a century later, after dozens of film versions of this classic tale had already populated popular and independent movie databases, one of the greatest horror movie directors of our time decided to take a stab at re-exploring this haunting character. In 1998, Dario Argento released "Il Fantasma Del l'opera," an Italian remake of the Phantom story filmed in Hungary. Not an attempt to accurately transpose Leroux's novel into film version, nor an attempt to remake any of the previous films, Argento took many liberties with the basic plot elements known by Phantom fans. However, Argento nonetheless stayed true to the spirit and basic artistic essence of this tale. Argento opens his film with an abandoned child floating down the underground waterways of Paris in a basket, abandoned like the baby Moses. However, instead of being found by ...