Phantom of the Opera Spoilers

Although my Baby didn't really want to see it, last night she, I, Marie, Mom and Erika went to see Phantom of the Opera (the movie). I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was climactic, artistic and the musical elements were right on par with the live musical. I think that the movie version only enhances the musical because in the musical, although it is live and thrilling in the theatre setting, does not allow for the personal and upclose vision of the characters. Facial expression, intonation and body language are able to be expressed and viewed in the movie whereas in the play things are muchly exagerated for the large audience. The script in the movie was slightly changed from the musical, but it did not detriment the quality of the movie, only added to the background knowledge and plot. The music was moving and phenominal, it wasn't the same as the live musical because in there you have the orchestra down in the pit and you can actually feel the music, but it was still very scary and stirring.
The upclose setting of the movie and the ability to see the actors faces and expressions helped me to better understand the plot because I never really understood why the phantom had power over Christine, but in the movie you are able to see that it is this whole religious experience for her. The phantom has not only been her mentor for many years, but he is a reminder of her father so he has that enchanting/sensual pull on her. Which only leads to my revelation on the Beautiful and the Sublime. I have two theories on this. It is obvious that the Phantom is the representation of the sublime as he is both awe inspiring and terrifying, yet you cannot take your eyes off of him, just as Christine cannot seem to either, even though his face is distorted. The Beautiful can be viewed as either Christine or Raul, depending on the the take that you want. Christine is a woman and has the small delicacy going on for her, following the lines of Burke's definition, but Raul can also be viewed as the represenation of the Beautiful as he in comparison to the phantom is more womanly as he has smooth features. This can also be taken in respect of their love for one another. In the scenes with the phantom and Christine it is a very sexual and Black Sabath sort of experience, whereas the Raul/Christine scenes are more romantic with the singing on the roof and the twirling and the snow. More could be written into this, but it is just an interesting observation. It of course could also be applied to many works of literature, Beauty and the Beast...
I was very torn for the entire movie as to which man I wanted Christine to be with. I felt for the phantom and despite his hideous face he has an awesome voice that rifles my obsession with Ewan McGregor and you feel for him. He loves Christine and is merely misunderstood and a little bit demented because he is obsessed with her and kills people, but besides that, he is just exciting and dead sexy (minus the face). Raul is so girly and romantic, it gets a bit too sappy at times and although he fights for Christine and all that, he cannot offer her what the phantom is offering her, with the singing and the genius that he is. But Raul can offer her a normal life and you can see that she is totally in love with him. But I was so happy that Christine did kiss the Phantom at the end because if she left without kissing the phantom, that would be so harsh because he taught her and was such a big influence in her life as she grew up. And I was glad that they had her go back to him and give him the ring.
On a seperate note, why did Christine die first? In order of age, I thought that Madam whatsherface was the oldest, then the phantom, then Raul, then Christine. The youngest of them all dies first? That doesn't seem right, appropriate for the story, yes, but it still bugs me practically. And why does Madam whatchmacallit look younger than Raul in the black and white scene? And what was up with the picture at the end and the candle? Was there a picture at the beginning and I missed it? And how cool was it when the phantom jumped up on that statue on the roof and sang to the sky? Scary Much?
Anyway, it was an awesome movie, I want to see it again so that I can get a better feel for it and notice things that I didn't notice the first time.