Something for Thursday

I've written before about my kinda-sorta-hate-love relationship with Phantom of the Opera, but I really do like the 2004 film version, which I think is very well made and which actually improves the story of the original stage version somewhat by moving the chandelier collapse to the film's climax and by fleshing out the 'flashback' nature of the story a bit. I just discovered this the other day: it's a song that was deleted from the film, called "No One Would Listen", sung by the Phantom. I believe this would have come in the second half of the film, probably shortly after "Masquerade". I assume it was cut for running time, but that's a shame because it's only a couple of minutes and it illustrates the Phantom's crushing loneliness, which really needs to be leaned upon if we're to sorry for a guy who is, let's be honest, a murderous stalker!

Anyway, here's the song. I really do like how they cast a guy who doesn't have the most perfect of singing voices; Gerard Butler makes up for that by dialing up the passion of his singing to the proverbial 11. I like that the Phantom here isn't a golden voice trapped in a beast's body, but that he is really and truly doomed to fall short for everything in his life. And that he knows it.