One of the first rock operas, inspired by the novel The Phantom of the Opera, tells the story of a brilliant young composer who dispossessed of his music by an evil producer, turns into a masked ghost and haunts his enemy's theater. De Palma asked Paul Williams to compose the music, who found the opportunity to demonstrate his extended talent in all genres of popular music from the 50s to the 70s. De Palma was obliged to remove from the film most references to Swan’s record company before the film’s release, because of the similarity of the name to that of a real-life record company. 

Brian De Palma (1940), after studying physics, studied theater and in the 60's lived in the artsy Greenwich Village, cradle of the Fluxus movement. He became the author of a political and critical cinema at the very heart of Hollywood and post-Vietnam America, with films like Obsession (1976), Carrie (1976), Scarface (1983), The Untouchables (1987), Outrage (1989). His work is both dark and spectacular, referential to Hitchcock in particular, and constantly inventive. Nowadays, Brian De Palma is still an active filmmaker and writer.

Closing Film