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When Better Man swings into theaters this weekend — see what I did there? “Swings,” with the movie making Robbie Williams into a CGI monkey? — it’s a welcome reminder of the power of a good movie about the music industry. Whether it’s a biopic of a real life musician, a quasi-fictionalized-but-we-all-know-who-it’s-really-about epic (Hi, Grace of My Heart!) or an entirely made-up story that nonetheless feels true, there’s nothing like the buzz you get from the combination of catchy music and eye-boggling visuals when it’s done on a grand scale — which is why, dear friends, it’s time to offer up for your consideration: Phantom of the Paradise.

This is For Your Consideration, in which we try to come to terms with the inescapable fact that, honestly, there’s too much out there to have time to watch, read, or hear everything — by making some suggestions about things that you might have overlooked but would enjoy, anyway. Think of it as recommendations from a well-meaning friend.

Phantom of the Paradise is the most 1970s musical anyone could ever imagine, and probably didn't

The 1970s was a wild time for cinema for many reasons, with the old guard fading from significance as a new generation of filmmakers stepped up to the plate and redefined the game. Think of the output of the classics of the era, from Dog Day Afternoon and The Godfather through American Graffiti, Blazing Saddles, A Clockwork Orange, and so on and so on. (Jaws! The Conversation! See, it really does go on.) Amongst that wave of new talent that would go on to become a major player in the movie industry in later years was director Brian De Palma, who’d breakthrough to mainstream success with 1976’s Stephen King adaptation, Carrie. Two years earlier, however, he created another movie that, to this day, stands as a classic of over-the-top musical cinema.

As the title suggests, The Phantom of the Paradise takes cues from the beloved story The Phantom of the Opera, but it’s far from an updating of that singular story; in what turns out to be a very ambitious undertaking, De Palma mixed Phantom of the Opera with the legend of Faust and Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray (and, I suspect, a little bit of the Rocky Horror Show, which hadn’t been turned into a movie yet but was certainly thrilling audiences on stage) to create a rock opera the likes of which few could have imagined, and fewer still would have ever thought they’d enjoy. And somehow, it doesn’t just work — it’s actually a masterpiece of cinematic camp.

But what is Phantom of the Paradise actually about?

The storyline of the movie is somewhat simple: Winslow Leach is a wannabe singer-songwriter who has his magnum opus stolen from him by big-time music producer Swan; upon discovering this, he sets out for revenge, but Swan is just too successful and powerful, leading to Winslow being framed as a drug dealer and sent to prison.

Six months later, enraged by the success Swan and his acts are having with his stolen work, Winslow escapes prison and again attempts revenge… but this second time, it goes terribly wrong and Winslow is left mutilated by a record press. A third attempt at revenge sees him come face-to-face with Swan, who recognizes Winslow and convinces him to work to Swan, finishing his magnum opus — a cantata inspired by Faust — in exchange for the woman he loves being given the lead role.

Of course, that doesn’t happen; instead, Swan seduces the woman and signs her to a contract himself while introducing her to a cartoonishly debauched rock and roll lifestyle, leading to Winslow — in the guise of The Phantom — to haunt Swan’s new nightclub, the Paradise, and eventually discover that Swan is actually an agent of the devil, having signed his own soul away decades earlier in order to keep his good looks and success. Things only get stranger from there, but the ending of the movie has to be seen to be believed.

If that all sounds ridiculous and unbelievable, then you’re reading it right. If anything, this is the restrained version: I didn’t mention the glam-rock prima donna star of the Paradise’s big show, who goes by the name of Beef, or the three-man chorus who change identities repeatedly throughout the movie, going from a ‘50s inspired doo-wop group to faux Beach Boys before transforming into Kiss knock-offs; I didn’t even get to the wonderful lack of subtlety in Swan’s record label bluntly being called DEATH RECORDS. (The logo is killer, though.) That’s entirely in keeping with the rest of the movie, though; Phantom of the Paradise isn’t just a movie that lacks subtlety, it’s a movie that actively and repeatedly rejects it, and it’s all the better for that.

Phantom of the Paradise is The Pre-Muppet Muppet Show

Despite a wealth of talent in front of and behind the camera — strange but true fact, Sissy Spacek, who’d play the lead in De Palma’s Carrie two years later, actually worked as a set dresser on the movie — the secret weapon of Phantom of the Paradise is Paul Williams. Williams, who actually plays Swan on-screen and also provides the singing voice of the Phantom, is probably best-known for his work as a songwriter for the Muppets, of all things — he wrote ‘Rainbow Connection’ — and it’s the music he wrote for this movie that transforms it into an all-time classic. Simply put, every single song in this movie is an all-timer… even when they really, really shouldn’t be.

It’s one thing for Williams to nail ballads like ‘Special to Me’ and ‘Old Souls,’ and of course he does; given the era, we probably shouldn’t be surprised that glam rock bangers like ‘Life at Last’ or ‘Somebody Super Like You’ came easily, as well. But why should The Beach Boys parody ‘Upholstery’ — which is actually about upholstery — be such an earworm? Especially as it’s written to be spoken over in an extended sequence about the Phantom planting a bomb to destroy the Paradise during rehearsals…?

Ultimately, it’s Williams’ music that unlocks the true power of Phantom of the Paradise. It’s not enough to be a visually dazzling slice of pop melodrama, sure, but when you add that to songs that are legitimately catchy, and fun to listen to, and… well, are just really good pop songs, that’s when the magic happens.

Viewed 51 years after its release (and subsequent failure at the box office), Phantom of the Paradise feels like a glimpse into what was going to happen across the next few decades of pop culture: a mixture of revival and sensationalism, a questioning of identity and morality, and a story that warns that the only way to succeed might be to sell out, but the price may be too high. Beyond its place as a pop culture curio that could stand in the place of Better Man or any contemporary pop biopic, though, the real reason to watch it is that it demonstrates more ably than most that when you put great music and great visuals together, you can hardly fail to come up with a great movie. Even if it takes people a long time to realize it.

Phantom of the Paradise is currently available to view on Prime Video.

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