Les Misérables
Go! But please only if you like musicals.
Epic story; big singing faces.
The whole Les Misérables thing is kind of a big deal. This version is an English film based on an English musical based on a French album based on a 19th century French novel which was based on true French events. With all of those Franglais whispers, the potential exists for the scale and magnificence of Victor Hugo's original novel (which is impossibly substantial to commit to a single film) to become diluted by catchy songs and limited running time. Tom Hooper (a former director of Byker Grove and Eastenders, but more recently, The King's Speech) has quite a task on his hands.
If you don't know the story, the question has to be asked about which rock you've been squirrelled away under for the past 150 years. We follow the 17 year-long exploits of ex-convict and big-strong-guy, Jean Valjean, as he attempts to atone for his 19 years of incarceration with honest and godly living. However, having broken his parole, he is all the while chased by policeman, Javert (boo/hiss) who is obsessed with finding JVJ and returning him to jail. In the midst of it all, Mr Valjean vows to care for Cossette, the scraggly wee child of a prostitute named Fantine. Young, handsome chap Marius Pontmercy then falls in love with Cossette, but as a part of the revolting French of the revolution, goes into battle to win rights for the poor and hungry! So he might die, just as their love begins!! Mon Dieu! It's all so stressful. Besides that there are waistcoats, bonnets, and some first degree sideburns.
If you don't know the story, the question has to be asked about which rock you've been squirrelled away under for the past 150 years. We follow the 17 year-long exploits of ex-convict and big-strong-guy, Jean Valjean, as he attempts to atone for his 19 years of incarceration with honest and godly living. However, having broken his parole, he is all the while chased by policeman, Javert (boo/hiss) who is obsessed with finding JVJ and returning him to jail. In the midst of it all, Mr Valjean vows to care for Cossette, the scraggly wee child of a prostitute named Fantine. Young, handsome chap Marius Pontmercy then falls in love with Cossette, but as a part of the revolting French of the revolution, goes into battle to win rights for the poor and hungry! So he might die, just as their love begins!! Mon Dieu! It's all so stressful. Besides that there are waistcoats, bonnets, and some first degree sideburns.
To make it all work, a stellar cast has been launched at the film. As Fantine, Hathaway particularly excels. Despite being in the film for only around 40 minutes, her singing and emotive acting are quite astounding and she comfortably becomes achingly memorable long after the credits roll. Jackman also surprises as Jean Valjean with a soaring, taught, tenor voice and often stirring performance. Having modelled for Burberry and won awards for his stage performances, Eddie Redmayne as Marius becomes even more irritatingly talented as he now adds solid screen acting and singing to his repertoire. The double-barrelled duo of Baron-Cohen and Bohnam-Carter also bring much needed lightness and humour to the film as pub landlord and lady; and Amanda Seyfried competently builds on her Mamma Mia musical credentials, albeit with little to rave about from her soft, sparrow-like character, Cossette.
The one weak link in the otherwise well-anchored chain of acting is the performance of Russell Crowe. Clearly not designed for musicals, he is devoid of the clenched fist of intensity that is needed to pull the genre off. His singing is on pitch, but lifeless; coming across like the dull sound of someone punching a raw slab of ribbed meat in an echoey abattoir. In comparison to the agile, cutting rapier of Jackman's voice, particularly during duets, he is completely overshadowed and out of his depth. It is a shame, as the scarred character of Javert has so much potential to be brilliantly portrayed. Casting Crowe to play him was a lost opportunity.
The one weak link in the otherwise well-anchored chain of acting is the performance of Russell Crowe. Clearly not designed for musicals, he is devoid of the clenched fist of intensity that is needed to pull the genre off. His singing is on pitch, but lifeless; coming across like the dull sound of someone punching a raw slab of ribbed meat in an echoey abattoir. In comparison to the agile, cutting rapier of Jackman's voice, particularly during duets, he is completely overshadowed and out of his depth. It is a shame, as the scarred character of Javert has so much potential to be brilliantly portrayed. Casting Crowe to play him was a lost opportunity.
Aside from Crowe, everything seems great. With the memorable songs of the stage performance wrapped in a bruised, filthy, blood-soaked and gritty French flag and filmed with close-up intimacy and unrelenting intensity, only the most stone-hearted among us would struggle to have their emotional pool ripple at least slightly during the course of this epic. What more could the film need? Well, the one significant issue is that less could perhaps have been more. In the stage performance - which is considerably lighter because the actor's faces are all human-sized, and there is only so much space in which to convey human turmoil - incessant singing is sustainable. Theatre-goers also get a mid-performance break from the two-and-a-half hours running time. However, in the film version, the unyielding music and emotions are very difficult to continue absorbing for the full duration. Sitting in front of huge close-ups of actors' faces is exhausting. After Anne Hathaway emotionally beats you over the head with a teary, heart-breaking rendition of, "I Dreamed a Dream", you would probably be happy to slink off home and cry yourself to sleep. But you can't, because there is still another hour and forty-five minutes of the film remaining. When it is finally finished, I would defy anyone not to be fully drained and just wanting someone to speak to them calmly; without crying, rhyming or harmonising. And possibly for "French" people to...well...speak French.
All that said, it is quite an experience. Sticking with it will allow you to see some excellent performances and enjoy Lay Miz songs on a scale never seen before.
Go, and as long as you've slept well, been to the loo beforehand and are well-fed, you will not forget going to see the huge spectacle of Les Misérables.
On the other hand, if you really don't like musicals, definitely, definitely do not go anywhere near this. This is a musical on steroids, so you will just end up justifying your own dislike for the genre and regretting ever having been born to witness what is perhaps the biggest scale on which a musical has ever been produced.
All that said, it is quite an experience. Sticking with it will allow you to see some excellent performances and enjoy Lay Miz songs on a scale never seen before.
Go, and as long as you've slept well, been to the loo beforehand and are well-fed, you will not forget going to see the huge spectacle of Les Misérables.
On the other hand, if you really don't like musicals, definitely, definitely do not go anywhere near this. This is a musical on steroids, so you will just end up justifying your own dislike for the genre and regretting ever having been born to witness what is perhaps the biggest scale on which a musical has ever been produced.
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