About The Movie:
Les
Misérables is a 2012 British musical drama film produced
by Working Title Films and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The film is based on the musical of the same name by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg which is in turn
based on Les Misérables, the 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo.
The film is directed by Tom Hooper, scripted by William Nicholson, Boublil, Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer,
and stars anensemble cast led by Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway,
and Amanda Seyfried. The film tells the story of Jean Valjean,
a former prisoner who becomes mayor of a town in France. Valjean agrees to take
care of Cosette,
the illegitimate daughter of Fantine,
and must avoid being captured again by Javert, a police
inspector.
What Is Good/Bad About The Movie:
Les Miserables begins with a sweep of skill and emotion
that sends chills, whether you're a die-hard musical theater fan or a skeptic
waiting to be convinced (that would be me). Anne Hathaway's performance as the
doomed Fantine singing "I Dreamed A Dream" is the justly celebrated
highlight, but everything in that first hour moves with energy and a sense of
revival; I don’t get to see in musicals and it's exhilarating.
The performances remain strong, the songs stirring and emotional, the cinematography impeccable and the cast attractive. There's something for everyone here, so long as audiences are willing to open up to the singing and find it
The performances remain strong, the songs stirring and emotional, the cinematography impeccable and the cast attractive. There's something for everyone here, so long as audiences are willing to open up to the singing and find it
As the moive belongs to Jean Valjean, Les Miserables belongs to
Jackman, who we first see emaciated and filthy as a prisoner released from hard
labor after 19 years, with the watchful Javert (Crowe) to monitor his parole.
The audience is bound to cry the first time Jackman does, singing "What
Have I Done" in a nearly unbroken take, contemplating his turn from crime
to a life of virtue which also involves breaking his parole. Valjean eventually
winds up hiring and accidentally firing Hathaway's Fantine, who's then forced
to turn to prostitution, but makes a promise on her deathbed to care for her
daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen), who lives with a pair of vile innkeepers
(Sacha Baron Cohen and Helen Bonham Carter).
About a decade later Valjean and Cosette (now Amanda Seyfried) live in Paris, where the poor are just as wretched but a group of idealistic students (led by Aaron Tveit and Eddie Redmyane) plan a revolution. In the way of big splashy musicals (and epic novels like Victor Hugo's original) all the major characters get involved in one way or another, though if you've heard the musical's big numbers like "Do Your Hear The People Sing?" and "One Day More" as often as I have, you might be surprised by how small a role the battle actually plays.
About a decade later Valjean and Cosette (now Amanda Seyfried) live in Paris, where the poor are just as wretched but a group of idealistic students (led by Aaron Tveit and Eddie Redmyane) plan a revolution. In the way of big splashy musicals (and epic novels like Victor Hugo's original) all the major characters get involved in one way or another, though if you've heard the musical's big numbers like "Do Your Hear The People Sing?" and "One Day More" as often as I have, you might be surprised by how small a role the battle actually plays.
As long as this movie is, it gives short shrift to a few of those stories, especially poor Eponine
(Samantha Barks), whose "On My Own" is a musical theater classic but
who isn't around long enough to let us feel her longing for Redmayne's Marius.
And while the love-at-first-sight between Marius and Cosette gives way to some
beautiful singing ("A Heart Full of Love" is gorgeous), it doesn't
quite gel with the realism in the rest of the film. When the focus returns to
Valjean at the end, you realize how much the center of the story had missed
him; the entire cast is obviously fiercely committed to their roles, but Jackman's
world-weariness and talent are the core the movie's soul.
I slept through most of the stage productions of "A Chorus Line", "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera" and I left "Evita" early. I've seen 2 movie adaptations of "Les Miz" and read the book. In all honesty, I'd rather be stuck in the eye with a knitting needle than sit through this 'musical', even if Hugh Jackman appeared wearing only a thong and a smile. (well, maybe then)
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel, musicals are totally lost on me, but there was something about this movie that got my attention and I had to see it.
Delete