Les Miserables

As one who has seen this musical A LOT (my siblings and I have been dragged to every production we could ever possibly attend as it is our mother's favourite musical of all time), I was skeptical when I heard that they were making this epic musical into a movie (for the second time). To be perfectly honest, I didn't think they could pull it off. But here I stand, very much corrected. You haven't seen anything like this before, unless you have seen the film and then you don't count. 

This is not just a story but an epic journey. An epic journey that takes you through so many emotional highs and lows and one that is surrounded by history (even if most historians call it a bastardisation of Victor Hugo's original novel). In summary it goes a little something like this; In 19th Century France, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is hunted by policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) after he breaks parole. Years on, he agrees to care for the daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), one of the workers in the factory that he now owns. His life is changed forever (obviously). But it's not all about him. In pre-revolutionary France there is a lot happening and this musical attempts to cover everything. It's one emotional roller coaster.

Directed by Tom Hooper, known for The King's Speech, this is a revolutionary movie (not just because of the content) but because of the way he has decided to film the entire thing. All the songs are recorded live. (This is the revolutionary part of it but this is a big thing, especially for musicals.)

What Hooper has done by recording the singing live and not having his actors attempt to do some awful lip syncing, is allow for all the emotion to seep through. You see and feel the emotion of the songs in a way that the musical can't do. After seeing this movie, if you go back and listen to the original cast soundtrack (like I did) you will find that it seems like the cast are just singing, without emotion. Just singing a pretty song. It's like comparing yourself to how you sing inside your head to how you actually sound out loud. Huge difference right? Well that's what this is like.

So how do the cast cope with this revolutionary method? Well they owned it. (pwned it really)

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe, who I thought could be this movie's downfall gives a solid performance. I mean it's not all that great but it's not that bad either. He does well.

Daniel Huttlestone who plays Gavroche, who is normally a character that I find very annoying, was great. Huttlestone seems so comfortable around the camera and really brings out the best parts of his character. And the same goes for young Cosette, Isabelle Allen. Although neither of them get much screen time, they really shine for the moments that they do get.

Samantha Banks
(Do you see what I am talking about with the waist?)

Amanda Seyfried sings high and wobbly and fits Cosette very well. I mean Eponine is always better and that proves true again here with Samantha Barks and her incredibly tiny waist.
 

Eddie Redmayne isn't as annoying as I usually find him and has a really great voice, surprisingly. When he and Seyfried sing their harmonies, it's just so pretty. Well when anyone one is singing in harmony it's so pretty.

Hugh Jackman

 The way Hugh Jackman's character, Valjean, changes, look wise, is pretty incredible but his voice, at times, disappointed me. Everything else is fine but there are times when the haunting melody got lost behind him almost mumbling the words and not holding on to the notes. But I am being very picky cause his performance is amazing. 





Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as Thénardier and Madame Thénardier respectively are fantastic. They break up all the devastating emotional parts of this film with great interludes of comedy and they do it so well. They are so comfortable in these characters and it really shows. They just look like they are having so much fun.

Anna Hathaway

And then there is Anne Hathaway. Her performance is, well, words can't even describe. It's brilliant, harrowing, heart wrenching and any other big, complex words that portray the same emotions and brilliance as those. Her version of I Dreamed a Dream is raw emotion and it's devastating to watch. At that moment, if you are not crying in your seat in the dark cinema, surrounded by strangers, then you are the worst person to exist. Ever. I mean what's wrong with you? She is laying everything she has out to bare for you and you don't even have the courtesy, no, the compassion to shed a few tears to show that you are human. Unbelievable. This really is an amazing performance. If she does not win the Oscar for this then it will be a crime. Haters can hate but Anne Hathaway is every woman!

There was just one problem. It's not that major, it was something that really got on my nerves. And for this I must complain to cinematographer Danny Cohen and editors Chris Dickens and Melanie Oliver. The filming and the editing for some reason unbeknownst to man, decided that it was going to jump around the entire film. I must ask why? Why would you, when you have such a big, elaborate and intricate set, only have extreme close ups of peoples faces? It makes everything feel claustrophobic. And why, after such long, sustained close ups, would you have so many cuts that you are constantly jumping from one shot to the next every few seconds? It was very distracting. There will be these beautiful, still scenes filled with all this emotion and then the editors decided to go to town and undo all that emotion by jumping all over the place, moving in and out, far away, side to side, back and forth, up and down.

Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen

This film was shot mostly using a hand held camera by Danny Cohen. I am okay with the shakiness of handy cams but this was over a little over the top for me with all the cutting as well as the hand held. This all being said, it didn't stop me from getting immersed in the film and the songs and the characters. I loved it. The music is so great and everyone really did a great job on this film.


This is a great adaptation. It's not to say that I won't go and see the stage musical again because I will (probably countless times) but when it's not showing or when I don't have the money to see it, then this will suffice very nicely.