See: Les Misérables

The lesser used film poster

I'm not going to lie, I was worried when I found out they were making a film of Les Misérables. Generally speaking I enjoy film adaptations of musicals (and musical adaptations of films, Legally Blonde being a great example - what I would really like to see is a film of the musical of the film, if that's not too meta.) but I loved the musical when I saw it in the West End. I wasn't convinced that they could do it justice on film and of course I was worried about the casting.

I needn't have worried on the casting front- as soon as I heard Hugh Jackman was playing Jean Valjean I was relieved- not only is he one of my favourite actors, he is also an experienced musical theatre actor which is comforting. I found the casting of Russell Crowe as Javert to be surprising- although I (increasingly) admire him as an actor I wasn't sure he was vocally up to it- being in a rock band called "30 odd foot of grunt" doesn't exactly scream "qualified to sing a famously difficult score" but I really enjoyed his performance and liked the tone of his voice. I haven't any complaints about the rest of the cast either; Anne Hathaway has been rightly lauded for her role as Fantine (her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" is brutally beautiful, she gives an absolutely captivating performance given that she is only in the film for 20 minutes at the most), Eddie Redmayne is a brilliant Marius (and has a lovely singing voice), I loved all of the revolutionaries particularly Eponine and Gavroche, and thought Helena Bonham-Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen were brilliantly funny as the criminal Thenardiers.

I've read other reviews complaining that Crowe's vocal lacks the strength to do songs such as "Stars" justice but I think it is unfair to judge the film (and its cast) against the musical (and its cast). Different media has different requirements. Something I particularly liked about the film was the intimacy- on stage there is no capacity for subtlety, but the camera means we can be next to the characters, to see the expressions on their faces, and allows for a more quavering, softer version of a song that is belted out (by necessity) on stage.  I think it also meant there was a really great juxtaposition between the huge sweeping camera shots (for example the breathtaking opening scene of the criminals pulling the ship into     the breakers yard) with intense focus on the characters faces. (There is a downside to this focus; during one of the songs the light kept hitting Hugh Jackman's tongue and it was all I could focus on for that scene. But maybe that's just me). The much-debated decision for the cast to sing live on the film (as opposed to the arguably more traditional technique of filmed musicals of recording the sung vocals separately) works well. Although some of the vocal performances were a little bit sketchy I liked the immediacy of it, and I thought that the rawness it brought to songs such as "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" more than made up for this.

I saw the film twice in the cinema and cried both times, which is unusual for me- generally speaking if I cry at a film it's in the privacy of my own home. I would recommend this film, probably more so if you are already a fan of musicals. Going to see the theatrical version is an amazing experience but also very expensive, and this is a good cheaper alternative.

8/10          

Read: How to be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran

Unlike a lot of voracious readers, I go for long periods without reading a single book; there might be an extract here or an article there but I can go for months without reading a whole book. Then, seemingly from nowhere I will have what counts for me as a burst of productivity wherein I devour four or five about the same number of days. January this year I tried to pace myself, but Moran's How to be a Woman was so good that I just couldn't help myself.

Any prospective male reader shouldn't be put off by the title; it's not an instruction manual (though don't be disappointed by this if that's what you're looking for- it's worth reading anyway). It is partially a manifesto of Moran's feminist beliefs and partially an autobiography of how and why she came to be a feminist- from her awkward adolescence through to the present day. Even though I consider myself a feminist I would ordinarily avoid (like the plague) a book described as a feminist manifesto. However, this is a book about true feminism- not about misandry, or some kind of belief that women are better than men, but  about equality and fairness, and more importantly it is accessibly written and absolutely embarrass-yourself-by-laughing-out-loud-on-the-train, read-out-so-many-extracts-your-friends-won't-need-to-read-the-book hilarious.

In fact, the only reader I know that I wouldn't recommend this book to is my Nan, and that's because of the proliferation of profanity (specifically a certain Anglo-Saxon word beginning with the letter 'c' that I am quite happy to use in real life but wouldn't use in writing on the internet and certainly wouldn't use in front of my Grandparents. I once accidentally used the F word in front of them. Mortifying.) although I think she would be approving of the overall message. On a serious note, it helped me look at important issues such as abortion in a new and logical way. This book is not only brilliantly entertaining but timely and significant- for too long feminism has been discussed either in serious academic books that pass most of us by or in glossy magazines that perpetuate the same things that we should be resisting. Moran has helped me articulate my own beliefs.

I give this book a rating of: 9 out of 10