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| 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
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
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