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Les Miserables
Given that it is one of my favourite movies, it is a surprise that I haven't yet reviewed the 2012 film adaptation of the musical Les Miserables. Whilst there had been an adaptation of the book before, this version was based entirely on the more well-known West End production; a production that I am a huge fan of after seeing it on a Secondary school trip to London in 2012.
Les Miserables tells the story of prison convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who is released on parole by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Jean is unable to find work or accommodation due to his criminal status but is offered a place to stay by the kindly Bishop (Colm Wilkinson). When he is discovered stealing silvers from the Bishop's church, he is captured by the constables; fortunately, the Bishop claims he gave them to him as a gift and tells Jean to become an 'honest man'. Jean begins a new life as mayor of Montreuil and upon finding factory worker Fantine (Anne Hathaway) close to death following work as a prostitute in order to raise money to care for her child Cosette (who grows up to become Amanda Seyfried). When she sadly passes away, he agrees to look after her child and in order to do so must avoid being sent back to prison by Javert, who has been hunting him down since he broke parole.
I never thought the West End version could ever be topped but this film comes remarkably close. The movie version of Les Miserables loses none of the emotional trauma of the West End version and is thankfully just as depressing a watch; you deeply care for the characters and the hell they are going through. I mean, if you don't cry at the young boy then you must be inhuman. This isn't a film for the emotionally unstable and neither is the play but given the subject matter of the French Revolution and poverty of the time it needs to be a traumatic experience. And this film certainly is traumatic. It's weird just how immersive the story is; you really feel like you know these characters - it's almost like they're your relatives and you're seeing close family die onscreen.
One thing I'm really glad with about the film adaptation of the musical is how they opted for a stagey feel. The film is frequently told through close-ups of the characters' faces and in my opinion helps to establish an intimate and personal relationship between the viewer and onscreen events. It is perhaps the element that most helps to add that strong connection between viewer and character. By using close-ups, it feels like the characters are singing directly to us especially during scenes where the characters are singing to themselves (such as Marius (Eddie Redmayne) singing Empty Chairs At Empty Tables).
As for the singing, it was a genius idea by director Danny Boyle to have the singing done live rather than recorded in a studio. This is the first time a musical has been filmed with live singing and it helps with an emotional film like Les Miserables to allow the singing to feel raw rather than manufactured. The emotions feel real; nothing about the way they sing seems forced. It all just flows and I don't feel this would have been achieved as well had the songs been recorded beforehand.
Many complain about Russell Crowe's singing but I actually think he sounds pretty good. He is nowhere near as bad as some try to claim and is certainly a lot better when compared to Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia. Hugh Jackman has an amazing singing ability, especially during his versions of Who Am I and Epilogue. The standouts are by far Amanda Seyfried and Anne Hathaway however: Amanda Seyfried has an absolutely beautiful singing voice and her version of A Heart Full Of Love is brilliant, whilst Anne Hathaway offers arguably the best version of I Dreamed A Dream (an Oscar winning performance for the hugely talented actor).
The one CGI effect at the beginning of the huge ship being pulled into dock by the prison convicts is so believable that you don't even realise it's a special effect until you look it up. The CGI was done by Jarrod Avalos from Lola VFX and it has to be one of the most convincing the movie industry has ever seen. The actual sequence was filmed in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and is barely recognisable as the setting from the film:
Overall, Les Miserables is a movie masterpiece and deserves to be recognised as one of the best musical adaptations of all time. The film accurately portrays the emotional rollercoaster of the West End musical and uses a brilliant stagey feel with the camera work; Director of Photography Danny Cohen has done an outstanding job of capturing the feel of watching the West End Musical, offering both an immersive and personal experience. When the characters die, it feels like saying goodbye to a close family member. The decision by Danny Boyle for all the singing to be done live was a clever one that helps maintain the raw emotion of the incredible singing by the likes of Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried...and yes, Russell Crowe. Kudos to Jarrod Avalos of Lola VFX too for the stunning CGI at the beginning of the film.
Given that it is one of my favourite movies, it is a surprise that I haven't yet reviewed the 2012 film adaptation of the musical Les Miserables. Whilst there had been an adaptation of the book before, this version was based entirely on the more well-known West End production; a production that I am a huge fan of after seeing it on a Secondary school trip to London in 2012.
Les Miserables tells the story of prison convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who is released on parole by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Jean is unable to find work or accommodation due to his criminal status but is offered a place to stay by the kindly Bishop (Colm Wilkinson). When he is discovered stealing silvers from the Bishop's church, he is captured by the constables; fortunately, the Bishop claims he gave them to him as a gift and tells Jean to become an 'honest man'. Jean begins a new life as mayor of Montreuil and upon finding factory worker Fantine (Anne Hathaway) close to death following work as a prostitute in order to raise money to care for her child Cosette (who grows up to become Amanda Seyfried). When she sadly passes away, he agrees to look after her child and in order to do so must avoid being sent back to prison by Javert, who has been hunting him down since he broke parole.
I never thought the West End version could ever be topped but this film comes remarkably close. The movie version of Les Miserables loses none of the emotional trauma of the West End version and is thankfully just as depressing a watch; you deeply care for the characters and the hell they are going through. I mean, if you don't cry at the young boy
WARNING: spoilers below
Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone)'s death in the heart of the French Revolution
One thing I'm really glad with about the film adaptation of the musical is how they opted for a stagey feel. The film is frequently told through close-ups of the characters' faces and in my opinion helps to establish an intimate and personal relationship between the viewer and onscreen events. It is perhaps the element that most helps to add that strong connection between viewer and character. By using close-ups, it feels like the characters are singing directly to us especially during scenes where the characters are singing to themselves (such as Marius (Eddie Redmayne) singing Empty Chairs At Empty Tables).
As for the singing, it was a genius idea by director Danny Boyle to have the singing done live rather than recorded in a studio. This is the first time a musical has been filmed with live singing and it helps with an emotional film like Les Miserables to allow the singing to feel raw rather than manufactured. The emotions feel real; nothing about the way they sing seems forced. It all just flows and I don't feel this would have been achieved as well had the songs been recorded beforehand.
Many complain about Russell Crowe's singing but I actually think he sounds pretty good. He is nowhere near as bad as some try to claim and is certainly a lot better when compared to Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia. Hugh Jackman has an amazing singing ability, especially during his versions of Who Am I and Epilogue. The standouts are by far Amanda Seyfried and Anne Hathaway however: Amanda Seyfried has an absolutely beautiful singing voice and her version of A Heart Full Of Love is brilliant, whilst Anne Hathaway offers arguably the best version of I Dreamed A Dream (an Oscar winning performance for the hugely talented actor).
The one CGI effect at the beginning of the huge ship being pulled into dock by the prison convicts is so believable that you don't even realise it's a special effect until you look it up. The CGI was done by Jarrod Avalos from Lola VFX and it has to be one of the most convincing the movie industry has ever seen. The actual sequence was filmed in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and is barely recognisable as the setting from the film:
Overall, Les Miserables is a movie masterpiece and deserves to be recognised as one of the best musical adaptations of all time. The film accurately portrays the emotional rollercoaster of the West End musical and uses a brilliant stagey feel with the camera work; Director of Photography Danny Cohen has done an outstanding job of capturing the feel of watching the West End Musical, offering both an immersive and personal experience. When the characters die, it feels like saying goodbye to a close family member. The decision by Danny Boyle for all the singing to be done live was a clever one that helps maintain the raw emotion of the incredible singing by the likes of Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried...and yes, Russell Crowe. Kudos to Jarrod Avalos of Lola VFX too for the stunning CGI at the beginning of the film.