Les Misérables: The Musical Movie

On Christmas Eve, I had the opportunity to see the musical movie version of Les Mis and let me just say it was NOT what I expected AT ALL! You'd think that after seeing the musical on stage countless times, being a hopeless fan girl groupie during my teenage years, and my overall interest and love of Victor Hugo's classic that Cameron Mackintosh (producer), Tom Hooper (director) and his crew couldn't surprise me but this new take on the classic had me leaving the theater in awe over the way it was presented. At first it was a little bit hard to adjust to the way the movie was filmed (I'm so used to the stage version!) but once I got the idea, I was able to accept it and enjoy it as it was. (I have yet to get over the urge to clap after each song though.) The musical, with so little speaking it could be considered an opera, was changed vastly to include a different take that was more appropriate for the silver screen and incorporated many elements from the book that would be hard, if not impossible, to use in the stage version which added incredible depth to many of the characters. While it was sometimes shocking to hear songs come in fits and starts, I loved seeing more of Valjean's plight with Cosette, was pleased to see Fauchelevent and Monsieur Gillenormand pulled back into the story more, enjoyed some new bits of music and thoroughly ate up a couple of completely new songs (wasn't Valjean and Cosette's carriage ride the most adorable thing you've ever seen?), and squeed in utter delight to see things like Gavroche's elephant. While incredibly hard to watch, this movie also included one of the best plights of Fantine (Anne Hathaway) I've ever seen. It was akin to what she experiences in the book with it's vivid picture of the pure and utter grief of a woman who has lost everything and was topped off by the switched order of I Dreamed a Dream and Lovely Ladies which gave Fantine all that much more to be grieved about during her big number which she pulled off beautifully. Needless to say, I really liked the reversal of the songs and overall I enjoyed the choice change in order for many of the numbers to better fit the big screen telling of the story. While I love the musical and feel a slight loss at not seeing a more cannon version of it as expected, I feel like this new face for Les Miserables was a refreshing and completely appropriate retelling of the classic.

The movie fell short in some cases in the vocals department but it still worked because the raw emotion made up for it. I'd even go so far to say that the nontraditional, occasionally (emphasis on the occasionally) less-than sub par singing by musical theatre standards actually made the characters seem more real and improved the movie by enhancing the realism that was trying to be achieved. I noticed that when the actors were singing, especially during the main character's big emotional ballads, the camera often never left their face but remained zoomed in almost too close for comfort--you are right there, up close and personal with the character watching every emotion pass through their face as they pour their hearts out into song. The only time the singing really didn't work for me was during Jackman's rendition of Bring Him Home--I wanted it to be beautiful and it just felt like a rough patch. (It probably didn't help that just the other week I saw Alfie Boe sing it live which was absolutely JAW DROPPING. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI4jb-Aca9M) Javert (Russell Crowe) I also felt fell flat in the singing department much of the time. I love hearing a rich baritone voice singing it and Crowe just didn't have the power behind it. His acting worked for me though.

Overall, I thought the casting was impeccable although going into it, I wasn't quite sure what to expect because the cast includes many actors who do not hail heavily from the musical theatre genre. Again, once I recognized the alternate styling from the traditional musical version, I realized that the casting fit completely. Hugh Jackman as Valjean was incredible however he was very intense. I loved seeing his deep emotion but I left the theater longing to see more happiness from Valjean. Yes, it ended happy for him but I never actually saw the joy from Jackman. His intense serious side was deep, emotional, and thought-provoking, I just wish we saw more happiness to contrast it against. (I couldn't help but think: "I know Marius loves Cosette more than anything, but wouldn't Valjean scare him away regardless? Can you imagine how intimidating an in-law like him would be?) I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the incredibly talented cast as well; each one shone with a new unique side to each of Hugo's characters that they wanted to share. I thought it was interesting how the role of Enjolras (Aaron Tveit) was very much minimized while they emphasized Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone) who was just perfect for Gavroche. And as beautiful as Fantine and Eponine's harmonized lyric "To love another person is to see the face of God", I was pleased that they pulled Eponine (Samantha Barks) from the scene. I've always questioned the significance of Eponine to Valjean and wondered why she would be one of the angels coming to retrieve him from his earthly mission. The star-crossed lovers Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) and Marius (Eddie Redmayne) were perfect in their roles, even looking their appropriate ages of 16 and 22 (depending on how you figure it), respectively. And finally, I absolutely ADORED the fact that they put Colm Wilkinson in as the bishop. It was a very sweet and tender surprise to see him play opposite of his original role and get to make that pivotal difference in Valjean's life. He had a unique take on the role undoubtedly due to the hundreds of times he has been the receiver of that incredibly merciful and charitable gift he bestows upon Valjean.

Although the musical movie version of Les Miserables was not what I expected, I absolutely loved every little piece of it. It was fun to see a new take on the classic and just as much as it was different, I learned new things from it. The production staff made some daring new creative decisions with this movie and they came off well with the most famous initiative being the decision to allow the actors more full creativity by having them sing and record live on set. This allowed the emotions and acting to come across with incredibly raw realism and for a daunting tale like Les Mis that is all about the human condition, this was a wonderful choice.

Joyful Noise Review

I had the opportunity to officially participate in reviewing a show for the first time! Joel Applegate (the other reviewer who attended this show with me) is an English major so I pretty much just contributed ideas and he wrote the review but he did a great job, don't you think? Read the review on the Front Row Reviewers Utah website: http://frontrowreviewersutah.com/?p=861