Les Miserables Review
Les Miserables, an adaptation of the 1983 musical which has been in operation for 30 years, is a film which manages to capture the feeling of the musical, but perhaps not of the period in which it is set. While the strong British accents and high production values may make the film too glossy to be a fully period piece, it manages to stir up emotions and by the sound of the box office figures, keep the audience fully engaged in its musical magic.
While some die hard fans may critisise the Tom Hooper directed film for not staying 100% true to the original novel, the film does stay true to the musical. Hooper has created one of the most convincing adaptations of a musical I have seen, not being tempted to add more non-musical dialogue that is needed. The film is essentially a 2 and a half hour song, with few breaks in between to let your emotions settle, this creates the atmosphere of being in a theatre watching it live and helps to create some truly emotional moments. One such moment, starring a desperate Fantine played by Anne Hathaway, involves a stirring rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream', in which she has just sold her body for the sake of her child. The emotional intensity of Hathaway's vocals (Exentuated by Hooper's desision to film the vocals live on camera) give the performance an raw and stripped back feel, using closeup angles to fully involve the audience in Fantine's emotional struggle. Some other noteworthy moments of the film include the soaring whole cast rendition of 'One Day More', Samantha Bark's self pitying 'On My Own' and the Finale in which the whole cast sing triumphantly 'Do You Hear the People Sing'.
On the technical side the films cinematography is astounding, with the use of very close zooms for emotional intensity and swooping handy cam shots of the dark Parisian streets making the film that bit more engaging. The performances throughout the film were brilliant, with notable highlights including Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Helena Bonham Carter as the comedic innkeeper along with her husband played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Some critics argue that the use of live vocals has detracted from the films story and atmosphere, with notable finger pointing at Russell Crowe's singing abilities. I however found that the vocals, while not autotuned to perfection, were very impressive, especially Hugh Jackman who pushes his surprisingly operatic voice to its full potential. I also witnessed my first round of applause at the end of a film on my first visit to see it, which only proves that the film really does suck the audience in emotionally. While Les Miserables may not be utter cinematic perfection, it is in fact the best musical I have ever seen on the big screen, with its raw intensity and superb performances creating an emotional spectacle not to be missed.
10/10
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