Title: Les Miserables
Year Released/Rating: 2012 PG-13
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried
Directed By: Tom Hooper
Written By: William Nicholson, Alain Boubill, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer, Victor Hugo
Genre: Musical Drama
Star Rating: 5/5 stars
Where I Got It: Library Loan
Trivia:
- Typically, the soundtrack for a movie musical is recorded several months in advance and the actors mime to playback during filming. However, on this film, every single song was recorded live on set to capture the spontaneity of the performances. Everyone involved, from Hugh Jackman to Russell Crowe to producer Cameron Mackintosh, have praised this approach as it allowed them to concentrate on their acting as opposed to lip-syncing properly. They have also praised director Tom Hooper for attempting this on such a scale; something no director has ever done before.
- Eddie Redmayne said that Tom Hooper shot the "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" scene about 15 times in a row.
- The large, crumbling elephant statue that features prominently during several scenes in the movie was both a real statue in Paris (between 1813 and 1846) and a focus of vivid description by Victor Hugo in his novel Les Misérables. Known as "The Elephant of the Bastille," Napoleon originally intended the statue to be a bronze monument to his military achievements at the former site of the Bastille, but the design was only ever rendered in plaster and wood; by the time of its demolition in 1846, the statue had become a haven for vermin and was significantly degraded structurally. In the novel, Hugo describes it as an ugly, dilapidated, widely despised public eyesore.
- Due to the physical demands of daily singing, none of the cast was allowed alcohol.Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried both admitted it was a challenge to not be able to drink, and Crowe bought Seyfried a bottle of whiskey as a present after filming wrapped.
- During the "Master Of The House" song (at around 49 minutes), you can see the Thenandiers stealing someone's bags. They traded it for a basket with a baby. That baby is actually Gavroche, the Thenandiers' abandoned child. It is not stated in the musical but it is in the book. In an interview with director Tom Hooper, he stated it was a clue to see if someone knew who actually that baby was.
Summary: In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.
Review:
I didn't see it in the theaters, but I snapped it up when it appeared at the library. I do love me some good Broadway musicals. I've never been a huge fan of Les Miserables, but it's not one of the ones I detest. It has an epic quality that I didn't think would translate to movie. Yet, Hooper does a good job with the quiet moments and the large moments. I think the second half works much better than the first half. The first half it a bit stilted with so much time passing and so many different characters in different places. Overall, I really did love it.
Best Bits:
- Jean Valjean: To love another person is to see the face of God.
- Marius: Do I care if I should die now she goes across the sea? Life without Cosette means nothing at all... Would you weep, Cosette, should Marius fall. Will you weep, Cosette, for me?
- Jean Valjean: Who am I? Marius: You're Jean Valjean...
- Marius: Oh, my friends! My friends, don't ask me what your sacrifice was for! Empty chairs at empty tables, where my friends shall sing no more.
- Gavroche: This is the land I fought for liberty, now when we fight, we fight for bread... here is the thing about equality, everyone's equal when they're dead.
