Les Miserables: Masters of the House

I feel like I have to convert the skeptics on this one.  I feel like those who know and love the musical Les Miserables will be very exited to see it/have already seen it.  It's those who are skeptical of its content need a little coercion here.  First of all, I am not a fan of musicals.  Wicked, Mamma Mia, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Grease, Hairspray, etcetera, etcetera, are just so... meh to me. I've enjoyed a small handful of ones due to certain circumstances surrounding them such as Sweeney Todd because, despite the lack of singing ability in the film, I love Burton's direction of it and the darkness of it.  I also loved The Book of Mormon, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that disagrees with that.  Now, Les Miserables.  Let me first start by saying that I'd seen the Liam Neeson version and I... liked it.  It was instantly forgettable.  Then, many years ago my high school was putting on the show and asked me to be the comedic role in it.  I considered, but when I found out that I had to sing a lot, decided it wasn't for me.  Still, they kept saying I was perfect for the role, but I wanted nothing to do with a musical. As a last ditch effort to persuade me, they took me to see the play professionally performed at the Pantages theater in L.A. It was after that when I realized that I had to be in the play, bad singing voice and all, because it was the one of the greatest shows I'd ever seen in my life.  It was the last play I was ever in, but it's the most proud I've ever been of a show. Being able to be a part of the greatest musical of all time was a pleasure and I would've regretted not being in it, especially after having seen the movie.

Now, to the film. Because I have an affinity to the show, expectations were inevitably high. I mean, really, all they had to do was keep the same glorious Broadway musical intact, film it, and put it on the big screen and it'd be successful. Tom Hooper, who previously directed The King's Speech, can now be heralded as the man who took a mountain of a musical and made it readily available to anyone not willing to fork over Broadway prices... with glory. This film adaptation is one of the finest movies of the year. That isn't to say there aren't minor faults here and there, because it isn't a perfect film, but, and I'm sure this comes as a surprise to almost no one, it could be my favorite movie of the year.

The performances are breathtaking.  Hugh Jackman does his most magnificent portrayal of Jean Valjean.  If it wasn't for Academy favorite Daniel Day-Lewis, he'd be a shoo-in for Best Actor.  The man gives it his all and while the Broadway Valjean has the almost Opera-like vocal chords, his singing voice is one to be heralded.  This also comes as no surprise but Anne Hathaway is a lock for Best Supporting Actress.  I've seen the musical live a few times and the fighting I had to do to hold back tears (unsuccessfully, I might add) was much harder to do watching Hathaway onscreen.  Hooper does a single take for her song "I Dreamed A Dream" and the emotions she goes through from start to finish of the song is heart-breaking.  I can say with much conviction that if you don't so much feel the urge to stifle tears, then you are a robot.

Russell Crowe as Javert... there has been much controversy surrounding his performance and singing abilities.  I'd read/heard that he's the weak link of the film because he can not match the vocal talents of those singing around him and it borders embarrassing to watch.  I, personally, don't think he was that bad.  Was his performance weaker than the rest of the cast? Undoubtedly so, however, that isn't to say that it was bad.  I thought he embodied Javert in spirit and on screen.  Some of his songs were a little bit under par, but for the most part I didn't have a problem with his singing.  He added a bit of fear for me, in that whenever he appeared on screen I feared for the safety of those around him, more notably Valjean.  My favorite song from the musical in general is Javert's solo, "Stars".  This song would make or break Crowe for me and I thought he did a fine job. He played him stiff, unyielding, unrelenting and fearless, which is how I view the character.  But those expecting Broadway quality out of him may be setting their own expectations a little too high.  Take it for what it is.

As for the rest of the cast, Amanda Seyfried was fine as Cosette.  Her falsetto soprano singing voice lends to the role and she is quite endearing.  Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were also fine as the Thenardier's lending to the only comedic scenes of the film, giving the audience a brief break from their crying-induced headaches.  Though, if I had to pick a singer who I thought didn't have the vocal chops to be cast in the film it would be Carter herself.  But, the role doesn't exactly call for much more than she delivered. The other standout performance, though, is that of Eddie Redmayne and his portrayal of Marius. He hasn't done much in the past, but I guarantee he's got the safety of jobs heading his way because of this film.  He's just as good as Anne Hathaway and could easily steal away that Best Supporting Actor trophy. Samantha Barks reprises her Broadway role of Eponine on screen and she's just as magical as she is on the stage.

The other element of the film that has received a lot of flack is that of Tom Hooper's directorial choices.  He's got his own style which can come off as a bit annoying to those not used to it.  He's uses large swiping cuts and extreme close-ups.  There are choices that I thought I might've done differently such as whenever a main character sings their long solos or soliloquy's he chooses to stay right up on their faces giving us nothing visual going on in the background.  I think it worked with Eponine's solo "On My Own" as well as "I Dreamed A Dream" but I think this choice of never cutting away hinders "Valjean's Soliloquy" and really let me down on "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables", a song that has a lot of material to work with.  Other than that, I thought the direction worked nicely.  Songs with multiple characters singing all at once were clear as well as "One Day More" where overlapping lyrics from different locations of Paris was well cut.

Now, the movie has some different elements and songs from the musical.  For instance, some songs are put in different order: "Stars" comes in earlier, "On My Own" comes in before "One Day More" and "Do You Hear the People Sing" comes in after. I thought all of these changes actually worked for film.  The transitions and importance of these songs in the rearranged order may have even worked better in the film than they do on stage.  There were also some songs with added or alternate lines to fit different situations and those not extremely familiar with the musical won't even know the difference.  Some of these lines made songs even better, I thought, especially in "The Confrontation" between Valjean and Javert in the hospital, which may have been my favorite scene in the whole movie. Only one song is entirely cut, Thenardier's "Dog Eat Dog", but the dialogue that replaces the song has basically the same impact and intention as the song and doesn't cheapen the scene any.  The other song significantly shortened is "Turning", but seeing as how the song doesn't actually lend to the progression of the plot, it's not much of a loss.  There is one new song, "Suddenly", written specifically for the film that I think is a very beautiful song, sung by Jackman in a very charming way, but like "Turning", doesn't do much to progress plot.

The biggest change from stage to screen is all of the added dialogue.  For those who don't know there is nearly no dialogue in the musical.  I'd say ten words max.  In this there is significantly more dialogue, something I was worried about.  However, again, with a little help from genius writing, they make the movie that much better.  It is able to save a little time and also explain added elements of the story to those who are unenlightened or a little lost.

The film, to me, is nothing short of a masterpiece, that will surely get robbed of most of the awards it deserves (*cough* Best Picture *cough*).  But I can confidently say it is the best musical adaptation ever made and I say this now having already seen it twice.  I'm prepared to see it a lot more with anyone who is even slightly interested in seeing it.  Any takers?  Let's go tonight!

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