'Les Miserables': Worth the wait
Dec. 26th, 2012 09:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
litlover12The first time I saw the stage version of Les Miserables, my program had a little insert with that famous drawing of Cosette and the caption, "In 1992, she will be going to the cinema."
Yes, well, it took a little longer than that. Twenty years longer. But it was worth every minute of that wait. If you've read reviews of the new movie, you've probably seen many of the critics carping about Tom Hooper's extensive use of closeups, lack of establishing shots, off-center camera angles, etc. With all due respect to the critics, I say: Ignore them completely. They're off their rockers. Tom Hooper is a freaking GENIUS. I am so glad now that the film took this long to make, because I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job with it. His style and his vision suited the material to perfection.
(And you just know that if he hadn't gone for the closeups, camera angles, and so forth, they'd have accused him of taking the safe and boring route!)
A few thoughts while they're fresh in my mind . . .
I am kind of glad now that I read all those reviews, because I went in having some idea of what to expect, even though I was pretty sure I was going to like it more than the critics did!
I'm particularly glad that I read all the criticism of Russell Crowe, because that lowered my expectations of him. :-) And frankly, going in with them lowered -- I really didn't think he was bad at all. I certainly didn't think he was the weakest link in the cast, as many people did. To my mind, the weakest link was Sacha Baron Cohen as Thenardier. His voice wasn't bad, but as far as the total performance went, he just seemed to be phoning it in. Helena Bonham Carter acted circles around him.
The rest of the cast was strong across the board. Hugh Jackman was a brilliant choice for Valjean. He wasn't even recognizable at the beginning, and then he made Valjean's transformation and growing maturity so believable and wonderful. And when he was going away near the end, and sort of collapsed onto his luggage -- oh man, way to yank my beating heart right out of my chest.
But alhough Valjean was, is, and always will be my favorite character, somehow I cried more at Anne Hathaway's Fantine. You can't not cry for her. It's like the tears simply won't stop coming whenever she's on the screen -- the poor woman is just so wrecked.
It makes my heart happy that they cast Colm Wilkinson, the original stage Valjean, as the bishop -- it's little details like this that tell you the filmmakers really care about the source material and the audience and getting the whole thing right . . . unlike some other musical filmmakers I could name (*cough*AndrewLloydWebber*cough*). And Wilkinson was so good. You could tell, just a little, that he was a theater actor not quite used to moderating his facial expressions . . . but he was still SO good. Especially at the end, when Valjean went to him . . . that was lovely.
Little Isabelle Allen as young Cosette was a revelation -- she made me cry (like mother, like daughter) when she whispered the line "She says, Cosette, I love you very much." But she also made me laugh with her feistiness. Little Cosette, feisty! It was a terrific choice by the director or the actress or whoever came up with it -- she just hated the Thenardiers and she wasn't interested in hiding it AT ALL. Speaking of, I've never seen "The Thenardier Waltz" done so well before in any production. Jackman hits just the right note, letting the shrewd ex-con come to the fore -- he knows all the tricks far too well to be taken in. It's a level of nuance I've never seen in that scene before, and it's perfect.
Let's see, who else stood out . . . oh, Aaron Tveit! I could not possibly be happier for him, being cast in a blockbuster movie musical like this, and giving a stellar performance, and getting so much recognition for it. Twice now I've seen him on Broadway, and both times I thought he deserved a Tony nomination, and both times he's been snubbed. Well, Tony voters, who's got the last laugh now?
And Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks were every bit as good as you've probably heard. (Although I could have done without Marius looking so much like an eager puppy when Valjean was revealing his identity. He was all "Ooh, the nice man's going to tell me a story!" and it was just a bit over the top!) Honestly, aside from Cohen, it was exceedingly difficult to find a bad performance here. By the way, I forgot to look for Frances Ruffelle, the original Eponine, who had a cameo during "Lovely Ladies." I'll have to do that next time, because oh yes, my friends, there WILL be a next time. And a time after that, and a time after that . . .
I love that Valjean went to the church back at the convent to die, and I love that he always seemed to have a crucifix near him. The faith elements of the story kept their prominent place, which is good, because they really are essential!
Valjean and older Cosette were really good together, but there is never enough of the two of them for my taste. Their relationship, for me, forms much (if not all) of the heart of the story, and they got a couple of moments that were very nice -- I love when she half-glimpses the number tattooed on his arm and he quickly pulls his sleeve down. (Like I said, I am all about the details.) But they just don't get enough time together, and too much of what they do get is wasted on his having to be strict with her. It's a situation that may need to be remedied with some fanfic . . .
It was nice that they brought in so much stuff from the original novel -- even very small things, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rachkmc was pointing out the other day (on Facebook, not on LJ). Things like Cosette having a very pretty, elaborate room and Valjean having a bare room with hardly anything but a bed and the crucifix in it. And the sort of dismissive look on his face when Cosette sang "You are loving and gentle and good." It expressed the humility of his character so well.
I guess I'd better cut this short before I bore you all to death and give away every single part of the movie, and make even more of a mess of my verb tenses than I already have. But I just had to gush for a while. I waited 20 years for this experience, darn it, and I'm savoring it to the full!
Yes, well, it took a little longer than that. Twenty years longer. But it was worth every minute of that wait. If you've read reviews of the new movie, you've probably seen many of the critics carping about Tom Hooper's extensive use of closeups, lack of establishing shots, off-center camera angles, etc. With all due respect to the critics, I say: Ignore them completely. They're off their rockers. Tom Hooper is a freaking GENIUS. I am so glad now that the film took this long to make, because I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job with it. His style and his vision suited the material to perfection.
(And you just know that if he hadn't gone for the closeups, camera angles, and so forth, they'd have accused him of taking the safe and boring route!)
A few thoughts while they're fresh in my mind . . .
I am kind of glad now that I read all those reviews, because I went in having some idea of what to expect, even though I was pretty sure I was going to like it more than the critics did!
I'm particularly glad that I read all the criticism of Russell Crowe, because that lowered my expectations of him. :-) And frankly, going in with them lowered -- I really didn't think he was bad at all. I certainly didn't think he was the weakest link in the cast, as many people did. To my mind, the weakest link was Sacha Baron Cohen as Thenardier. His voice wasn't bad, but as far as the total performance went, he just seemed to be phoning it in. Helena Bonham Carter acted circles around him.
The rest of the cast was strong across the board. Hugh Jackman was a brilliant choice for Valjean. He wasn't even recognizable at the beginning, and then he made Valjean's transformation and growing maturity so believable and wonderful. And when he was going away near the end, and sort of collapsed onto his luggage -- oh man, way to yank my beating heart right out of my chest.
But alhough Valjean was, is, and always will be my favorite character, somehow I cried more at Anne Hathaway's Fantine. You can't not cry for her. It's like the tears simply won't stop coming whenever she's on the screen -- the poor woman is just so wrecked.
It makes my heart happy that they cast Colm Wilkinson, the original stage Valjean, as the bishop -- it's little details like this that tell you the filmmakers really care about the source material and the audience and getting the whole thing right . . . unlike some other musical filmmakers I could name (*cough*AndrewLloydWebber*cough*). And Wilkinson was so good. You could tell, just a little, that he was a theater actor not quite used to moderating his facial expressions . . . but he was still SO good. Especially at the end, when Valjean went to him . . . that was lovely.
Little Isabelle Allen as young Cosette was a revelation -- she made me cry (like mother, like daughter) when she whispered the line "She says, Cosette, I love you very much." But she also made me laugh with her feistiness. Little Cosette, feisty! It was a terrific choice by the director or the actress or whoever came up with it -- she just hated the Thenardiers and she wasn't interested in hiding it AT ALL. Speaking of, I've never seen "The Thenardier Waltz" done so well before in any production. Jackman hits just the right note, letting the shrewd ex-con come to the fore -- he knows all the tricks far too well to be taken in. It's a level of nuance I've never seen in that scene before, and it's perfect.
Let's see, who else stood out . . . oh, Aaron Tveit! I could not possibly be happier for him, being cast in a blockbuster movie musical like this, and giving a stellar performance, and getting so much recognition for it. Twice now I've seen him on Broadway, and both times I thought he deserved a Tony nomination, and both times he's been snubbed. Well, Tony voters, who's got the last laugh now?
And Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks were every bit as good as you've probably heard. (Although I could have done without Marius looking so much like an eager puppy when Valjean was revealing his identity. He was all "Ooh, the nice man's going to tell me a story!" and it was just a bit over the top!) Honestly, aside from Cohen, it was exceedingly difficult to find a bad performance here. By the way, I forgot to look for Frances Ruffelle, the original Eponine, who had a cameo during "Lovely Ladies." I'll have to do that next time, because oh yes, my friends, there WILL be a next time. And a time after that, and a time after that . . .
I love that Valjean went to the church back at the convent to die, and I love that he always seemed to have a crucifix near him. The faith elements of the story kept their prominent place, which is good, because they really are essential!
Valjean and older Cosette were really good together, but there is never enough of the two of them for my taste. Their relationship, for me, forms much (if not all) of the heart of the story, and they got a couple of moments that were very nice -- I love when she half-glimpses the number tattooed on his arm and he quickly pulls his sleeve down. (Like I said, I am all about the details.) But they just don't get enough time together, and too much of what they do get is wasted on his having to be strict with her. It's a situation that may need to be remedied with some fanfic . . .
It was nice that they brought in so much stuff from the original novel -- even very small things, as
rachkmc was pointing out the other day (on Facebook, not on LJ). Things like Cosette having a very pretty, elaborate room and Valjean having a bare room with hardly anything but a bed and the crucifix in it. And the sort of dismissive look on his face when Cosette sang "You are loving and gentle and good." It expressed the humility of his character so well.I guess I'd better cut this short before I bore you all to death and give away every single part of the movie, and make even more of a mess of my verb tenses than I already have. But I just had to gush for a while. I waited 20 years for this experience, darn it, and I'm savoring it to the full!
