Les Miserables

JP Liz V1

Trailer is out now and it looks good and Anne Hathaway's voice is pretty impressive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5slbuWpZwjg

Dermighty

Why did they have to make it a musical!

krudler

Dermighty wrote: »

Why did they have to make it a musical!

eh...because its an adapation of a musical? possibly the most famous stage show in the world?

MagicMarker

krudler wrote: »

eh...because its an adapation of a musical? possibly the most famous stage show in the world?

A stage show that was adapted from a book...

krudler

MagicMarker wrote: »

A stage show that was adapted from a book...

there have been a few non musical ones though? I dont think the Liam Neeson one is, never seen it though

Sad Professor

The wide angles are a bit extreme. Has Hooper being watching Gilliam?

Anyway, very good teaser. The film looks and sounds great. This should make a prime piece of Oscar bait.

krudler

Hathaway and Jackman can sing quite well, their duet at the oscars a few years ago was great

emeraldstar

Am looking forward to this and the trailer makes me rather hopeful. Wish the release wasn't as far off as January though.

malene

Nice trailer.

Bullseye1

Is Tod Hooper directing?

HeidiHeidi

Has Russell Crowe got a voice??? Can't imagine him living up to Philip Quast in the 10th anniversary concert, which has become my reference performance against which I judge all others!

FirePoi

Don't like it when they put musicals into films. They were going to do it with Wicked, might still be and I'm like NO THANKS! In saying that, I'll definitely go and see it and I think the casting is both interesting and surprising!

Sad Professor

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Is Tod Hooper directing?

Tom Hooper. The guy who directed The King's Speech.

jhegarty

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Has Russell Crowe got a voice??? Can't imagine him living up to Philip Quast in the 10th anniversary concert, which has become my reference performance against which I judge all others!

That the big problem i have , I don't see them matching the 10th anniversary cast in anyway.

Good to see Colm Wilkinson is going to be in this , even as a minor part.

Goldstein

jhegarty wrote: »

That the big problem i have , I don't see them matching the 10th anniversary cast in anyway.

Good to see Colm Wilkinson is going to be in this , even as a minor part.

There's no way it'll touch the 10th, 25th or current cast of the real thing. London's Les Mis in the flesh is simply one of the most awe inspiring live experiences I've had the pleasure to witness in my life. So I don't think it's fair to judge the film against the musical - it needs to be its own animal with its own ideas and angles on the story. Looking forward to seeing what they bring to it - I do expect Jackman to be outstanding as Valjean, massive respect for his abilities.

Slydice

I like the trailer anyway. So long as it doesn't go overboard on the musical side, I'd say it'll be good.

Handsome Bob

New trailer out:

http://www.digitalspy.ie/movies/news/a436780/les-miserables-trailer-russell-crowe-sings-in-new-video-watch.html

No problem with musicals but this doesn't seem like my cup of tea. That, and Amanda Sydfried automatically means I ain't watching it.

Rael

S. De Sousa wrote: »

New trailer out:

http://www.digitalspy.ie/movies/news/a436780/les-miserables-trailer-russell-crowe-sings-in-new-video-watch.html

No problem with musicals but this doesn't seem like my cup of tea. That, and Amanda Sydfried automatically means I ain't watching it.

Not sure about Hathaway's voice and definitely not Crowe's but Jackman sounds really good in that trailer. (I'm aware of his previous Oklahoma role)

CastorTroy

Saw the 25th Anniversary production in the cinema and was impressed. First time seeing the show. So wouldn't mind checking this out.
Only question I have: If I remember correctly, the stage production was all singing(except maybe a line here and there). Yet this seems to have a good bit of dialogue. With the running time of the stage show being about 2.5-3 hours and this being 2 Hrs 32 mins(http://www.hypable.com/2012/10/25/les-miserables-running-time-revealed/) do you think many songs are cut, or did they just change some of the lines to spoken word?
Found this part in the above link interesting

every actor will be singing live on-camera with their voice being recorded in real-time.

On another note, was the Phantom of the Opera movie done similar to this?

johnny_ultimate

Weirdly, they showed a near five minute making of 'ad' for this before The Master screening in London. They talked at length about how the actors were singing live to create a more 'real' experience. Hugh Jackman then did a really cringey song to camera.

Anyway, can't say I have any particular interest in this one way or the other, although am curious to see what Hooper does next.

JP Liz V1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHHHUk8RCw

New trailer out

FrogMarch

Looks like it's going to be very good IMO. Not entirely sure about the singing of some of the various big name actors but Seyfried and Redmayne sounds like they have great voices.

Handsome Bob

I'll give it this though, Anne Hathaway looks like she's going to give a special performance.

Linvia

Singing from the beginning to the end, Éponine's voice is amazing. But Marius is not as handsome as he should be...

Yakuza

I just saw it today (well, technically last night) in Spain. About 98% of the dialogue is sung, so was subtitled in Spanish, very little was dubbed so I won't need to see it in Ireland. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jackman's and Crowe's voices aren't as good as those in the live performances but their acting more than compensates. I wasn't sure about Hathaway but then what do I know? The bauld Colm Wilkinson has a cameo as the Bishop of Digne.

There did seem to be some new material (just linking scenes such as the escape from the hospital until Valjean and Cossette arrive in Paris), or perhaps I just don't remember it from the life production I saw.

The singing doesn't (can't) compare to a live performance (I was lucky enough to see Wilkinson as Valjean in the Point about 13(14?) years ago) but the production values of the film more than make up for it. On the whole, it was a fantastic experience, very uplifting. Bring a hanky for the last scene, mind. *cough*. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there should be a few Oscar nominations in the bag here.

MagicMarker

Sounds horrible. Absolutely no desire to see a feckin musical, which is a shame as it looks spectacular, apart from the singing crap.

TheDoc

Have to agree, I love Crowe, watch most of his stuff, but can't do musicals in anyway shape or form

WatchWolf

Slydice wrote: »

So long as it doesn't go overboard on the musical side, I'd say it'll be good.

It is essentially a non-stop musical. 99% of the dialogue is sung.

DrumSteve

Seen this today, I generally despise musicals, but this was very good. Hathaways "I dreamed a dream" was a highlight of the film and Jackman was immense. Crowe cant sing the best but does a solid job. And amanda seyfried is smoking hot.

kevthegaff

saw it in the us, quite good, hathaway was excellent, jackman was v good too, worth a watch

efb

Listening to the OST this am, Hathaway v good, Jackman solid, Crowe...

Sad Professor

I didn't realise this was going to be so long. It's about 2 and half hours but feels a lot longer. Crowe can't sing to save his life. Hathaway is brilliant, but she's only in the film for about a half hour and then it's a long slog to the end. I came close to walking out a few times. The directing is terrible! Hooper shoots the whole film using tight close-ups. It's suffocating! How the film was nominated for best production design is beyond me - you can't see the sets! And then there's the titled camera angles inspired by Battlefield Earth. Hooper needs to go back to directing episodes of EastEnders. I like good musicals. More importantly I like good movies. This is neither.

titan18

I loved it, am definitely going to see it again. However, Crowe definitely can't sing (or at least well enough to be playing Javert). Jackman was quite good throughout, although I hated his version of Who Am I, in particular the Who Am I, I'm Jean Valjean as he says I'm Jean Valjean quietly, which doesn't work imo. Hathaway was excellent, although I thought Redmayne as Marius was the star. His performance of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" was excellent, and imo was by far the best song performance in the film. Barks was good as Eponine, Tveit was good as Enjolras (although I was expecting more from him though). Seyfried didn't annoy me, which was great. The little kid as Gavroche was weird, film takes place in France, and he just had a really strong English accent, but outside of that I thought he was good.

I do agree with what the poster above said about Hooper shooting the film as tight close ups. It worked in good few scenes, but they really could have opened it up a little bit. A few songs would really have benefited from it too. It seemed like Hooper was unsure of how to film a musical for film so just had close up shots of the actors faces all the time. For stuff like "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables", it worked really well, but just too much of it.

Overall, it was good, and I was probably always going to like it anyway, so I'm slightly biased, but Crowe was too weak for Javert and really dragged it down

Also, really great to see Colm Wilkinson in it and singing, was brilliant to see. Few others in there too like Hadley Fraser and Frances Ruffelle, but Wilkinson had the biggest role out of them


Also, fwiw, I've seen that screeners of this have appeared, I've had a look at it, and the sound is iffy, go see it in the cinema as poor sound for a musical is a bit dodgy

CastorTroy

Have to see the film yet. I heard some of the soundtrack and thought it was good. The only production I've seen is the 25th Anniversary so that's what I'd compare everything to. Like Sacha Baron Cohen wasn't as good as Matt Lucas. And Jackman's portrayal of Valjean seems more like how the character seems to be - humble. Crowe seems to sing like someone who can't sing well being given a singing role(Like Sarah Michelle Gellar in Once More With Feeling)

And the kid in the 25 Anniversary was cockney as well

efb

The men's singing aside- loved it!!!! Anne Hathaway was amazing.

Crowe apart from his singing was solid. Jackman's accent wobbled but he oozed sex appeal.

FouxDaFaFa

Just back from seeing it and enjoyed it a lot. Was worried about Crowe's singing and he is probably the weakest link in it but he held his own okay.

Hathaway and "I dreamed a dream" was fantastic. Liked Jackman, Marius. Wish they'd used Aaron Tveit a bit more because he is great in whatever he does.

I haven't seen it staged so can't compare but was with people who saw it in London and they said it stood up to it very well.

razorblunt

Just back from this, thought Samantha Barks was fantastic in this. Crowe's singing was average but his acting made up for it.

delbertgrady

I thought this was a huge disappointment. It also seemed to be far longer than the alleged 158 minute running length. So long, in fact, that I expected a chariot race, or some gangsters driving their car into a river.

Hugh Jackman is decent, but not great. His task isn't helped by the fact that a lot of his songs are inexplicably filmed in closeups. When you've got a broad cinematic canvas, why not use it?


Russell Crowe simply hasn't got a note in his head. All his songs are literally one-note, semi-spoken renditions. It's a huge distraction. The guy hasn't done any musical theatre since the eighties and it shows. He may be in a "rock band", but they're an object of ridicule anyway, so that's hardly relevant.

I've always liked Anne Hathaway, and the woman can undoubtedly sing, but half her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream is delivered with the very "cry face" she herself was taking the p**s out of Claire Danes over only a few weeks ago on SNL, and it all gets a bit too shouty for my liking.

Eddie Redmayne is actually grand as Marius, but I'm not a fan of his, so I can't really be too objective beyond polite admittance that he's not a complete disaster in the role. How Eponine and Cosette could be fighting over him is beyond me. Amanda Seyfried is fine, but Cosette has very little to do anyway.

Samantha Barks is PHENOMENAL and effortlessly generates an emotional response, not least in the In My Life/A Heart Full of Love sequence. She brings the relevant experience to the task, and - unlike the way Hathaway was directed for I Dreamed A Dream - her rendition of On My Own epitomises the phrase "less is more". She is unequivocally the best thing in the entire film, though Isabelle Allen deserves special mention too.

I had huge problems with the staging of the film in general. The barricades,
while undoubtedly impressive onstage (where the audience can invest their own
imagination in the scale of their endeavour), are pathetic on screen. The grand
spectacle we see in the trailer is saved for the "dream sequence" finale. Shorn
of any sort of montage showing other groups dotted around the city, the entire
revolutionary movement seems to be a bunch of hapless guys defending a tavern at
the end of a small alleyway.

There are far too many "regional" accents in it that cause distraction. In
Look Down, a line is sung by a guy with a broad Home Counties accent. Later,
when they're building the barricades, a Northern Irish voice calls out for more
furniture to be thrown down. Gavroche sounds like the Artful Dodger. Awful.




Finally - and this is really pedantic, but I have to mention it -
the focus puller dropped the ball on several occasions, most evidently during I
Dreamed A Dream and Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. If you're going to film them
so close, be sure you know when the actors are going to lean forward.

I think those who love the musical will probably be somewhere between reasonably happy and downright delighted at the film, since there is doubtless a great thrill in seeing your favourite musical writ large across the screen, but it contains nothing to convert the uninitiated, and will leave those unfamiliar with it wondering just what the fuss is all about.

frogstar

Went to see this today. I loved it.

I never watched the theatre show so it was new to me.

Hugh jackman was fab. Crowe was brilliant for the part but yes hs voice was weaker. Anne Hathaway was great but of course she's not in the whole film. Still don't understand why she cut her hair in real life (well Oscar chances maybe)

The little cockney kid was a bit out of place I thought with his accent.

I know it's a dark story but i found the whole setting very dark to watch

Would happily watch this again

delbertgrady

Back from seeing this.

Reading through other posts here and they're right; the use of tight shots was quite a bit much, however it genuinely worked for songs like "I Dreamed a Dream" (which was remarkable) and Empty Chairs and Empty Tables.

Thing is that its essentially a Broadway/West End musical that was given the big-screen treatment, but largely remained Broadway/West End.

There was definitely a powerful performances - Jackman was great as Valjean, Hathaway completely blew me away as Fontaine, Crowe was good as Javert (though it's only when I realize from watching it as an adult that he referred to himself a lot in the third person). Seyfried was top-class, but she's perfectly suited to musical roles like this.

delbertgrady wrote: »

I had huge problems with the staging of the film in general. The barricades,
while undoubtedly impressive onstage (where the audience can invest their own
imagination in the scale of their endeavour), are pathetic on screen. The grand
spectacle we see in the trailer is saved for the "dream sequence" finale. Shorn
of any sort of montage showing other groups dotted around the city, the entire
revolutionary movement seems to be a bunch of hapless guys defending a tavern at
the end of a small alleyway.

Was that not somewhat the point though? You have to think about it this way; they were just one barricade in a small street against the backdrop of a whole city - as perfectly demonstrated as the huge shot of Paris. It was a small rebellion, not the sweeping and huge barricades they had envisaged in songs like "Do You Hear the People Sing?". "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables" was essentially that characters realization that the whole thing had been for nothing.

Had they shown a huge sweeping barricade, it would have defeated the purpose almost entirely. A stageshow wouldn't have been able to show this as well, as they would be very limited for space.

There are far too many "regional" accents in it that cause distraction. In
Look Down, a line is sung by a guy with a broad Home Counties accent. Later,
when they're building the barricades, a Northern Irish voice calls out for more
furniture to be thrown down. Gavroche sounds like the Artful Dodger. Awful.

 

I'll give you that, but it didn't grate on me as much as it did you, obviously. I found it quite funny how Sasha Baron Cohen's accent kept switching quickly from lyric to lyric seemingly. As for Gavroche, that's how the character was always displayed as in the musical, if my memory is correct

I think those who love the musical will probably be somewhere between reasonably happy and downright delighted at the film, since there is doubtless a great thrill in seeing your favourite musical writ large across the screen, but it contains nothing to convert the uninitiated, and will leave those unfamiliar with it wondering just what the fuss is all about.

Why should it? I mean, it is a movie based on a musical. This is completely evident from the very beginning in the trailers. Yes, the 90% of singing may put some off, but what else would you have expected from going into a musical?

Two people walked out during the I Dream a Dream sequence in the screening I was in.

blade1

went to see it last night and thought it was enjoyable.
some of the singing was poor but overall a good show.
i enjoyed sacha baron-cohan even if his accent went from french to Ali G.

Been thinking about this and perhaps Hooper was not the right choice to direct it. He's good at character portrayals, as demonstrated in the King Speech, where tight shots would have worked and, if memory serves correct, there were quite a lot of?

Few months ago I was listening to the BBC film critic, Mark Kermode, interview Gareth Evans, the director of Raid: Redemption. While I haven't seen it myself, many people have said just how brutal and well shot the fight sequences were throughout. Kermode pretty much showered Evans with congratulations, but made the interesting point as to how fighting movies like that and musicals are so similar; in that both require a lot of choreography to get right. It makes sense in some form and has been semi-proven by Joss Whedon - the action sequences from the likes of the Avengers and to some extent, Cabin in the Woods, were well shot and not confusing in the slightest (which is what the likes of Bay still can't get right), but his musical numbers in different things (the phenomenal Once More With Feeling from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the entirety of Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog). Yes, I might be a bit of a Whedon-fanboy at the moment, but he is the only one I can think of that can successfully do both.

krudler

Sad Professor

I think Hooper's (over) use of close-ups is a result of his television background where directors are framing for a much smaller screen. In cinema the close-up isn't as necessary but if used correctly can be a very powerful device. A lot of an actor's performance is in their body language, so shooting everything in close-up is silly. Some scenes might call for it but most of the time the close-up should be used like punctuation to give emphasis to something. See any Fincher or Spielberg film - they are both masters of how to compose a shot and they use close-ups very sparingly. The only director I can think of who ever got away with shooting so many close-ups was Bergman, who directors attempt to imitate at their peril.

johnny_ultimate

Sad Professor wrote: »

The only director I can think of who ever got away with shooting so many close-ups was Bergman, who directors attempt to imitate at their peril.

Mr. Carl Th. Dreyer made the ultimate close-up film with Passion of Joan of Arc, which has been cited in a surprising number of Les Mis reviews I've read. The comparison generally hasn't been all that positive, though.

Mark Cousins did a really interesting feature on close-ups in the December issue of Sight & Sound, actually (one with The Master cover). Well worth a read. I think its a technique that can be used sparingly and frequently with startling effect. The centrepoint of that repeated monologue in Persona shows how it can be used at length to really intense effect. But I was watching Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy a few weeks ago and that resists close-ups for nearly its entirety, and then when it finally delivers one its absolutely devastating. Again, all really boils down to how well the director can utilise it - just one tool of many.

efb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_6TKPkQu2Q

My moment of the movie... Kleenex time...

ChubbyHubby

Close ups, yes there was a lot of it. Tom Hooper wanted to use close ups to show something most people can't see in a live show. When it worked it was great and the rest wasn't too distracting since it doesn't have fast dance numbers or actions scenes like other musicals. Don't know why so many people making such a big deal about it.

As for the kid with the cockney accent. It's always been done like in the Westend from the beginning 25+ years ago as far as I know. It's an indicator of class and all the extras singing "at the end of the day" usually have a cockney accent too.

People annoyed by these things probably shouldn't be going to see a musical movies.

mannequinhands

whats everyone complaining about i thought both crowe and jackman were good the confrontation scene was pretty legendary , the little kid was brilliant aswell loved look down . Obviously i dreamed a dream was the most memorable and saddest part , but i thought the rest was class aswell . I'm by no means a musical buff but i found the flim good and solid performances by everyone involved

mannequinhands

frogstar wrote: »

. Still don't understand why she cut her hair in real life (well Oscar chances maybe)

Cause thats what actor and actresses do when they want somthing to be real

Linvia

This is the best musical I've seen during these years, and the best film adapted from classics, much better than Great Expectations, Anna Karenina last year. Also this is the movie cried my eyes out....What a fantastic movie experience in iSense.

Kiith

I saw it at the weekend. I'm really not a musical person, but i quite enjoyed it. I'd thought there was going to be some normal dialogue, and then some songs, but it's entirely musical. When i heard this, i was a bit worried, but it didn't bother me in the end. Crowe doesn't have the best voice, but he acted the part well i though, and Jackman and Hathaway were both good.

Would like to see an on stage version though, to compare. There's certainly a big difference between the soundtrack and, say, the musical soundtrack. But that was always going to happen. Overall, they did a good job.