LES MISERABLES
Director:
Tom Hooper
Starring:
Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Inspector Javert), Anne Hathaway
(Fantine), Eddie Redmayne (Marius), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette), Helena Bonham
Carter (Madame Thenardier),
Sacha
Baron Cohen (Monsieur Thénardier), Aaron Tveit (Enjolras), George Blagden (Grantaire),
Samantha Barks (Eponine)
Rating:
PG-13 (for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements)
Running
Time: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Overall
Opinion. (4 stars)
Right
up front it should be known that Les
Miserables the stage musical is my favorite musical of all time. A raw
impacting tale with themes of hope and faith in God, and a powerful soundtrack
to go with it. That being said, I have always been anxious when someone plans
to do a movie based on a musical. Will it have the same impact? Will they pick
the right roles/voices for the part? (etc) Such Musicals Movies as Sound of Music and certainly Thoroughly Modern Millie, though well
cast still did not even come close to bringing justice to the source material.
And with such rumors as Taylor Swift taking the role of Eponine, I was anxious
right up to the point of when I was sitting waiting for the film to start. My
anxiousness was ill deserved. Les
Miserables delivered in every way that it could. Scenery, musical score,
and cast delivered in this film adaption. Those unfamiliar with the tale (and
shame on you if you are), Les Mis tells
the tale of escaped convict Jean Valjean (Jackman), on the run from Inspector
Javert (Crowe) while seeking to fulfill the promise of a dying Fantine
(Hathaway) to care for her daughter Cosette (Seyfried). Throw in a couple
thieves, a young-love story, and a revolution and you get the story of Les Mis. Tom Hooper (who also directed
the Oscar-winning King’s Speech two
years prior), uses his talent for authenticity and realism to give this
book-turned-musical-turned-movie the emotional impact audiences have come to
expect. Where most musical films are shot with a pre-recorded soundtrack and
the actors lip-singing to it, Hooper decided to have the actors sing live on
film (being the only other musical besides 1995’s Fantasticks to do so). This combined with the upclose and personal
shots of the actors gave Les Mis its raw emotional core. Add in some well
picked scenery (prime example Crowe while singing ‘Stars’ perched on a ledge,
depicting his position between man and God)
and attention to the smallest details of costuming and makeup brought
this stage show to life. The actors were also well picked for their Music
Roles:
When
talking about this movie, I ran into a couple music majors who did not
appreciate the raw intensity of the songs. They would have liked it better if
the songs were sung in their proper format. Being an actor, I for one
appreciated the realistic approach to the songs. For example, Hathaway’s
Fantine while singing “I dreamed a dream,” one of the more iconic songs. This
is a song about a woman who sought a good life, which went to hell very
quickly. I’m sorry, but as an actor, when I see an actor or actress singing
about a terrible life, I want to SEE an actress singing about terrible life.
While still caring that she have a good voice and hold a good tune, I care more
to see the person behind the song. Anne Hathaway delivered on that. I had tears
going during that song, because I saw Fantine; a mother separated from her
daughter. I could go on for pages on each actor. I will not say they were
perfect, but like Gerard Butler from Phantom
of the Opera, each was well suited to their role. Fellow theatre lovers
will appreciate that Colm Wilkinson (the orginal Valjean) and Frances Ruffelle
(the original Eponine) make appearances as the Bishop and head prostitute
respectfully, and each still singing beautifully. Each ‘tom, dick, and harry’
will have his own favorite actor for each part. When it comes to film, I
personally felt Jackman was the best choice for Valjean. My only pain was that
his voice came off strained in ‘Bring Him Home’ (another iconic song). But he
transformed himself to fit the role, in all the stages of the characters life
(prisoner, mayor, father, old man) nailing all the other songs, and being the
perfect contrast to Crowe’s Javert. Crow I was pleasantly surprised by. While I
did not like his use of a higher pitch voice during his ‘dialogue bits’ he,
like Hathaway, delivered his own realistic approach to his two main songs(ex-
‘Stars’ being more of a quite prayer instead of being the passionate shout out
of the musical),as well as blending well with Jackman in ‘confrontation’. But
the most impressive male performance came from Eddie Redmayne in his multiple
pitch-changing role as love struck revolutionist Marius. Bonham Carter and
Cohen, already known for their singing ability and talent for strange
characters had no trouble being the parts of the thieving Thenardiers. But high
applause goes to the women. Seyfried, improving her vocal range from Mamma Mia, Anne Hatheway through her
strong Oscar-worthy performance as Fantine, and one my favorite vocal actresses
Samantha Barks completely stealing everyone’s hearts through her representation
of Eponine and the singing of ‘On my Own’ (Barks had played Eponine for the 25th
anniversary Les Mis Concert, this
being her first movie appearance). As said, if one wants the music to stay the
same from the musical, be prepared for a different approach. But being a fan of
both, I for one can appreciate the beauty of the stage version while also
loving the authenticity of the film version.
(Side
note: to all the people who thought that they should have just grabbed all the
stage cast for the movie version, you must understand one thing: film acting
and stage acting demand very different things from actors. Stage demands more
outgoing, in a word, passionate portrayals of the parts, while film demands
more realistic intimacy of the actor. One does not simply jump from one to the
next (said from the voice of experience). Each has its different comfort zone.
Stage asks for social interaction and Film asks for personal believability. It
would take extra work for cast and crew to train actors to sort through the
many differences. For this reason, most actors who do one version of acting generally
don’t like doing the other)
With
a well picked cast, the movie carried its own way. And extra points are given
to screenwriters and playwrights alike for helping make the movie true to the
book while remaining true to the theme of the musical. I finished the book a
day before the movie, and was grateful due to the number of things switched
around to fit the book plot (ex - changed battle climax, role of eponine, and
most favorite, the addition of the new song ‘Suddenly’ which helped capture the
father-daughter moment in the book that the musical was unable to portray). The
movie does has it’s flaws. As said, the actors were not all perfect. A number
of bits or songs could have been improved, and at times scene changes were so
quick you sometimes did not get time to absorb the songs. But I left that
theater still in love with my favorite musical, which is all you can really ask
for. As I said, each person will always have his/her favorite
valjean/javert/fantine/eponine/etc. Each time a different version comes out,
one should just focus on seeing what that actor can do with the role, because
that’s the beauty of theater, is that its not meant to be done the same way
each time. This version decided to give realism to what we felt in the songs (Valjean
and Javert actually coming to blows in ‘Confrontation’) and thus make it more
impactful. Hugh Jackman said that doing a musical movie was the Mount Everest
of filming, “that its either going to bomb or its going to be a big hit.” I
feel they climbed that mountain, for Les
Miserables still remains of my favorite musicals of all time, both on stage
and on the big screen
Good
Message/Bad Message:
-
Despite living a life of misery, there can always be hope for a better tomorrow
-“To
love another person is to see the face of God.”
Content:
Violence
– Typical PG-13 material. Shootings, couple of bayonet stabbings, cannon fire.
Nothing graphic, little blood, but still has its moments of intensity.
Sex –
a bit more than is typical for a PG-13 movie. Sexual references are the main
theme in a couple of the songs. Two scenes have prostitutes as a form of
business life. Nothing graphically shown, but enough to give you the idea of
what is happening.
Language
– typical lower rated profanities. Pretty clean overall,l More concern for the
sexual references in the songs rather than language.
Drugs:
The bar scene has alcohol/beer drunk to excess, and even shown in a humorous
manner. Soldiers later drink for comfort. Again, not as bad as it could be, but
something to be wary of for first-time viewing.
Family
Rating:
This
is probably one of the more impacting PG-13 movies out there. Not so much as
for the content as the ‘raw emotion’ and subject material the story deals with.
Its especially emotional in knowing that some the stuff shown was actually what
people called a living. It might prove too much for a first timer. Also the
sexual and beer references should be addressed prior to viewing. Take them to
the stage version first, and go from there.
Christian
undertones: (SPOILERS in this paragraph)
Over
and over again I hear people say how Les
Miserables title fits the story. “Its sad,” or “its depressing,” and so on
and so forth. So was the Alamo, so
was Pearl Harbor, so was the Green Mile. But what went with each
of them? A message worth remembering. People should not dismiss the story of Les Miserables because it’s sad. It
is sad, and truth be told watching it twice in one week was a little
overwhelming. But it IS a story that should be heard, especially the musical
version. Les Miserables does indeed tell the story of some unfortunate
people, and yes despite their struggles and determination, some don’t get your
typical happy ending. But through it all, the pain, misery, and death there is
an overall theme of undying hope and belief in a reward in the next life. I
will divide this explanation by character.
Jean
Valjean/Javert – These two give the conflicting viewpoints of the faith in
general. A life of freedom and redemption vs a life of law and order. Valjean
lived a life of cruelty and anger. He believed that all the world was his
enemy. Yet a bishop point to him ‘another way to go’ other than his life of
anger and revenge. Valjean choses to believe in this new life, to believe that
there can be a better tomorrow. This new life causes him to view himself
differently, as a man flawed, but also trying do better. Thus every action,
every decision he makes is based on the thought “This is what old-valjean would
want to do, what should a God-fearing Valjean do?” Valjean like every sinner,
knows he can never be ‘good enough.’ But he can try. Valjean walks the path of
a typical Christian, in that he is saved, yet strives to be better with each
day, never accepting ‘good enough’ as a decription for his character. He finds
redemption in that through the love and caring of Cosette, risking personal
safety to be her father. She is his new hope and life, something he feels he
does not deserve. Its due to the faithful love of Cosette that Valjean is
encouraged to be a better man. God gives him another thing to focus on other
than his rage against the law. Javert was raised in a prison: father worked the
galleys and mother a fortune teller. He grew up outside society, so figured he
could only partake a career that was viewed negatively by society. This gave
him two choices: a man on the rack or a man of the law. Javert’s upbringing
made him see the world as black and white (righteous and scum). Javert is a
crusader of the law. However he is a misguided crusader, for although his
motives are pure, his method is not. One can picture him as a man of faith who
stays strictly to the 10 commandments. He sticks to the rules, and any who
don’t follow those rules are immediately cut off from the path to God. Though
true in some fashion, since God is a God of strict rules, and one should try to
be righteous every day, Javert’s strictness of this belief makes him not believe
in the power of redemption. This sparks his continuous pursuit of Valjean. He
is a sinner, scum of the earth, and he must pay the price. Yet with each new
encounter, Javert discovers that Valjean is indeed not the man he once was.
After this supposed ‘scum’ spares his life, Javert ironically enough has the
same epiphany and decision to make as Valjean had at the beginning of the story:
the way I thought I knew is not true, so “is there another way to go.” Valjean
had chosen to change, a sinner born again through the grace of God. Javert did
not. It was not only because he now owed his life to Valjean, but that his
entire existence had just been proven false by a man he thought to be a sinner.
Javert learned that the beliefs he had clung to his entire life were not true.
He had spent an entire life living a falsehood! A lie, a crime! He had become
tainted! Same as Valjean. Javert could not bear that. He still lived in a world
of black and white, and in his view, a false inspector had no right to live. So
he killed himself. Valjean, despite his mistakes and self-loathing, chose to
struggle on for a better life and belief. Javert, not able to find a new belief
to cling to, fell into darkness.
Fantine/Eponine
– many philosophers of this story hold that these two heroines are ‘parallel
characters’ of each other. Both of them fell in love with a man who did not
return that love. Both live a life that no one else would want to live. Fantine
a prostitute, and Eponine a muggler/thief/liar among other things. Both suffer
pain: Fantine loses teeth, her pride, her very physical strength, Eponine is
beaten by her father, ridiculed, shunned by others, and takes a bullet in the
end for her troubles. Yet, BOTH woman are redeemed by the reason they go
through all of it: the love of another person. They do all these things because
they love another, sacrificing themselves for that one person. Complete
un-selfish, sacrificial love.
The
story of Les Miserables is indeed hard to bear. Raw, no punches pulled in
telling the life of what people had to deal with. Yet through all the misery
two things abide. Love and hope (faith if you like). Hope for a life worth
living, and hope for a reward in the afterlife. Javert represents the view of
the world and even some so claimed faith-believers, “if I follow the law, I
will remain pure.” While well and good, following the law gave him nothing to
personally hope for. When the law proved to be false (or at least not entirely
true), he discovered he had nothing left to cling to. No friends, no ‘better
future,’ or ideals. Without the law, he was in a world “that cannot hold.”
Valjean represents the viewpoint of a humbled believer: flawed, but made better
through the love and grace of Christ. Due to this, he does what God asks of his
believers so many times, to go another mile. Multiple times Valjean went
farther than necessary. No one would have blamed him for just leaving Cosette
in the Abbeys care, or if he had Javert fired at when he had the chance, or
even leaving Marius to fend for himself). Though tempted, Valjean never gave
in, because he remembered the love that one man gave him, and sought to do the
same for others Radio surveys taken of the movie said that one tagline was
taken from the movie overall (secular and believer alike): “To love another
person is to see the face of God.” THAT is the theme beneath the misery.
Valjean, Fantine, and Eponine each loved another person, and were each redeemed
by that love. And when each has their untimely death, while sad, its also one
of them finding peace in that they leave the ones they love safe and cared for.
Even in their final moments, they represent the thoughts of believers in
Christ. They don’t so much ‘give up living’ as that they realize, they have
done all they could for the for the people they loved, and that is time for
them to finally ‘lay down their burden’ and go to their rightful home. Les Miserable through its sad story
points out the beauty of maintaining hope and faith in God’s power. For this
life is not meant to be perfect, and we each suffer in our own way, but we can
still believe in a better tomorrow. The story helps make that viewpoint a reality,
and something believers in Christ can always use in pointing out a better way
of life to others.
Scripture
references – Matthew 5:11-12, Matt. 5:40-42, John 15:11-13, Romans 13:7-9
Final
Say:
Worth
seeing and quite worthwhile to see on the big screen.
No comments:
Post a Comment