So when I heard that a Hollywood adaptation of the musical Les Miserables was coming, I was of course quite skeptical. I just plain doubted that Hollywood had the talent or ability to make a version of this marvelous play that would do it justice. I shuddered to think that they might do to Les Mis what Joel Shumacher did to The Phantom of the Opera, create a spectacle full of glitz and sparkle, but completely devoid of the play's soul.
Then I started to hear things about how the film was being made. And I started to hear about the cast. Then I saw some clips. And my worry gave way to complete anticipation!
And the anticipation has paid off. Les Miserables is everything that I could have ever hoped for as a film adaptation of the play. That's not to say that the film is without fault, but it has a heart and soul.
The play Les Miserables is simply a work of art. It explores the conflict between Law and Grace, it speaks of faith and hedonism, mercy and misery. It shows how the law might be unjust, and deals starkly with the raw and sinful underside of humanity. And most of all, it celebrates that the grace of God can indeed transform misery into goodness.
Obviously this is a story established strongly upon a Christian worldview, with Christian morals and a Christian message. There is violence and bloodshed, but this revolution achieves nothing good. There is a stark depiction of sexuality and prostitution, but it is shown in its reality. The prostitutes do not wish to be in the "oldest profession," they are instead forced into it out of desperation. They are victims of a form of abuse. In fact, every form of immoral sexuality depicted or referred to (and as a fair warning, there are a few) leads obviously to evil, brokenness, loneliness, poverty, and societal breakdown. All things, whether government, business, police, neighbors, or anything else may easily be perverted and lead to misery among people. The only thing that leads to peace, that changes men and restores them, is God's grace.
This is the kind of thing that I can get fully behind. This is Christian morality; a moral system that understands the brokenness of our world and provides the only real answers. Want a good life? It must be done God's way.
Hugh Jackman shines in his role as Valjean, and indeed the movie would not be a success without an actor talented enough to sing well as well as act. Jackman has it, and pours his heart into Valjean.
But more deserving of praise is Anne Hathaway's performance as Fantine. The role is small, yet every moment of screentime she has is brilliant. Her "I Dreamed a Dream" solo performance is indeed everything you might have heard it would be. It is harrowing, haunting, and shattering. She simply steals the show.
The rest of the cast was also good, even surprisingly better than I expected. Everyone certainly could sing and act well. But of course there is a low point. I love Russel Crowe as an actor. He is powerful and intense, and clearly pours himself into what he does. But here he was not the ideal Javert. In watching his performance I felt like he was so distracted by singing that he forgot to act, or vice versa. He was not as bad a singer as I had feared, but he just wasn't quite good enough as a singer really to HIT those power notes like he needed to. I loved Javert from the musical; I readily identify with his character. But Crowe's performance was enough to make me feel distant from a character I love, and if that doesn't say "miscast" I don't know what does.
For me, the ultimate highlight of the film was simply how great it sounded, and how the voices really did feel like they came from the actors who were singing. This was something I hated about The Phantom of the Opera; no matter how well the editing was done, it always seemed like the voice you heard was not being sung by the person on screen. There was just something "off," something wrong that made it look like a really good puppet show. That's because all the voices for the music were recorded ahead of time, and the actors on set simply lip-synched their parts.
Not so in Les Miserables. Here the director made the rather daring choice that the whole movie's music would be recorded on set. Thus, the actor you see was really singing the words you hear while the scene was being done. Lips are perfectly synchronized. And performances seem perfectly suited to what is actually going on -nothing seems strained simply because of a choice made in recording audio weeks before shooting the scene. But of course this choice made everything extremely hard for the sound recorders and mixers. I'm happy to say that team deserves every accolade possible; this movie sounds great.
Of course, there are a few other things that kinda bugged me. Santa bugged me. The inclusion of those moments into the film (not included in the play) made a joke out of something serious. Yes, there is sexuality in the play (as noted before), but it is always dealt with in a way that shows the sin and sinful consequence. The santa bits made it a throwaway gag, a moment for coarse laughter, and the clear lowpoint of the film.
Also I was a bit bugged by the pacing of the film. This is undoubtedly a long movie, but I can't help but think that if 10-15 minutes were added the whole experience could have been better. Some scenes just did not transition well to others and felt somewhat rushed. A few more moments between some of these would have improved the pacing greatly, so that nothing would feel jarring.
But on the whole the complaints are few. Les Miserables is a great adaptation of a great play, and the messages and themes simply resonate through time.
Entertainment: 7/10
Artistic Value: 10/10
Technical Merit: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
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