Review of Les Misérables (2012) by Henry D — 13 Jul 2014

Let me start off by saying that I have never seen neither a live nor a recorded version of the stage musical, "Les Miserables" (though I have read the novel by Victor Hugo, if that's any consolation), that being the case, those of you who feel that this invalidates my opinion on British director Tom Hooper's film adaptation in some way, you have my permission to feel as such, but just know that it won't change my opinion on this movie nor will it change the fact that my opinion exists...

Now then, the story (for those unlucky few who don't already know) is set in France in the 1800s and begins just a few years before the French Revolution. We are immediately introduced to Jean Valjean (played magnificently by Hugh Jackman), a man who is being set free from slavery years after committing the crime that put him there in the first place and upon his return to the world of the free he finds himself unable to find a home let alone a job due to his status as a second-class-criminal citizen. Fortunately Valjean is able to escape his parole and craft a new life for himself elsewhere, meanwhile Fantine (played by the emotionally resonant, Anne Hathaway) aims to make a living so to better raise her daughter, Cosette.

Also in the film is Eddie Redmayne as Marius, who amazingly manages to take full command of the action upon his introduction a whole hour into the film; Samantha Barks as Eponine in a performance almost as tear-jerking as Hathaway's; and the ever splendid Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier. One performance that especially blew me away was Sacha Baron Cohen as Thenardier, an actor who I've rarely been able to say I enjoyed watching, much less been thoroughly impressed with. In fact, to be perfectly honest Cohen and Carter steal every scene they're in (especially when they're together).

Drawing a lot of criticism during the movie's initial release was the vocal abilities of supporting actor Russel Crowe who portrays the main antagonist, Inspector Javert. Though Crowe's musical prowess is (I'll admit) 'lacking', neither his shortcomings nor the shortcomings of Amanda Seyfried (who's high notes can tend to be a bit nauseating at times) are enough to bog down this otherwise impenetrable fortress of talent that is "Les Miserables"'s ensemble cast.

The music is of course an essential element in a musical and the music here couldn't be better, with the entire film racing from one song to the next in a constant river-flow of sing-song dialogue -- the songs take up such a large portion of the dialogue in fact that I'd say less than 4% of the film is in actual spoken words.

In other subjects, Hooper's directing style has only improved since his 2010 Oscar-winning film, "The King's Speech", and his cinematography is as powerful and abstract as ever. "Les Miserables" is a movie about the thirst for love, life, freedom, and the power to make a positive impact on someone else's life; it's also about war, rebellion, death, poverty, and the fear of the loss of innocence. For movie-lovers and musical-lovers alike, "Les Miserables" is a grand spectacle... and you don't need to have seen the stage-version (or read the book) in order to enjoy it immensely.