Review of Les Misérables (2012) by Aster A — 04 Jan 2014

One of the best films that I have ever watched and now my favourite film. Absolutely stunning. Having seen the Les Miserables musical, I can proudly say that this film provides everything the musical doesn't. Firstly, it is so cinematic, each scene is presented with miraculous attention to detail. Secondly, the raw emotion in this film (which I believe is down to the heavenly orchestral score that resonates throughout the film) will leave you with a huge lump in your throat and eventually in tears, particularly during Eponine's death scene. Finally the casting for this film was done astonishingly well, every character, including Samantha Banks who's name never seems to feature on any promotional material, clearly invested so much time into portraying these powerful characters that Victor Hugo created many years ago. My only criticisms is that Russell Crowe's ability to sing doesn't meet the rest of the casts standards, and that although the love story between Marius and Cosette is beautiful to watch blossom, the film is shockingly sad and I often feel down just thinking about the upsetting nature of the film - but that was, and still is reality I guess.

Beautiful film, must see if you're a musical fan.