So been to see Les Miserables with the Missus. What did I think? 5 things spring to mind immediately:
1. Forgiveness and final eternal redemption vs adherence to the Law resulting in death.
2. The critics' savaging of Russell Crowe is NOT fair.
3. Hugh Jackman is superb, but NOT the best singer.
4. Tom Hooper's the real star of the film.
5. Not so much a loud film as continually intense.
Whereas I'm not going to allude to the stage production, it is impossible to ignore the Victor Hugo source that clearly presents the Christian message of salvation via redemption rather than works and legalistic obedience of rules. The redemption of Jean Valjean permeates almost every plot twist and had me weeping at the end as Valjean is led into paradise.
Tom Hooper uses the camera in masterstrokes, from his creative and continuously flowing segues between time periods, to pulling away or focussing on his characters when they are in full delivery (e.g. pulling up from Jean Valjean as he finishes his thoughts over the sleeping Marius behind the barricade, diverting momentarily to the side of the frame at the lit puddles as Eponine sings of the rain casting silver light on the ground). I have heard many describe the film as 'loud', which it most certainly is not. It is simply, because the music keeps going without interruption, intense. Each scene follows the previous one without narrative pause and, often, without emotional break.
So Russell Crowe. 'Mamma Mia' Pierce Brosnan-like, or not? Not. His part requires a stoicism and none of the flashiness that Hugh Jackman is allowed to unleash. The opening songs do nothing to help initial impressions. By repeatedly using the musical interval of a fourth, Crowe appears to have limited vocal ability; yet this is the the deliberate impression given by this use of the music (rather than his performance) which portrays the limited nature of his character and his rigidly legalistic world-view. He is more than capable of holding a tune and conveying the confusion of his limited and plodding lawman. To me at least, his perfectly adequate performance has been unfairly received.
However, who would have thought that Wolverine could bay at the moon with the best of them? Jackman is superb and utterly believable. His ability to sing expertly in chest and head voice an astonishing surprise to me. All I can say is that Daniel Day-Lewis must have won Jackman's AMERICAN Academy-bestowed Oscar because he portrayed a famous AMERICAN because I just cannot believe DDL is better than this. But Jackman the best singer in the movie? Sorry, but no. This belongs to Eddie Redmayne (Marius). I could not wait to hear him again and again. His effortless movement between lower and upper registers a sheer delight. This quite physically unimpressive lad seemed to grow in stature and come alive on the screen every time he struck up his song.
At least Hathaway got a well-deserved Oscar for the picture. She must have used every tic and trick she ever learned when ruing her lot in the ship scene. And when I heard the opening few notes of her Fantine theme as she stood over the dying Jean Valjean, it just wrenched my heart in two.
So many good performances (including from lesser characters such as Samantha Barks' Eponine, and Sacha Baron Cohen's and Helena Bonham-Carter's Thenardiers), fantastic scene-setting, set pieces and cinematography, a rip-roaring allegorical story, and knowledge that it is a British production make 'Les Miserables' a marvellous cinematic musical experience. Catch it if you haven't yet before it leaves the big screen.