Monday, December 24, 2012

Les Miserables (pre-review and review)


Hi My name is Jacqui. You may know me from other entries on this blog, though I admit they don’t happen as often as I would like.

I am here to discuss Les Miserables. This is a movie I have been waiting for since I was a little bitty child. When I was younger and my parents were mean, I would imagine I was Cossette waiting for someone to rescue me from the Thenardiers. As I got older, I thought of most of my relationships as the one-sided love of Eponine and Marius. Additionally, I was bullied mightily as a child. When I was down or saddened, I would retreat to my room or the corner of a field and listen to the soundtrack. Truth be told, there was a time when I knew the whole thing in 3 languages (Original French, Hebrew and English). To this day, I can tell you the differences between the original London Cast and Broadway. As well as the subtle ways, they changed the show for the symphonic recording, 10th and 25th anniversary concerts (10th was by far the most amazing). 

I only give that introduction so you as the reader can understand my bona fidas to totally destroy this movie. I haven’t seen the film yet; I have only heard the recording. To me, that is enough to explain my dislike for what I will see tomorrow.

Tom Hooper chose an unorthodox approach to film this movie. The nature of Les Miserables is a very emotional piece of music. As a result, he chose to have the actors sing live on set and using long takes to accommodate this manner of filming.   I understand why he made the decision and I appreciate what he tried to do.

However, what seems like a great idea in theory is not always good in practice. I feel like Hooper who is not a musical guy didn’t quite grasp what he asked his cast to do. Hugh Jackman, a Tony nominee and true Broadway veteran sounds tired. He is capable of this Hugh Jackman Oklahoma Opening. The same goes for Samantha Bark  (A West End “Eponine”) and Amanda Seyfried. Anne Hatheway has done some Sondheim and other sort of soundtracks (Ella Enchanted).

Hearing Hugh Jackman sing “Bring Him Home” is painful. This man has a range and power. While I didn’t expect him to sound like Colm Wilkinson or Anthony Warlow; I did expect him to sound like he was able to pull off the high notes. Again he sounds tired when he sings it.  Another example from earlier in the movie,  “Who am I?” I will provide an example to illustrate what you will be walking into:

Jackman



Alfie Boes from the 25th Anniversary concert (whom I dislike)



The notes of the song where in the show it transitions to the courtroom, (lyrics: “Who am I? I’m Jean Valjean”) are some of the most badass sung notes in the musical. By talking through it, he fails to convey the full emotion of the moment. I also grant that he doesn’t have to make the transition that the stage Valjean has to make during this song as the magic of film takes care of that for movie Valjean. I feel this reflects how truly tired Jackman was during the filming and the lack of understanding Hooper has for the show. 

Nowhere is this more evident than the way he directed some scenes in the movie. Example: Traditionally, actors who share certain singing attributes play the roles of Javert and Valjean. The main reason for this is because the actors are asked by the score to act as a counterbalance. Again, I understand the choice of a Russell Crowe. He does have some singing experience mostly in rock and not in a musical setting (though I did find this little gem: http://youtu.be/somEd35Xz2Q).  Jackman while "forcing it" still has more power than Crowe. With Crowe unable to sing it, the least Hooper could have done is “fix” scenes like the various Confrontations scenes to adjust the levels so the proper counterpoints occur at their proper times (http://youtu.be/rlYVHOUa3Vo though the same thing occurs on the movie soundtrack as well).

Sorry I have to say it. Hooper was given a collection of some of the best voices Hollywood has to offer and he failed to allow them to meet their potential. He also was unable to fully grasp the material he was working with. Again, I understand the idea of “let the actors be actors” but it fails in this medium with this score. My hope is that when they release the DVD/Blue ray, Cameron Macintosh sends the cast to the studio to record a proper recording and re-engineer the movie.

Pre-movie Rating: 1/5


Updated on 12/25

Following the usual Jewish Tradition of Movies and Chinese; I went to Les Miserables with the family. My above critique of the vocals still stands. I will stay that the movie is well done in almost every other respect. I even cried at some points.

Anne Hathaway will get an oscar nod for this performance. Hugh Jackman I believe will get the globe but Hooper sabotaged him. Valjean is hard to sing in normal circumstances, Hooper really hurt Jackman's ability to sing it properly. His edits of the confrontation scenes to remove the counterpoints between Jackman and Crowe really bothered me and also hurt the ability to tell the story in a proper way.

Hooper's use of the super-closeup was also something that I found beyond troubling at times. He often used the technique to "show" you who was singing; something that would not have needed to happen if the film was properly mastered in a studio and not on set. For what Hooper attempted to work, you needed voices who could pull it off and he lacked them/ tired out the ones that could. I go back to "Bring Him Home" which sounds like Jackman made a choice between proper technique and drama. Never cause vocal damage was something teachers always taught me.

While I have spent the majority of this entry completely panning this movie, I will spend some time complimenting a few of the changes made to the script. A big complaint of the show is the lack of background given on the characters, Hooper appears to remedy this in a couple places (actually introducing Marius by showing his grandfather. They  also explain where Cossette and Valjean ended up after she is rescued from the Thenardiers).

Another touching change occurs at the end. The show finale has Eponine and Fantine escorting Valjean to heaven. In the movie, Fantine and the Bishop (played by the Original "Valjean" Colm Wilkinson) escorting him gates.  A very touching finale to an otherwise lackluster movie. 
    

Post Movie Rating: 3/5

Rumor has it they are going to make a 3D version.. ABORT ABORT 

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