Written by William Nicholson And Alain Boublil And Claude-Michel Schönberg And Herbert Kretzmer
Directed by Tom Hooper
Gavroche: "This is the land that fought for liberty, now when we fight, we fight for bread... here is the thing about equality, everyone's equal when they're dead."
Yesterday, I looked at the epic misfire that was Cats, so as a counterbalance, I also went back to look at Tom Hooper's success with this musical adaptation. I really love this one.
Based on the Victor Hugo of the same name and the stage production, the film initially focused on the impoverished Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a single mother, trying to make ends meet in a factory. Jealous co-workers and an distant boss in Valjean (Hugh Jackman) see Fantine's life take a turn for the worst.
She's had to give up her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen/Amanda Seyfried) to a horrible innkeeper couple, Thénardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) and was forced to sell herself on the streets. Brutish clients, sickness and the overzealous police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) all added to Fantine's misery before dying.
As for Valjean, his history with Javert came to the forefront when he stepped up to adopt Cosette and while the two of them moved up in the world, Javert was adamant in his pursuit of justice. That was in spite of the new philanthropic role that Valjean has set up for himself.
The second half of the movie very much moved into the revolution side of things. There's a love triangle between Cosette, activist Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) and the Thénardiers daughter, Eponine (Samantha Barks) during this, which does offer sympathy for the latter.
Between betrayals, blackmails, executions and sacrifices from our remaining players, this last act of this movie was a triumph. There's certainly plenty of sad moments as well as happier ones with both Cosette and Marius by the end of this storming adaptation.
- Several actors from previous stage productions such as Fra Free, George Blagden, Julian Bleach, Kate Fleetwood and Hannah Waddingham appeared in the movie.
- A lot of Fantine's characteristics came from Hugo's own encounter with a real life prostitute being accosted by a customer in public.
- Standout music: Valjean's Soliloquy, I Dreamed A Dream, Master Of The House, Suddenly, On My Own, One Day More, Bring Him Home and The Final Battle.
- Chronology: 1815 to begin with as well as 1823 in Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais 1832 in Paris.
Les Miserables definitely was a triumph for Tom Hooper. He took the stage adaptation and managed to make it into a more accessible movie with some genuinely spellbinding performances from everyone on board. Easily my favourite musical adaptation and it's aged pretty damn good too.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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