What can I even say about Les Mis? The novel was published by Victor Hugo in 1862(same person that wrote the Hunchback of Notre Dame), and was first converted into a play of the same name in 1980, Paris. Now it is being shown in 311 cities all across the globe, and remains one of the most infamour musicals to go and watch. Personally, I haven't actually been to see the musical, but my mum and sister have been to the West End to see it three or four times, and they have always raved on about how good it is.
For those who don't know, it was converted into a movie(there are already a couple of movie adaptaions) by Tom Hooper for release in 2012- it was released on 11th Jan in Britain. The cast is also incredible: featuring Anne Hathaway, Russel Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried, and my personal fvourite Eddie Redmayne, among others. The film has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, too!
Here is the plot line;
Set in early 19th-century France, it is the story of Jean Valjean, a burly French peasant of abnormal strength and potentially violent nature, and his quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread for starving relatives. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly bishop inspires him to, but he is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector named Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade.
You guys do not know how hard it is for me not to just sit here telling you about how much I love Eddie Redmayne! He is so good looking, ahh and so talented- it makes me sad! Anyway, I thought that they made this film perfectly. The actors that were cast were all teriffic, especially since they all had to sing really well, too. I do wish that they had included a few more songs with the young Cosette, as I really like hearing her sing, her voice is mesmerising. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by Russel Crowe's performance in this movie- I wasn't expecting him to have such a good voice, if I'm honest, but he knocked it out of the park!
I love the music in this movie. Apparently, all of the songs were performed live on the set(they were overlain with pre-recorded songs during the editing process), which helped the actors get into the emotional side of the song more, which they did perfectly. Most of the movie was performed in song, I could probably count the number of sentences said, not sung, on one hand. My favourite songs to hear were the ones that had multiple voices singing. for example, the reprise of On My Own, near the end of the film, was mashed up with about five or six main characters singing it, but they were all singing different songs. This created a harmony, but a medley at the same time- it was truly spectacular.
All in all, Les Mis is definitely a movie that I would go and see again, and I will surely be buying the DVD on the day of release! Just watching the movie has made me desperate to get my hands on the novel, to see what it is really like.
Have you seen Les Miserables yet?
Jennifer xx
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