Les Misérables - the movie

[caz963]

I've loved the musical version of Les Miserables since the first time I saw it back in 1986. It was initially a co-production with the RSC and the cast included a number of their company, such as Roger Allum as Javert and the redoubtable Alun Armstrong as Thénardier, as well as a few 'ringers' like Michael Ball and Colm Willkinson (!) I was

Comments

[annissag]

I've really been looking forward to this movie, but I haven't had a chance to see it yet. Les Mis was a huge part of my teenage years. I saw a clip of Russell Crowe as Javert, and even though I wasn't really digging it, I couldn't stop myself singing along.

I am most excited by the inclusion of Colm Wilkinson in the cast. I'm also included in the 'many' you mentioned.

Thank you for reviewing it!

[caz963]

It was hard not to sing along! Maybe one day there will be singalong performances, like there are with Sound of Music:)

[hooloovoo_42]

I didn't get to see it on Saturday, as it was pretty much sold out in Northampton - which I'm glad about. Yesterday when I was clearing out the spare room, I found my programme from when I saw it in 1986, complete with Michael Ball's autograph :-) (and a photo of Alun Armstrong with a really dodgy haircut!). The original cast is still the best.

[caz963]

I booked on Friday night - it's only on in one of the screens in the cinema and it's not the biggest one. It was packed for a 5pm on Sunday. Although at those prices (nearly 10 quid per adult) that was surprising!

I imagine it will do quite well, what with all the buzz about it, but I would think it's not going to attract the mass 'yoof' audience who seems to be the main target of film makers these days.

[hooloovoo_42]

I think they're getting the message that if a film is worth seeing, older people will turn out. I saw Quartet last week, in the big screen, and it was packed.

Pretty much everyone I work with is going to see Les Mis, with family and friends. I think that those who have seen the stage version want to see the film and those who have never been able to see the stage version want to see the film.

[flippet]

I think you're on to something there. Not everyone has access to a good stage version....but most people, most places, will be able to find a theater showing the film. And if you haven't seen it on stage (like I haven't), then yeah, you kind of want to know what all the fuss is about!

[jhava]

Thank you for the review. I'm quite keen to see it now!I've seen the stage production several times and thoroughly enjoyed it each time. There are so many memorable songs performed with such passion that I was a wee bit worried about the film version. But, from what I hear, I should set aside my fears and go to enjoy the show :).

[caz963]

I think you should go :-) I had similar apprehensions, too, but the film is a different animal. For instance, there are moments in some songs that would have been belted out in the theatre, but which are scaled down in the film and which generally work just as well.

Crowe's Javert is disappointing in his big numbers, but there's plenty of good things to make up for that.

[flippet]

I have never seen a stage production, and have only seen some of the various concert footage in passing - haven't read the book either, but when I saw that this film was being made, I did go and run through the SparkNotes, and I'm glad I did. I could reasonably understand who the characters are, and what was happening, but I would agree - anyone who isn't familiar with the story will likely be rather lost, since we really come into everyone's story right in the middle, as it were, and there's not a lot of backstory to grab on to...you have to glean it, which is not a common skill for the average moviegoer these days

[hooloovoo_42]

Just be glad you never had to read the book in French!

[flippet]

Oh, lordy.

[hooloovoo_42]

It wasn't one of our set books, but the French teacher decided it would save her having to actually prepare and mark any work on the books we were supposed to be reading!

It's not *too* bad in English.

[de23]

I saw it last week and agree with you. There were times with Hugh Jackman, like in "Bring Him Home," where I was sitting there thinking "This is not my favorite version of this song, but man, he's rocking the role!"

I was also surprised at the decent crowd in the movie theater, but that's here in semi-rural Tennessee. I'm surprised you have the same reaction in Britian.

[hooloovoo_42]

I go to the movies a lot. I try to go on a Saturday lunchtime/early afternoon to avoid the crowds and can be in a theatre with fewer than a dozen people. Friday/Saturday nights are often 2/3 full. But for Les Mis, there are multiple sell out shows a day at 2 nearby cinemas (I live half way between a small town and a larger town). It's doing as well as Skyfall did at the moment. Whether it can sustain that for 2 months, as Skyfall did, is another matter.

[caz963]

Our 'local' cinema is 20 miles away (the really local one closed down before Christmas) and it's an 8-screen multiplex. But the cinemas inside aren't huge - and the one I was in can't have seated more than 150 people (rough guess). Big new films are usually on in 2 or more cinemas, but I can understand that something like Les Mis can be an acquired taste. I mean, it's like watching opera with a beat! Which is fine with me, because I like opera. But my parents don't, and they enjoyed it!