One Day More comes pretty much in the same place in the film as it does in the theatre version. The second bit of the show is much shorter than the first.
Sorry your viewing of the film got butchered like that - and pleased you enjoyed it despite that.
A few were shortened (Turning was one of them, but never my favourite anyway). Dog eat dog cut, as was Beggars at the Feast, which was a shame as the Thenardiers are great. I haven't read through the forum, but agree with one other about Russell Crowe. I wish his Javert had thrown himself off the bridge long before he did. He was the only one who didn't do it for me. I love Javerts songs, but he was very nasal and was lacking in the feeling that everyone else managed to convey. I just didn't find him believable at all. I can't praise Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway highly enough. The new song is nice, but it didn't have any music from the show in it. If you know the musical well, most tunes have more than one incarnation in different ways, but the new one bore no relation to any of the others.
I am glad I went to a 12.00 p.m. showing. There was just me and two others in the cinema (none of us knew each other). Brilliant. No chatting, rustling of sweets or coughing. I was just able to sit back and enjoy the film.
EDIT
For those who aren't sure about the singing from the clips shown, don't worry. I saw the musical in it's first 6 months and about a dozen times since. You need to see the film to understand why they are sung like they are. I thought Eddie Redmayne's voice was weird (I too loved Michael Ball as Marius), but in the context of the whole film, he is great. Singing for film and singing on stage are two different things.
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Slight correction Beggars at the Feast was not cut entirely, but was significantly edited to the point it may as well have been. It appears here:
The song lasts for about 2-4 lines as The Therdinars were being carried by their arms and legs down the stairs to be thrown out. unless you know the song you would miss it.
One thing that did surprise me (I haven't been to the cinema in years!) was that Les Mis was in 1.85 : 1 aspect ratio. Strange that they didn't do it in 2.35: 1 (Cinema widescreen) given the epic nature of it.
Still, it does mean that when transferred to 16:9 DVD and Blu Ray, it will give a bigger picture than a thin strip across the centre of your TV.
Personally, I liked it. The composes said when they wrote it they felt is slot in perfectly, I just don't feel it sounds Les Mis-sy, if that makes sense.
The aspect ratio was very odd, felt a bit annoyed - glad someone else mentioned it as I was wondering if it was a cinema issue! Also didn't like just vocals coming through the central channel - made it all super intelligable but just a bit... not right.
The film on the other hand - Sweet jesus! Emotional, beautifully shot, perfect casting (Anne Hathaway was fantastic, and I think I fell for Eponine within 2 minutes - why would you choose Cossette over her!? Gorgeous!)
Saw it this morning and thought it was great. Everything flowed really well - the first scene seemed to be kind of weird audio levels wise though.
I find it really weird that "Do you hear the people sing" isn't on the soundtrack though? It was one of my favourite parts so I've ended up downloading the original London Cast version of it (I know it's at the end of 'Epilogue' but it's not the same).
I saw it this morning. It was incredible! I absolutely loved Samantha Barks as Eponine. What a voice that girl has! Aaron Tveit was fantastic too. Cant get enough of his voice, loved him in RENT too!
I cried a few times but at the end the whole cinema was sobbing!
Just came back from and really enjoyed it, it does feel like a film in terms of scale and there are some great performances from Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne and Anne Hathaway. Amanda Seyfried was good but Cosette is such a wet blanket, you wonder what Marius saw in her over Eponine.
Did anyone spot any cameos from West End performers aside from the obvious one from Colm Wilkinson? I spotted quite a few.
I thought it was really great. I've seen the show a few times and while this didn't live up to that, it was still a great adaptation. The cast were spot on.
I don't understand the hate for Russell Crowe's singing, I thought he was pretty good actually. Much better than I expected, given the comments I've seen :eek:
That's the appealing thing about the movie for me. The singing DOES tell the story. It's not random singing with visuals to accompany it. They sing the lines of the words that are being said (if that makes sense).
Never seen the Stage Show or read the Book of listened to the CD {but had heard a couple of the songs}....
So it took me sometime to get into this, with no let up on the singing, but as soon as I did, I LOVED IT....Outstanding performances for me, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, the young Cosette...I could go on....Helena Bonham Carter & Sacha Baron Cohen...the comedy relief.
I'm going to preface this by saying: I'm a huge Les Miserables fan and have been for about 10 years now.
Overall I liked it. There were bits that I disliked, but they didn't ruin it for me.
I hated Russell Crowe completely. Terribly miscast in my opinion.
There were two bits that reduced me to tears:
When Javert put the medal on Gavroche - I thought we were done being sad about his death and was totally blindsided by that and the tears ran free
and:
The epilogue - I'd heard that they don't have Eponine in it and I wasn't happy about the idea of that because the harmony is beautiful - however I was fighting tears anyway and then along came Colm and all was forgiven and I was a sobbing wreck. I then absolutely loved that they had the whole cast up on the giant barricade to sing it out
It's been a long time since I've cried in the cinema like that. I was a complete mess for about the last 10 minutes.
I saw it in a 2:30 screening and it was sold out. No noisy or annoying people. I thought a young teenage couple were going to be a problem because they were talking at the start but they shut up and at the end were both crying - we walked out with them and chatted and neither had really known what they were going to see - they loved it. The girl said she actually thought she was going to be sick at one point because she was crying so hard.
Oh, and everyone broke out into applause at the end - and then we all laughed at ourselves and walked out singing along to the credits. And people were still singing in the toilets.
Did anyone spot any cameos from West End performers aside from the obvious one from Colm Wilkinson? I spotted quite a few.
Killian Donnely is in it quite a bit (as Combeferre I think). Gina Beck, Alexia Khadime, Hadley Fraser and I can't think of anyone else right now but pretty much the entire ensemble are out of the West End.
Killian Donnely is in it quite a bit (as Combeferre I think). Gina Beck, Alexia Khadime, Hadley Fraser and I can't think of anyone else right now but pretty much the entire ensemble are out of the West End.
Off to watch the 25th anniversary concert
Gina Beck and Alexia Khadime I spotted, Hannah Waddingham, Michael Jibson and Kate Fleetwood in the At the End of the Day scene. Not sure if Bertie Carvel counts but he had a small part and I thought I saw Kerry Ellis but can't remember what scene.
I went to the 11am screening at cineworld near my home today, at one stage it looked a bit dodgy as to whether it would go ahead as the computer was down, what no cinema reels? Pfft.
Anyway, I kept wanting to pinch myself that this was Les Miserables the musical finally as a film. Seen it 7 times on stage and of course the two live DVDs.
Was a bit scared it wouldn't live up to the high expectations I had and tempered them a bit in last week.
It was stunning. I feel bad singling out cast members as I felt they were all great, some immense though. The children were excellent, but it was Sam Barks, Anne Hathaway and of course Hugh Jackman who rocked it, and Eddie Redmayne to a lesser extent but only just lesser.
Lost count of the shivers I felt, can't remember at what point I started to cry but it was frequent.
I had mixed feelings about One Day More, don't think it was perfect but that aside god it was magical.
Adored the epilogue. Breathtaking version and thought the vocals were sensational on it and the acting throughout wonderful.
And Russell Crowe didn't ruin it by any means, and I thought Amanda seyfried did well with what's a pretty insipid role to play.
Can't wait to see it again v soon. At the cineworld we had no break and the time flew by.
I'm just back from seeing it and thought it was sensational. If this doesn't sweep the board at the Oscars, I'll be surprised. The only thing that could stop it, based on the trailer anyway, is Lincoln.
Some parts jarred slightly when I realised the songs were out of order - Do You Hear The People Sing?, for example, normally follows Red, Black. But it didn't spoil my enjoyment.
One thing that did jangle a bit with me was the little boy's (Gavroche) accent. It was pure cockney and he sounded like he would be more at home in Oliver or Mary Popins. Whilst no one was really doing a French accent, none apart from him was trying to do Victorian London Cockney.
One thing that did jangle a bit with me was the little boy's (Gavroche) accent. It was pure cockney and he sounded like he would be more at home in Oliver or Mary Popins. Whilst no one was really doing a French accent, none apart from him was trying to do Victorian London Cockney.
I don't think Gavroche with a cockney accent is all that uncommon. The first "performance" of Les Mis I heard was the 10th anniversary concert and the Gavroche in that was the same.
Also, Daniel Huttlestone who played Gavroche also appeared in the West End production for a year in the same role, which would suggest that's the accent they want.
One thing that did jangle a bit with me was the little boy's (Gavroche) accent. It was pure cockney and he sounded like he would be more at home in Oliver or Mary Popins. Whilst no one was really doing a French accent, none apart from him was trying to do Victorian London Cockney.
I think that is intentional. He is always sung in that way when I have seen previous shows. He reminds people of The Artful Dodger. He also lives in a nest of thieves.
I'm going to do a mega review in a minute, but to summarise: overall I loved it. There were definitely flaws, it wasn't perfect, but when it was good it was absolutely outstanding! I saw it at 7 in a sold out screening where everyone was completely silent, transfixed. Applause at the end and almost everyone stayed right to the end of the credits listening to that beautiful music
Yes I have heard the theatre recording of "One Day More" and that is an obvious interval show stopper moment if ever there was one. But that song comes quite last in the film - So I wonder if they have jigged things around in the film a bit?
No interval for me. Yes, they have changed things around a bit. Eponine's solo is at the start of Act 2 in the stage show - in the movie it and Do You Hear The People Sing basically swapped places, as the latter usually comes before One Day More.
Did anyone spot any cameos from West End performers aside from the obvious one from Colm Wilkinson? I spotted quite a few.
I saw Kerry Ellis, Frances Ruffele (original Eponine), Gina Beck, Hannah Waddingham, Caroline Sheen, Alexia Khadime, Bertie Carvel, Killian Donnelly and Fra Fee. The last two out-sung Aaron Tveit on the barricades in my opinion.
Enjoyed it. Hugh Jackman was amazing but it was spoiled by the Russell Crowe who looked way out of his depth. It did add to the enjoyment though because it put a smile on my face when he sang so bad.
Samantha Barks was also great and deserves more recognition.
Enjoyed it. Hugh Jackman was amazing but it was spoiled by the Russell Crowe who looked way out of his depth.
Samantha Barks was also great and deserves more recognition.
She does indeed.
I also thought Russell Crowe was great in it. The audience must have felt the same as no one shouted out"Jump! You bastard jump!"
I think that is intentional. He is always sung in that way when I have seen previous shows. He reminds people of The Artful Dodger. He also lives in a nest of thieves.
Funnily enough, it was Oliver! in particular the Artful Dodger which became the inspiration for Boubil and Schoenberg to do Les Miserables as a musical as one of them saw a production of it in London and Dodger reminded them of Gavroche.
It'll be interesting to see if more film musicals will off the back of the success of Les Mis, Cameron Mackintosh has said he wants to do Miss Saigon which IMO is more cinematic than Les Mis is in its storytelling and he has My Fair Lady in development with Columbia Pictures and CBS Films. I personally want to see Wicked done as a film but that's a question of when not if,
Funnily enough, it was Oliver! in particular the Artful Dodger which became the inspiration for Boubil and Schoenberg to do Les Miserables as a musical as one of them saw a production of it in London and Dodger reminded them of Gavroche.
It'll be interesting to see if more film musicals will off the back of the success of Les Mis, Cameron Mackintosh has said he wants to do Miss Saigon which IMO is more cinematic than Les Mis is in its storytelling and he has My Fair Lady in development with Columbia Pictures and CBS Films. I personally want to see Wicked done as a film but that's a question of when not if,
"Wicked" as a film with Maggie Kirkpatrick as "Madame Morrible" would be my best dream film ever.
I was thinking today about "Miss Saigon" and why it has not been a film when I was sitting through the assorted tripe before the film started.
Comments
Sorry your viewing of the film got butchered like that - and pleased you enjoyed it despite that.
Slight correction Beggars at the Feast was not cut entirely, but was significantly edited to the point it may as well have been. It appears here:
Still, it does mean that when transferred to 16:9 DVD and Blu Ray, it will give a bigger picture than a thin strip across the centre of your TV.
Sounds horrible imo !! Dont like his voice either.
The film on the other hand - Sweet jesus! Emotional, beautifully shot, perfect casting (Anne Hathaway was fantastic, and I think I fell for Eponine within 2 minutes - why would you choose Cossette over her!? Gorgeous!)
Go. See it. NOW!
I find it really weird that "Do you hear the people sing" isn't on the soundtrack though? It was one of my favourite parts so I've ended up downloading the original London Cast version of it (I know it's at the end of 'Epilogue' but it's not the same).
I cried a few times but at the end the whole cinema was sobbing!
Going back on Sunday to see it again.
Did anyone spot any cameos from West End performers aside from the obvious one from Colm Wilkinson? I spotted quite a few.
I don't understand the hate for Russell Crowe's singing, I thought he was pretty good actually. Much better than I expected, given the comments I've seen :eek:
So it took me sometime to get into this, with no let up on the singing, but as soon as I did, I LOVED IT....Outstanding performances for me, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, the young Cosette...I could go on....Helena Bonham Carter & Sacha Baron Cohen...the comedy relief.
And Samantha Barks.
LM....9/10
Overall I liked it. There were bits that I disliked, but they didn't ruin it for me.
I hated Russell Crowe completely. Terribly miscast in my opinion.
There were two bits that reduced me to tears:
and:
It's been a long time since I've cried in the cinema like that. I was a complete mess for about the last 10 minutes.
I saw it in a 2:30 screening and it was sold out. No noisy or annoying people. I thought a young teenage couple were going to be a problem because they were talking at the start but they shut up and at the end were both crying - we walked out with them and chatted and neither had really known what they were going to see - they loved it. The girl said she actually thought she was going to be sick at one point because she was crying so hard.
Oh, and everyone broke out into applause at the end - and then we all laughed at ourselves and walked out singing along to the credits. And people were still singing in the toilets.
I think I'll be going to see it again.
Killian Donnely is in it quite a bit (as Combeferre I think). Gina Beck, Alexia Khadime, Hadley Fraser and I can't think of anyone else right now but pretty much the entire ensemble are out of the West End.
Off to watch the 25th anniversary concert
The digital album is £4.99 on Amazon now
Gina Beck and Alexia Khadime I spotted, Hannah Waddingham, Michael Jibson and Kate Fleetwood in the At the End of the Day scene. Not sure if Bertie Carvel counts but he had a small part and I thought I saw Kerry Ellis but can't remember what scene.
Anyway, I kept wanting to pinch myself that this was Les Miserables the musical finally as a film. Seen it 7 times on stage and of course the two live DVDs.
Was a bit scared it wouldn't live up to the high expectations I had and tempered them a bit in last week.
It was stunning. I feel bad singling out cast members as I felt they were all great, some immense though. The children were excellent, but it was Sam Barks, Anne Hathaway and of course Hugh Jackman who rocked it, and Eddie Redmayne to a lesser extent but only just lesser.
Lost count of the shivers I felt, can't remember at what point I started to cry but it was frequent.
I had mixed feelings about One Day More, don't think it was perfect but that aside god it was magical.
Adored the epilogue. Breathtaking version and thought the vocals were sensational on it and the acting throughout wonderful.
And Russell Crowe didn't ruin it by any means, and I thought Amanda seyfried did well with what's a pretty insipid role to play.
Can't wait to see it again v soon. At the cineworld we had no break and the time flew by.
Some parts jarred slightly when I realised the songs were out of order - Do You Hear The People Sing?, for example, normally follows Red, Black. But it didn't spoil my enjoyment.
Also, Daniel Huttlestone who played Gavroche also appeared in the West End production for a year in the same role, which would suggest that's the accent they want.
I think that is intentional. He is always sung in that way when I have seen previous shows. He reminds people of The Artful Dodger. He also lives in a nest of thieves.
Yes, that and two female character deaths, plus those two ladies' solos, put a tear in my eye!
No interval for me. Yes, they have changed things around a bit. Eponine's solo is at the start of Act 2 in the stage show - in the movie it and Do You Hear The People Sing basically swapped places, as the latter usually comes before One Day More.
I saw Kerry Ellis, Frances Ruffele (original Eponine), Gina Beck, Hannah Waddingham, Caroline Sheen, Alexia Khadime, Bertie Carvel, Killian Donnelly and Fra Fee. The last two out-sung Aaron Tveit on the barricades in my opinion.
And of course Colm Wilkinson and Sam Barks
She was in Master of the House.
Samantha Barks was also great and deserves more recognition.
She does indeed.
I also thought Russell Crowe was great in it. The audience must have felt the same as no one shouted out"Jump! You bastard jump!"
Funnily enough, it was Oliver! in particular the Artful Dodger which became the inspiration for Boubil and Schoenberg to do Les Miserables as a musical as one of them saw a production of it in London and Dodger reminded them of Gavroche.
It'll be interesting to see if more film musicals will off the back of the success of Les Mis, Cameron Mackintosh has said he wants to do Miss Saigon which IMO is more cinematic than Les Mis is in its storytelling and he has My Fair Lady in development with Columbia Pictures and CBS Films. I personally want to see Wicked done as a film but that's a question of when not if,
"Wicked" as a film with Maggie Kirkpatrick as "Madame Morrible" would be my best dream film ever.
I was thinking today about "Miss Saigon" and why it has not been a film when I was sitting through the assorted tripe before the film started.