Les Miserables

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  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,909
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    Everyone's gone out. I think I might try and catch the 1:30 showing at the cinema this afternoon.
  • SuzeSuze Posts: 879
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    Can I ask ('cos I'm not that familiar with the story ) why does Russel Crowe spend so much time obsessively chasing Hugh Jackman ? I mean he only "#stole a loaf of brr-ead!!"# and there's thousands of other criminals . Jackman hardly seems to warrant it .

    In the book you learn more of their time together when Valjean was in prison - so there is a history. Valjean tried to escape (which is why his sentence was so long) and had a few run ins with Javert. The 'chase' really becomes personal when Valjean escapes from Javert after Fantine's death.

    And although Javert absolutely wants Valjean back in prison - it's not like he gives up everything to chase him. He continues in his career as a police officer and doesn't devote every waking moment to trying to find Valjean. However, fate/luck/the plotline mean that there paths cross multiple times and he makes the most of those opportunities (and fails!).
  • Mystical123Mystical123 Posts: 15,811
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    Can I ask ('cos I'm not that familiar with the story ) why does Russel Crowe spend so much time obsessively chasing Hugh Jackman ? I mean he only "#stole a loaf of brr-ead!!"# and there's thousands of other criminals . Jackman hardly seems to warrant it .

    Javert is obsessed with justice, and for him, justice was not done when Valjean skipped parole (or when he tried to escape before that). As far as Javert is concerned, prisoners should continue to atone for their sins, as it were, and as they're branded for life, they can't just skip parole. He doesn't believe they are capable of reform.

    I haven't read the book, so I'm not sure if there's more to it than that or not.
    mimicole wrote: »
    I checked my local odeon website and there is nothing past this thursday. Surely it's not being removed from cinemas so soon?

    Some cinemas only release their schedules on Tuesday or Wednesday, you may have just checked too soon.

    ETA: Vue has it showing on Monday, which is as far ahead as their schedules go at the minute. It's definitely not being removed from cinemas yet.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 22,198
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    Can I ask ('cos I'm not that familiar with the story ) why does Russel Crowe spend so much time obsessively chasing Hugh Jackman ? I mean he only "#stole a loaf of brr-ead!!"# and there's thousands of other criminals . Jackman hardly seems to warrant it .
    Mystical123 has explained it well, but Javert was born in a jail, a fact that horrifies him. He spends his life trying to get rid of the stigma and hates all convicts, as they cant be redeemed. He hates J-V-J because, to Javert, he has cheated the law and is still "on the run, Once a thief, forever a thief"
    There's a good ref to his character in Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javert
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,759
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    Saw this yesterday, absolutely brilliant, i even cried (embaressingly as not many in the cinema), but also was stunned by the cinematography, the whole thing was fantastic, Hugh Jackman was incredible, even my hubby shed a tear :). I kept thinking of Sweeny Todd musical when Helena BC and Sasha BC were on but they were needed for some light relief as i think i would have become dehydrated from crying otherwise, and im not a softy x
  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,909
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    I saw this again today. I'm glad that I saw it a second time, I understood it a lot better.

    On a completely shallow note - Eddie Redmayne's gorgeous, isn't he?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 22,198
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    mimicole wrote: »
    I saw this again today. I'm glad that I saw it a second time, I understood it a lot better.

    On a completely shallow note - Eddie Redmayne's gorgeous, isn't he?

    :cool: Yes. So's Aaron Tveit. in real life,( that wasn't his hair)

    I appreciated it much more on subsequent viewing too. This is one of those films you have to see on a large screen with a good sound system. So glad you enjoyed it on repeat. ;) The laptops OK, but doesn't do it justice.
  • Kolin KlingonKolin Klingon Posts: 4,296
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    I well recommend a second or more viewing as there is a lot that I didn't pick up on at the cinema.
    Plus at home you can lock the door and cry for England and fart and slurp your coke.

    At the cinema the very first act (JVJ V the Vicar of Dibley) didn't come across well for some reason but it has now become one of my favourite parts and sets up the story so well.
  • Kolin KlingonKolin Klingon Posts: 4,296
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    Enjolras - pretty major in my book :)
    tally wrote: »
    :eek: Enjolras! Surely a major character! Loved Aaron Tveit in the film as much as Michael Maguire and David Burt plus all the others I've seen except one bloke who was so short he looked like Gavroche. :(

    All the ABC café were great characters to me. :cry:

    Ha! I knew leaving out his name would get a bite! :p:D
  • mal2poolmal2pool Posts: 5,690
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    watched it today. superb. every song had me singing along (in my mind!) i knew all of them from the stage show and cast recording. They all sounded fresh and Hugh Jackman gave a very good performance, both singing and acting. Also Anne Hathaway and the guy who played Marius. Perfect casting. Only thing i didnt like were the thenadiers. The camera work was all over the place while they sang Master in the house. Didnt like their rendition either. Could not see what was going on much. Great movie

    Ah and the cameo from Colm made it for me. Too old to play Valjean but good to see him their. He is still THE voice of Valjean. Nobody sings Bring Him Home better. Hugh did a splendid job though.

    Best song performances were I dreamed a dream, empty chairs and bring him home
  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,909
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    I well recommend a second or more viewing as there is a lot that I didn't pick up on at the cinema.
    Plus at home you can lock the door and cry for England and fart and slurp your coke.

    At the cinema the very first act (JVJ V the Vicar of Dibley) didn't come across well for some reason but it has now become one of my favourite parts and sets up the story so well.

    Yes! I completely agree. Particularly if you've never seen the stage show like me.

    I'm looking forward to the DVD release. I can see it being watched over and over again. I loved it more on the second viewing.

    Anyway, gotta go to work (boo!). Have a lovely day, everyone!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 308
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    For me, the real litmus test for this film is the verdict from those that have not seen the stage show, but loved the film regardless.

    I always wonder about the reaction from the Les Mis virgins, as it were, because any film that is completely sung through is a lot for many to take. To be fair, this is the only one that I've ever really loved on the stage, and it basically boils down to one fundemental element, and that is the music.

    I'm so glad that it's being received so well, because it shows that I'm not completely biased in my love for it.
  • mal2poolmal2pool Posts: 5,690
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    Cant believe the critics hated the stage show when they first saw it. The songs all have great lyrics and some have become standards. SHows what they know!
  • tracystapestracystapes Posts: 3,309
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    My favourite characters are Jean Valjean, Fantine and Eponine.
  • mal2poolmal2pool Posts: 5,690
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    Were the other singers all pro stage musical stars? Never seen them before in a movie, apart from Anne,Russell and Hugh.
  • bexmil89bexmil89 Posts: 4,928
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    Lady Spice wrote: »
    For me, the real litmus test for this film is the verdict from those that have not seen the stage show, but loved the film regardless.

    I always wonder about the reaction from the Les Mis virgins, as it were, because any film that is completely sung through is a lot for many to take. To be fair, this is the only one that I've ever really loved on the stage, and it basically boils down to one fundemental element, and that is the music.

    I'm so glad that it's being received so well, because it shows that I'm not completely biased in my love for it.


    I've never seen the stage show:o

    But saw the film and loved it, cried a lot during it. I thought the cast were great and now have a new crush on Eddie redmayne:D

    Hoping to see the stage show soon
  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,909
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    I'm not very patient, so I've already signed up to be notified by Amazon about when the DVD is available to pre-order. I'd like it to be out by March but I know that is wishful thinking! :o
    bexmil89 wrote: »
    I've never seen the stage show:o

    But saw the film and loved it, cried a lot during it. I thought the cast were great and now have a new crush on Eddie redmayne:D

    Hoping to see the stage show soon

    Me too. Gorgeous, isn't he? I developed a little crush whilst watching My Week With Marilyn last year :o
  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,909
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    I seem to remember there being a behind-the-scenes documentary on TV just before the film was released. Anyone got an online link as I never watched it (I didn't think that I'd be seeing or enjoying the film!) :o

    Thanks in advance
  • PopRocketPopRocket Posts: 587
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    mimicole wrote: »
    I'm not very patient, so I've already signed up to be notified by Amazon about when the DVD is available to pre-order.


    I've just done that too :cool:
  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,909
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    Moviefone - Hugh Jackman & Anne Hathaway
    Press Junket Interview - Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks
    Press Junket interview - Russell Crowe
    David Letterman interview - Amanda Seyfried
    Facebook interview - Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne & Amanda Seyfried

    Y'know...if ya get bored or you're just impatient like me....
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 824
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    mimicole wrote: »
    I'm not very patient, so I've already signed up to be notified by Amazon about when the DVD is available to pre-order. I'd like it to be out by March but I know that is wishful thinking! :o

    There's usually a 4 month gap... I imagine we'll see it around the end of April / beginning of May!!
  • tracystapestracystapes Posts: 3,309
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    The DVD had better have deleted scenes or even better..be a director's cut!
  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,909
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    Dharma572 wrote: »
    There's usually a 4 month gap... I imagine we'll see it around the end of April / beginning of May!!

    Damn :(
    The DVD had better have deleted scenes or even better..be a director's cut!

    Urghh, yes to a director's cut!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 422
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    I apologise because I haven't read all the way through the thread, but a friend is trying to persuade me to go and see this with her and I'm really not convinced by it at all. Is it,as the name suggests a totally miserable film? Does anything remotely upbeat happen or is it all wailing and gnashing of teeth? Just wanted a bit more info before parting with my hard earned cash, and to make sure I won't be in danger of slitting my own throat on the way out :o
  • CMCM Posts: 33,235
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    duncann wrote: »
    I attended the premiere last night and thought I'd give the heads up on it for fans since it's one of the most anticipated releases ever! I am lucky enough to have seen the original production and cast back in 1985 and seen it again several times since, and now the film premiere. I won the tickets in a ballot.

    On their way in, on the red carpet, the key players were interviewed by Michael Ball (the original Marius) and Emma Willis. You could hear these interviews outside and see them inside on the cinema screen. His interviews were excellent and mainly about performance and filming technique. Hers were her usual Big Brother level.

    All of the leading cast, the producers, the director Tom Hooper, and Cameron Mackintosh, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer were there, and before the film started, they came up on stage and introduced themselves one by one to great cheers. Whatever the movie was going to be like, those who had made it seemed to think it was their best work and one of the best films ever made! Tom Hooper said it could not have been made without Hugh Jackman and no one else could have played the role.

    Colm Wilkinson, the original Jean Valjean, appears in the film as the priest who changes his life when he forgives him for stealing his silver. I didn't see him there, so I don't know if he was in attendance, I assume not. If you don't know Les Mis from the original and anniversary versions, then his role in the movie is not going to be imbued with the same status, but for me, it was genuinely moving and wonderful, and as always, he sang so beautifully.

    Eric Fellner, the producer, told us that there were a lot of the rest of the cast and crew in the audience and during the film to make our appreciation felt. This resulted in the unusual practice of much of the film being cheered and applauded and the slightly irritating but also comic effect of some of the peripheral cast whooping and applauding each other when they first came into shot, even if they appeared for only a nanosecond or had one line or no lines at all!

    Well, it took them 27 years to make it, but it was well worth the wait. From the moment it opens on an incredibly visually dramatic scene with the famous pounding opening orchestral chords, you just know it's going to be one of the all time great films. It's a fantastic, moving, brilliant, technically dazzling, truly epic transfer to film of one of the greatest stage productions ever. Every shot looks amazing. It's faithful to the stage show but has been opened up and on the grand scale. Yet it's also mostly intimate, personally involving as if you are there yourself and at times it's very raw, almost unbearably painful. There's much more 'miserables' in this version than on the stage. I don't know if everyone will like that.

    I think most will know that virtually all the dialogue is sung through, and for the first time in a major film the singing was recorded live on set and blended together in post-prodution. This was a masterstroke but it may not be to everyone's taste. The director clearly went the route of placing acting/character/emoting over 'beautiful singing', Julie Andrews diction and perfect musical timekeeping. The movie is just not sung as musically or attractively as on stage, but it is probably much better acted. The characters are drawn in greater detail and the storyline is made clearer, with extra elements in it. There's also some extra spoken dialogue some of which from the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen might have been ad libbed. I think I really understood the full implications of all the minutiae of the story for the first time.

    The stage productions are cast with top level singers who can act and the film is cast with top level actors who can sing - and yes, they can all sing, no one lets it down. However, the singing in the film, for me, was slightly underpowered in almost everyone's top register, except for Samantha Barks as Eponine, who nails her performance, and Anne Hathaway. Helena Bonham Carter told us up front she can't really sing and I'm afraid she wasn't being falsely modest. Sacha Baron Cohen can't really either. But they play the Thenardiers so they get away with it - and this is also personal taste, I like the more musical singers.

    In terms of the lead performances Anne Hathaway will walk away from this with armfuls of awards. She is a revelation, taking Fantine to a new level. She stopped the movie dead with her astonishing rendition of I Dreamed a Dream. Much of the audience was in tears, the applause was spontaneous and prolongued and it only stopped because it wasn't a live performance and the film was continuing.

    Russell Crowe as Javert is also perfectly cast. Yes, he's the villain of the piece, but we totally understand his own morality and personal crusade so he becomes our anti-hero. Also with the way the film is opened up he becomes the counter-balance and equal rival to Valjean, I don't remember Javert being so all-present in the stage version. This is as much about Javert as Valjean. He's also a surprisingly effective singer and nails his songs.

    It's such a huge cast I can't review everyone in it, so I'll finish on its star, Hugh Jackman. His physical peformance is astonishing, he's almost unrecognisable in the opening, you can believe he's been 19 years on a chain gang. He carries the film and makes a perfect Valjean. I found many of his scenes moving, especially with Eddie Redmayne.

    However, in true Hollywood tradition he does not age sufficiently through the story - he's been 19 years in prison before it starts and there's 20 years of plotline, yet he looks barely older at the end.

    I had admittedly very high expectations of his vocal performance and I'm afraid he didn't quite live up to them. I heard him back in the 90s in Oklahoma when he had a great voice, but Valjean is much more demanding and was written for Colm Wilkinson's purer, much higher register. Jackman is a bit rough sounding and underpowered at the top of his register and in Bring Him Home he just can't match the aching beauty of Wilkinson or Alfie Boe. This doesn't mean that he doesn't deliver, he does, he just does it through a different style of performance. Whenever I've seen Les Mis, teh beauty of Bring Him Home stops the show. It didn't quite here, it received much more muted applause than either Anne Hathaway or Samantha Banks.

    But I don't want to end on a down note. It really is a fantastic film, one of the all time best, and huge credits must go to Cameron Mackintosh and his colleagues for surpassing themselves in transferring their stage success with even more incredible results than they, or we, could have hoped for. Bravo!

    Sounds boring :yawn: :sleep:
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