Les Misérables

LES MISÉRABLES

Year : 2013

Director : Tom Hooper

Genre : Musical

Rating : *****

'Les Misérables' is one of a very small selection of movies along with 'Citizen Kane', 'It's A Wonderful Life', 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' and 'Pan's Labyrinth' which can truly be called masterpieces. Now, I realise that this may be simplifying a review early and could be seen to be a lazy way out, but the truth is, just like the other movies I have mentioned, 'Les Misérables' has absolutely no faults, is completely engrossing and every single performance is Academy Award worthy. It has been 5 days since I saw the movie in the cinemas and I still can't get both the incredibles performances and the iconic music out of my head.

Set during the years of the tumultuous French Revolution, 'Les Misérables' follows the life of Jean Valjean, a man who breaks parole from Javert, a ruthless police official who then hunts him for decades across the country. Establishing a new identity, Valjean becomes the mayor of a small French town, where he is the proprietor of a workhouse in which a young woman called Fantine is evicted after it is discovered that she has had an illegitimate daughter. Forced to become a prostitute to earn money, Fantine's health completely deteriorates due to lack of food, water and constant abuse and almost left for dead until Valjean, racked with guilt, finds her and takes her to a hospital. As Fantine lays dying, he promises to look after her young daughter Cosette and adopts the child as his own. However, as a fugitive, he must also avoid Javert, who is intent on capturing him again.

A movie adaptation of 'Les Misérables' had been in the pipeworks for a very long time, beginning with a proposed film to be directed by Alan Parker in 1988. However after being stuck in development hell for 5 years, it was shelved and it wouldn't be until 2005 when producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that interest  about a musical adaptation had been resurrected  and confirmed a definite movie release. In 2009, the rights to the material were bought and a screenplay was commissioned for William Nicholson, who had written the script for 'Gladiator' and the 2007 historical epic 'Elizabeth : The Golden Age'. A draft was written in just under 2 months. However, it wouldn't be until the release of 'Les Misérables : 25th Anniversary Concert' that a movie was confirmed by Mackintosh and Tom Hooper was signed on board to direct. 

Now the movie is here and it has become a phenomenal success, earning many nominations and awards, as well as $400,000,000 at the box office, a huge profit over it's relatively small $60,000,000 budget. It has opened to almost universal critical acclaim and has been heralded as one of the greatest musical films ever made. However, I'm not sure whether this is purely because of the majesty of the material or the iconic music. I think the key to the success of 'Les Misérables' is the direction and the cast which are both first rate.

The most noticable thing about 'Les Misérables' is the extraordinary performances given by every single member of the cast. Hugh Jackman is just incredible as Jean Valjean, whose pain, sorrow and strife are etched into every emotion from his face. If it wasn't for 'Lincoln' being released in the same year, almost guaranteeing Daniel Day Lewis an Academy Award for best actor, I am sure Hugh Jackman would be the front runner at this year's Oscars ceremony. From the incredible opening scenes of an entire army of prisoners pulling a ship into the French docks to the heartbreaking scenes of the climax where all the cast sing the triumphant 'Do You Hear The People Sing', Jackman delivers one of the most awe-inspiring performances I have seen in recent cinema and I am sure it will stay with me for a very long time. Anne Hathaway is incredibly powerful as Fantine, the grief-stricken woman who has to completely degrade herself to keep her child. Her quiet, but spine-tingling rendition of 'I Dreamed A Dream' touched every single person in the cinema I was in and I was extremely tempted to stand up and applaud. It is possibly 3 of the most memorable minutes I have ever spent in a cinema auditorium and I can't imagine I will feel like this again any time soon. All the other members of the cast from 'Les Misérables' are absolutely brilliant, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen, who both starred in my all time favourite musical film, the highly underated 'Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street' are hilarious as the two innkeepers who try to con Valjean out of money and keep Cosette for themselves. Amanda Seyfried, while not given a huge amount of screen time is captivating as Cosette and Eddie Redmayne is equally brilliant as Marius who has to choose between his heart and his head and whose performance of 'Empty Chairs At Empty Tables' is one of the most memorable moments of 'Les Miserables'.  

While all the cast have been universally praised, Russell Crowe has been criticised for his singing and performance. While his singing voice may not be up to the standards of Jackman or Hathaway, Crowe's voice is actually one of the highlights of the movie for me. His voice, while not classically trained like Jackman's or Hathaway's, has a gruffness and edginess which I believe is the key to why 'Les Misérables' is so good. The entire movie is about sorrow and melancholy and I think that Crowe's voice perfectly incapsulates this ideology, with a sense of pathos, guilt and remorse. His performance is just as good, bringing a completely hateful but believable villain to the screen who is battling with both his conscience and his values. 

Tom Hooper once again proves that he is one of the best British directors around with 'Les Misérables'. After the hugely successful 'The King's Speech' which swept the 2010 Oscars, Hooper was the perfect choice to direct this musical epic. With the use of sweeping camera moves, tight close ups on characters faces and beautiful scenery and sets, Hooper brings an intimacy to the characters which is missing from the stage show. This is particularly noticable during Anne Hathaway's show-stopping 'I Dreamed A Dream', in which he fixes his camera at her in close up, with no movements and just lets Hathaways whispered performance do the work, as if you are sitting directly opposite her as she pours her heart out in front of us. The sign of a truly great director is knowing when to use his camera to effect and when to let the emotions and facial expressions of characters pull the audience into the movie. Hitchcock knew, Kubrick knew, Fellini knew and Hooper certainly does too. There are also broad, sweeping shots throughout 'Les Misérables', used especially in large group shots and songs. The climax of the movie pans across hundreds of revolutionaries, in which the entire barricades are  explored and visited, giving the audience a sense of importance and scale. This would be one again missing from the stage show, which to me seems to push away the audience rather than involve. It is as if the camera has been tied to a bird, which is wistfully flying over and around the revolution, blissfully unware of the events happening right below it's wings.I certainly hope that after the success of both 'The King's Speech' and 'Les Misérables', Tom Hooper will be recognised as one of the true greats of modern British cinema along with Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. He truly is a master of cinema and I think this movie, more than any proves it.

While I and many other people adore this movie, it will certainly not be for everyone and I can imagine a nearly 3 hour long musical is the idea of hell to many. This is a shame because 'Les Misérables' is about so much more than just the music. It is about family, love, betrayal and melancholy and to me, these subjects haven't been explored so deeply before. If you are not a fan of musicals, then 'Les Misérables' may be a challenge, but if you are, I implore to see this in the cinema. It is a magnificent experience which should be felt by as many people as possible. 

You will like this if you liked : The Kings Speech, The King & I