Les Miserables – A Story That Unites Us All (Well, Almost)

*Warning - Post Contains SPOILERS*

This is going to be just one droplet in a flood of Les Mis Movie reviews, but considering the emotive nature of the film, I think the word “reaction” is more appropriate than “review”.

My first reaction is to how far the appeal of this movie has stretched – far beyond the very dedicated but narrow viewership of musical theatre fans alone.  In my local cinema, on the second night of its release, in a normally barren land for culture, it has sold out to a roomful of people from all walks of life. I think what has captured most people is simply the fact it’s a well made movie with an intricately beautiful tapestry of a story at its core, woven around generations of characters – more than a story about revolution or class or persecution, it’s a story about people. The fact that it’s a musical is secondary, but hopefully those who are enticed by the story or cinematography will fall in love with the music as much as we, the theatre fans, do.

I was pleasantly satisfied by Anne Hathaway’s Fantine. Reading back on my initial thoughts on the trailer back in June, she was one I had big reservations about. But it worked, thankfully. Fantine is such a desperately miserable character that Hathway’s sweet, raw voice added to the sense of her fragility and hopelessness and had me in tears for her pathetic lot in life.  

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for Russell Crowe , I just cannot get onboard with his Javert. I tried to have an open mind watching him but from the moment he sung his first line, I just knew his voice didn’t suit the character. His acting was fine but the vocals let it down and Javert is such an important part – perhaps the most interesting character of them all.

Nor was I impressed with Amanda Seyfried as Cosette – she sounds like a fragile little lamb and I think Cosette is stronger than that. Her voice is just not good enough for those high notes she has to sustain. But, her part is small enough not to have the same kind of impact on the movie that Crowe does.

I always had high hopes for Hugh Jackman’s Valjean, as he comes from a background of musical theatre. I was nervous that he couldn’t cope with this iconic role at the start but as the character picks himself up, his voice gets stronger with it and I was relieved that it had been an acting choice to start weak. There were moments when I thought he was trying a bit too hard with his singing – perhaps having a bit too much of a warble and when he was singing ‘Bring Him Home’ I couldn’t help but think “They have Colm on set .... get him to do it” but that was unfair. While he’s no Colm when it comes to singing, he did a damn good job of a song he must’ve been nervous to put out there. As the central focus of the story, Jackman carried it well. 

Sacha Baron Cohen & Helena Bonham Carter as the Thenardiers – this was always going to be an excellent pairing, wasn’t it? Both have perfectly sinister, comedic stylings to suit these sneaky, scheming characters. Sacha’s little one liners are perfect mood lifters – the laughter was loud and almost hysterical (probably thanks to the momentary light relief) when he called Cosette ‘Courgette’.

I don’t think anyone will be surprised that I think Samantha Barks was just a perfect cast choice as Eponine. I wondered how she’d fare with the subtle on screen acting but she adapted with apparent ease and it’s a damn shame she hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar in best supporting actress. Shame on the academy.

The students were also all brilliant. Eddie Redmayne as Marius and Aaron Tveit as Enjolras flew the flag for these characters with confidence and vocal ability that shone. If you dropped either of them into the stage show now, I’d have no complaints.

I liked the nod to the stage show and theatre fans - after Enjolras is killed, he hangs from the window in exactly the same manner as he hangs from the barricade.

The first 15 minutes of the film were quite slow and the singing was weak, though this isn’t surprising given Hugh Jackman didn’t drink any water for 36 hours! I defy any singer to sound good with unnourished vocal chords.

Even so, I was nervous – was this going to be another disappointing rendition of a musical that has been “in my life” since I can remember? (*cough* Schumacher’s Phantom)

It quickly picked up, though – I’d say from the moment the factory scene begins – that’s not to put down Colm Wilkinson’s portrayal of the Bishop. As the original Valjean, I’m so pleased he was given a place in this film and he did an amazing job of what he was given. It’s just the story is still waiting to pick up at this point.

I think the nature of this musical is that the more lives that Valjean affects, the more paths he crosses, the richer the tale becomes.

From the factory scene onward, it became a fun game of ‘spot the westenders’ who make up a good majority of the ensemble cast. They may not have had the leading roles they’re used to (excluding Sam Barks of course) but at least they’ve been acknowledged and their presence is everywhere.

The linking scenes between times and/or places was often really beautifully done both visually and aurally. The one springing to mind right now is after Javert sings ‘Stars’ – the combined impact of that last note blending into ‘Look Down’ while the camera swoops across from Javert’s elevated platform overlooking the city, down, down into the streets where the beggars roam.

Talking of ‘Look Down’ - what a brilliant little actor Daniel Huttlestone is! And yet I’d heard nothing about him before watching the film. The focus with the children has been on young Cosette, Isabelle Allen; Probably because she is the “face” of the movie - Her image has been the one plastered over busses and billboards throughout the country and she has ‘shot’ to fame more dramatically than Huttlestone who has been grafting away in professional productions for a few years now. The moment he bounds onto the screen, challenging an upper class man travelling through the slums, this experience is obvious in just one sweep of his hand.

I couldn’t help thinking of walking dead when all the beggars were pummelling the window though - That’d be a twist we weren’t expecting.

There was a very poignant moment, after Gavroche has been shot and laid out with the other student’s bodies where Javert takes off his medal and places it on Gavroche’s lapel. This is a subtle moment that could only be portrayed through the medium of film. It signifies the start of Javerts spiral into doubting his world view and beliefs and I thought it was a touching moment.

Fans of the stage show will have noticed a few of the songs had been switched about. I was fine with this as logistically it worked out for the story in the way it had been done for the film. What I didn’t get is why they occasionally switched the lines around. For example, Valjean as the mayor:-

Stage show – “I run a business of repute, I am the mayor of this town”

Movie – “I am the mayor of this town, I run a business of repute”

Why? This didn’t seem necessary. It happened a few times, but this one really grated on my ear.  It didn’t flow as nicely.

It’s only minor quibbles I have, really, with this film which I otherwise loved. The tell tale sign of the impact this movie was having on the audience was the perfect silence. I wondered whether there’d be popcorn rustling, awkward giggling and whispering, singing along. But no, silence. Wonderful silence – during Hathaway’s I Dreamed a Dream you could’ve heard a pin drop in that room and that makes me so happy. This is a sign of people engrossed in the world of characters that I’ve grown up with.

Tom Hooper has done a fantastic job from all angles and this is as near to perfect for a film adaption as I could have hoped. My sobbing during the finale was not just for the emotion of the culmination of the story but because as a theatre fan this is a film we can be proud of. Well done all involved. Let’s hope the new fans will be inspired to see the stage show now and keep this show, that means so much to so many, going for another 25 years (and more).

Book tickets to see the stage show that inspired the movie at http://www.lesmis.com/uk/

Read orginal Cosette Rebecca Caine’s blog post on what it feels like to be part of the original cast http://broadwayworld.com/article/LES-MISERABLES-The-View-From-The-Original-London-Cast-20130113

In Focus: Les Miserables Trailer & Upcoming Film Adaptation

I seem to be in the minority here, judging by the excitement on twitter, but I was a little underwhelmed by the trailer for the upcoming Les Miserables movie that was unleashed upon the world on Wednesday of last week. Here it is if it’s somehow passed anyone by, or if you’re just ridiculously excited and want to watch it again:-

It starts with Anne Hathaway singing ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ and the first thing I think is that I’ve seen YouTube clips of amateur singers singing it better. I don’t mean this as harshly as it seems – those amateur singers are technically very good. But that’s just the point. Technically, she’s not very good. She has a sweet voice and it sounds alright but I just don’t think alright is good enough when you’re making a film of this magnitude; A film of a production that means so much to so many. There’s no strength or control to her vocal ability. I suppose you could argue that the character is at a vulnerable point at this stage of the story and that she wouldn’t be strong or in control. This is true, but I don’t think you should dramatise that through singing style. It should be done through acting. I think of some of the Fantine’s I’ve seen in the stage versions   - Ruthie Henshall, Lea Salonga, Caroline Sheen – they prove that  you can still sing strongly and capture the character’s vulnerability and hopelessness.

I feel I have to defend this opinion here after reading the review on www.lastminutetheatretickets.com where Julie Robinson says the following:

“To be frank, people who leave remarks like these are just highlighting the ignorance on their part. Hathaway is an accomplished vocalist who has a very strong voice; a fact she has displayed on numerous occasions.”

When I heard that Hathaway was to play Fantine the first thing I did was find clips of her singing and based on all the evidence  I disagree with the above statement.  I think she’s shown she has a pleasantly sweet singing voice but certainly not strong. For a taste of things to come here’s a link to the clip of Hathaway and Jackman singing together for the Oscars at the 81^st Annual Academy Awards (Hathaway joins in at 4:00)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terhj8mjPwY 

This leads nicely on to Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean. There’s not too much given away in the trailer just a few clips of him in character at different stages of the story. I’m quite content with the casting of Jackman in this role. He has a background in Musical Theatre, having started his career in theatre, most notably performing as Curly in ‘Oklahoma’ in the West End in 1998.

I’m trying to keep an open mind about Russell Crowe as Javert. He looks menacing enough and seems to convey that air of over inflated authority that I feel Javert as a character must possess (except where are the trademark sideburns?). I haven’t heard him sing much, so I’m not sure what to expect. Philip Quast is always going to be the perfect Javert in my eyes, which I realise is a bit unfair as that’s a big talent to match.

Samantha Barks, on the other hand, is the perfect Eponine to me and I’m very excited to see her in this film adaptation. She looks exactly as I’d imagine Eponine would look and has the right kind of singing voice. And, of course, she is first and foremost a musical theatre performer so she's flying the flag (literally) for those people who do this night after night and never tire, yet get consigned to extras in the film.

I do realise why the producers do this. It's a bums on seats deal. Big Hollywood names = Bigger audience attraction rate. Whilst this may be annoying, it's a fact of film and I'm not going to get too upset over that. If it means more people will come and see the theatrical version then it's not all bad. 

Eddie Redmayne has been a real surprise. Only when I approached writing up my thoughts of the upcoming film did I do some research into his singing voice and, I have to say, it stopped me in my tracks! I’d never have thought he’d have such a good singing voice whilst watching him crawl through muddy trenches in the gritty BBC adaptation of the Sebastian Faulks novel 'Birdsong' earlier this year. I still don’t think he looks right as Marius but that’s probably been because I’ve seen the likes of Michael Ball and Fra Fee in the role. I’ve come to expect him to be more innocent looking with curly hair. Eddie Redmayne looks harsher, more world weary. After hearing him sing, though, I’m quite looking forward to seeing what he does with this role.

We don’t see Sacha Baron Cohen or Helena Bonham Carter in this trailer (I wonder if double barrel surnames were a requirement of the actors playing these parts) but I’m sure they will be fine in their respective roles - looking at the picture below, it's not at all difficult to imagine them together as the Thenardier's. They are both known for playing comedic yet sinister characters which they both demonstrated in the film adaptation of ‘Sweeney Todd’.  I’d say this is the most important requirement for these characters over vocal ability.

In conclusion, I’m going to keep my expectations low for this film; I would rather it exceeds my expectations than disappoint. Even though there have been plenty of well made film adaptations of musicals, such as Sweeney Todd, Chicago and Rent, I’m still feeling the sting from the disappointing 2006 film adaption of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ which is one of the ultimate musicals, just like Les Miserables and I think that makes it much more of a risk. 

I found this clip on YouTube earlier showcasing each cast members singing voice, so have a listen if you haven’t heard them all already and catch them all at Christmas time, hopefully doing justice to our well loved characters, at a cinema near you:-

note: above video belongs to wolfart2003 on YouTube

Review of Oliver at Wales Millennium Centre

 On the 29^th December and 20^th January I went to see Oliver! for the first time on stage at the Wales Millennium Centre.

I loved the film growing up. So much so that I became enamoured with the idea of being part of Fagin’s gang and organised a small gang of my own to do some pickpocketing at a local playscheme. Unfortunately, the reality of it was not all-singing and dancing. Instead, my conscience kicked in, I felt horribly guilty and I ended up sneaking the stuff back where I got it from, like it had never happened. I would have been the one putting things into pockets. A put-in-pocketer.

Anyway, the point is, for a film I grew up on, it has been a long time coming for me to see it on stage. But, it was worth the wait. I was absolutely captivated by it from beginning to end – mostly managing to stay in the world painted before me on stage, even during a school holiday matinee performance. Which of course means many restless children. Though, it must be said, aside from the sweet wrapper rustling and the occasional baby wailing loudly, the kids were mostly quiet. To me that says something about the quality of the production!  (see my previous blog post if angry rants are your thing).

The show opens onto the workhouse scene and it was immediately obvious how hard these boys have worked on this show and the energy they put into it was boundless. A comment on lighting here - particularly noticeable in the opening scene, where the boys utilise most of the downstage area – the very front of the stage gets a bit lost in darkness. Shadowy is fine, because it is after all a workhouse, but this was a line of dark. It’s not a major problem as that far downstage isn’t often used, but noticeable enough to be noteworthy.    

 Harry Polden played Oliver in both the performances I saw, which I was pleased about, as I know he’s good from seeing his performance of Gustave in Love Never Dies. This boy has a pretty accomplished theatre CV already for someone who is only 12 and has worked with some notable west end performers. He’s earned it though. It’s obvious that he really loves being part of this profession and consequently puts everything into his portrayal of these characters. He has flawless clarity in his diction and an angelic singing voice.  His portrayal of Oliver had just the right amount of naivity, maudlin and that controlled sadness.

The other performance that stood out again goes to the youngsters – those that played Artful Dodger. I don’t know who played him on 29^th December because I was a bit of an idiot and completely missed the board with the cast list on. I do know that on January 20^th, he was played by Joseph Potter. It was high praise from my theatre going companions who were all raving about the performances from the respective Artful Dodgers. I imagine this is a dream role for young actors, though, as he’s such an interesting character and leads one of the standout moments – the consider yourself scene.

The choreography in this scene particularly gelled together perfectly  - not just the choreography of the many performers on stage, but the scenery too  which seemed to dance around with them.  I found this scene is best appreciated from the circle, where I was sat on the 29^th December (and for me to say this is something, as everyone who knows me will know that I’m a stalls fan)  

After the show last night my friend’s husband said to me that he didn’t realise how big the part of Fagin was and I think many people who aren’t very familiar with the story don’t realise. I would say the story is as much Fagin’s as it is Oliver’s. This highlighted in the fact that the final moment is that iconic image of Fagin walked into the bleeding sunset to whatever fate has in store.

Neil Morrissey handled this enormous challenge exceptionally, capturing every essence of the Fagin we all know – the juxtaposition of sleazy, selfish criminal with caring patriarch to these lost boys.  His singing voice was pleasant enough, by no means brilliant, but then, Fagin doesn’t need to be a great singer as it’s more about the character.

**Theatre snobbery open bracket**

As a rule, I dislike stunt casting, though I have come to expect it for roles such as this. One reason for this being how they play upon it. To me, the only time you should acknowledge that there is ‘a name’ in your show is in a pantomime (and Spamalot – but then that is like a panto for adults). I very much disliked being pulled out of the story for the sake of jokes such as ‘Can I fix it.... yes, I can’ (in reference to Neil Morrissey being the voice of Bob the Builder) but then other audience members lapped it up – so I guess it worked on the people they were trying to appeal to.

**Theatre snobbery close bracket**

Samantha Barks was brilliant casting in the role of Nancy. She has come a long way since taking part in ‘I’d do Anything’ not least noteworthy being her time as Eponine in Les Miserables , which she even got the honour of recreating for the 25^th Anniversary Concert. She had tons of energy in this role – just watching ‘Oom Pah Pah’ wore me out, though I could tell that she and the rest of the cast love performing it. She really got to the heart of Nancy and had a good understanding of her bewildering commitment to Bill Sykes.

The only cast member who I felt was a bit of a weak link was Stephen Moore in the role of Mr Brownlow. I just felt his heart wasn’t really in it and it seemed a bit like he was reciting lines, rather than performing them. This only really applies to the performance I saw last night, so I don’t know if he was lacking energy but that shouldn’t matter.  If you’re in a production like this (or any production really) you need to pull the energy from somewhere, even if you’re not feeling it.

And lastly I just have to give a special mention to the boys who have been playing ‘Nipper’ for the awww factor – well played boys.

Tonight (21^st January) is the last performance at the Wales Millennium Centre. It will be then be moving on to the Manchester Palace Theatre, where the current cast will resume their roles. The website, if you wish to visit it is www.oliverthemusical.com