Comments | caz963: Les Misérables

caz963

Les Misérables - the movie

Jan 14, 2013 11:25

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 ( Read more... )

movies, review, music

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flippet January 15 2013, 00:03:26 UTC

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 January 15 2013, 00:10:38 UTC

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

flippet January 15 2013, 00:18:13 UTC

Oh, lordy.

hooloovoo_42 January 15 2013, 00:56:01 UTC

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.

caz963 January 16 2013, 20:32:08 UTC

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.

Very true. The first time I saw the show, I hadn't read the book or read up (which I would always do if I was going to see an opera, especially if it was in another language) - but I seem to remember it was fairly easy to work out what was going on and who was who.

I knew that Crowe could kind-of sing, and I hoping he'd pull it off, but I do think he fell just short

We re-watched the DVD of the 10th anniversary concert last night - the DVD should still be available and there's a CD as well (the one on Spotify). If you listen to Philip Quast's Javert you'll hear exactly how short Crowe fell. Quast is considered the definitive Javert and rightly so; he's got so much passion and conviction.

I love the 'brokenness' that this version allows Absolutely. As I said, she probably couldn't carry off the role on stage, but here she nailed it completely ( ... )

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