Comments | karaokegal: Movie review-Les Miserables

karaokegal

Movie review-Les Miserables

Mar 31, 2013 10:40

Yes, I realize this is massively late. I saw the movie back in March and its Oscar season has already come and gone. It's just that I've been in a slump for a month and I've got some energy right now, so I figure I better get as much catch-up blogging done as I can while it lasts.

( If you you LOVE Les Miz, you might want to skip this review )

blog, movie review, journal

Comments 17

msp_hacker March 31 2013, 20:11:32 UTC

I adore Les Mis, and everything else is a fair cop, especially if you spend a lot of time in karoke bars. I agree that "Master of the House" is one of the best scenes in the film.

I do end up judging people if they don't get a little teary during Jean Valijean's death scene. And it actually worked better in the film than in the stage production. Having the Bishiop instead of Eponine works a whole bunch better.

"Do You Hear the People Sing?" is better than "Stout-Hearted Men."

karaokegal March 31 2013, 20:56:49 UTC

Karaoke does not do a great service to the show and vice versa. The number of people who THINK they can sing those songs as opposed to the number who actually can....not a good ratio.

michelleann68 March 31 2013, 20:32:07 UTC

I saw it in London's West End with Sam and neither of us got it. The performers did a nice job, but OGL the storyline was so depressing, I just did not get it, it is nice to see someone else who agrees. I had no desire to see the film version, I did not want to go through that misery again.

Thanks for the recap!

karaokegal March 31 2013, 20:59:10 UTC

Exactly. I realize it's technically an operetta, rather than a Musical Comedy, but the sheer lack of joy in any of the scenes or characters is a major problem.

alba17 March 31 2013, 21:10:08 UTC

I saw it on Broadway and didn't like it at all and I generally love musicals. Didn't care for the music, thought the whole thing was boring. The movie preview looked good and then I remembered how much I disliked the show, LOL, so I haven't seen it yet. Maybe I'd like the movie better though.

karaokegal March 31 2013, 21:15:55 UTC

I don't mind a bit of darkness in my musicals, at least the way Sondheim does it, but Les Miz is just so bleak and sort of refuses to acknowledge it.

srsly_yes March 31 2013, 22:13:04 UTC

I'm going to hazard a guess that the show is a tad dated or the translation to film, no matter how well done, didn't generate the electricity that the theatre performance did. I saw Les Miz around 1989 in San Francisco on its national tour. When the curtain came down on the final act the audience wouldn't stop applauding and I was in tears, along with many others. And it wasn't the plot. Half the time I couldn't hear the words. It was experiencing those beautiful songs live while they were still relatively new. The music and the emotion built on itself as the evening progressed. I don't know, it really touched me. After that, I could never get through the cast recording without a cathartic cry. Because it was such a one of a kind experience, I chose to pass on the movie.

karaokegal April 1 2013, 18:04:48 UTC

I think it may very much be a "you had to be there," kind of thing and as someone mentions in a comment down thread, it also has to do with when you first saw it.

daasgrrl March 31 2013, 23:46:14 UTC

I'm just going to give my responses in point form *g ( ... )

karaokegal April 1 2013, 18:08:59 UTC

Even people I know who LOVE the book and/or the movie really arent' crazy about Marius.

Considering that they seem to have carried all the recitative directly over from the musical, I don't see how it could be that different, but I will take your word for it.

I think that the "dead behind the eyes" thing did sort of work for Crowe's Javert. I couldn't help thinking of all Javert references the House fandom threw around during the Tritter arc (and your awesome Tritter fics) and sort of imagined David Morse in the part as well.

I think the problem with Fantine is just built into the conception, because how filthy and degraded can you allow your ingenue to be, and Anne Hathaway. is NOTHING if not pure ingenue, even more than Amanda Seyfried, which is saying something.

daasgrrl April 1 2013, 20:24:29 UTC

Considering that they seem to have carried all the recitative directly over from the musical, I don't see how it could be that different, but I will take your word for it. While I'm sure you don't care *g*, they actually changed some of the recitative (unnecessarily) into speaking (ie completely different dialogue), added more dialogue on top of that, added a (terrible) new song, cut a heap of lyrics here and there, and actually changed the order of songs around as well. They even altered lines that changed the emphasis of what was being said (like at the end it becomes All About Valjean's love for Cosette and how it changed him... no). Les Mis has a certain structure that holds it together, and they pretty much destroyed that ( ... )

karaokegal April 5 2013, 23:14:49 UTC

I don't care enough that knowing it would really make me re-think the movie or the show, but I care that you care enough to defend what you love about it.

On the other hand, I know that if Sondheim ever lets them do a movie of Follies and they change a single thing I love about it, or case it in some way I object to, I will CERTAINLY be manning my own barricades in defense of my Follies. (You know how I am about my vision of certain canons.)