Went to a screening of "Les Miserables" film.....
Went to a screening of "Les Miserables" film.....
camncal
Stand-by Joined: 12/20/07
#1Went to a screening of "Les Miserables" film.....
Posted: 11/30/12 at 11:38pm
It's absolutely flawless and perfect in every way. I don't think they could've done it any better. I wasn't really a fan of the musical, i thought the musical on stage drags, but it was just right on screen.
So the performances-
Hugh Jackman- He's really the center of the film. He carries it from beginning to end, and his final song made the entire theatre cry. It was heartbreaking and so touching. I REALLY hope he gets an Oscar. He so deserves it. Great singing and flawless acting.
Anne Hathaway- I'm sure she's going to get an Oscar nom, or even win it for her performance. She's only in the first 1/3 of the film, but her 'I Dreamed of a Dream" is a breath of fresh air. I have never heard it sung that way....actually I never knew the lyrics to the song and how sad it is and Anne definitely played the truth of the song. It's going to go down in history as one of the best renditions of the song, or at least the most honest. Her last scene will make you cry as well. Actually, just bring a tissue box, 'cause people were crying throughout.
Amanda Seyfried- She def made the character A LOT more likable than in the musical. She has 1 solo and few duets. She doesn't come off as a spoiled brat. She is very likable in the film. I love her as an actress, but I'm really not a fan of her singing, even in Mamma Mia. Her voice is always shaking and i think a few notes were a bit too high for her, but she is beautiful to look at and her acting made up for the rest.
Russell Crowe- At first I wasn't sure if he could sing with his first song, but he can definitely sing and has a few solos. Great, but the character was kind of annoying at times. Sometime you get the "oh him again?" .... 'cause all he does is going after Hugh Jackman throughout the ENTIRE film and the film spans like over 10 years. Get a life already.
Helena Bonam Carter- Same character she plays in Harry Potter, only she sings.
Sacha Baron Cohen- Funny, but thought i could do without him. However, him and Helena are the only comedic relief in the film.
Samantha Barks- She sings "On my Own", which is another big song from the musical. She could've been the Jennifer Hudson of this film with that number, but sadly, she's just not in the film much at all. It's like she comes on, sings her song, and then became a background character. She has much a better role in the stage version. It's a missed opportunity because she is great.
Aaron Tveit- He was great and Eddie Redmayne has a big song that was on the par of Anne's I Dreamed of a Dream. Eddie held his own among all the big stars, he had a lot of great scenes. I thought what was great about the film is that every single character had a shining moment, the only character i felt was left in the background was Eponine.
Overall, it will def be a strong Best Picture contender. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway should get noms and should win. I haven't seen anything this year that comes close to what they've done.
Samantha, Amanda, and Eddie along with the director were there to do Q&A after, they were all very nice.
#2Went to a screening of
Posted: 11/30/12 at 11:48pmHow much does Aaron sing in the movie? I've heard that a lot of his parts have been divided among the barricade boys?
camncal
Stand-by Joined: 12/20/07
#2Went to a screening of
Posted: 11/30/12 at 11:59pmAaron sings a few songs, mostly in a group, but does get a lot of screen time. Whenever the barricade boys are together, the camera is usually on him, and he's like the focal point of the ending, as he's the only one holding and waving the flag with all the cast singing together.
#3Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:02am
He sings a fair bit but there are snips here and there. I really would have preferred him as Marius over Redmayne. His voice was just a little caught at the back of his throat.
I loved the film. I loved the live singing so much, even if that is why there is an overabundance of closeups to hide the mics.
still processing the movie
there were a number of audience applause moments throughout
beautywickedlover
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/07
#4Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:21am
"She could've been the Jennifer Hudson of this film with that number, but sadly, she's just not in the film much at all. It's like she comes on, sings her song, and then became a background character. She has much a better role in the stage version."
That's a shame because after watching the sneak peek clip here on BWW and re-watching the 25th Anniversary concert just the other day I appreciated her portrayal of the character more than I did before, and I had already thought she was great in the role. I wonder if Hooper and the producers wanted to focus more on the big names in the film.
camncal
Stand-by Joined: 12/20/07
#5Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:26am
Definitely. She's the only actor who didn't get a character poster... Considering the size of her role on stage and that one song, she should've gotten a poster over Amanda Seyfried, but Amanda's Cosset had a lot more screen time and was a much bigger role. Samantha kind of shows up, walks/sings around in the background, sings her one song, and gone.
Updated On: 12/1/12 at 12:26 AM
camncal
Stand-by Joined: 12/20/07
beautywickedlover
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/07
#8Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:32am
"Definitely. She's the only actor who didn't get a character poster... Considering the size of her role on stage and that one song, she should've gotten a poster over Amanda Seyfried, but Amanda's Cosset had a lot more screen time and was a much bigger role. Samantha kind of shows up, walks/sings around in the background, sings her one song, and gone."
I bet if Taylor Swift was Eponine, the role would have been bigger because she's an international pop/country star.
#9Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:35amhow was "Master of the House"??
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
#10Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:42am
There is also the chance that from a structural point of view Eponine did just end up being not that important of the role, I contend that that is the main reason they cast Samantha Barks in the part rather than a big name which would have given the audience unrealistic expectations about how large the role is in this adaptation. Perhaps they realized early on that Eponine wasn't just going to be that big of a character.
I asked this in one of the other threads and I didn't get a response, is Frances Rufelle's cameo in the final cut of the movie?
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
camncal
Stand-by Joined: 12/20/07
#11Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:43am
"how was "Master of the House"??"
It was great. A lot of stuff going on and done very well and clever. A great highlight of the film, a lot of energy.
camncal
Stand-by Joined: 12/20/07
#12Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:47am
"is Frances Rufelle's cameo in the final cut of the movie?"
i think she had a cameo as one of the whores. still in.
#13Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 1:10am
Eponine's role suffers from the shuffling to eliminate the act break. All of her moments are smushed together other than her death.
They make her death a little more tragic in a way, but it doesn't really balance out.
I loved the nod to Enjolras on the rotating barricade that they staged at the end of the battle.
And to clarify my earlier point, Redmayne's singing isn't bad, it just sort of pales next to Tveit, just as Seyfried's pales next to Barks and Crowe's pales next to Jackman's
#14Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 1:52amWhat was the running time? I have heard 2 different times and they were not even close!
"I'd rater be nine peoples favorite thing, than a hundred peoples ninth favorite thing"
camncal
Stand-by Joined: 12/20/07
#15Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 1:54am
"What was the running time? I have heard 2 different times and they were not even close!
I think it was around 2 hours. Someone behind me complained it was too long, i thought it was fine.
jo
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#16Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 2:37am
The official running time, based on the Universal Pictures Awards site, is 158 min, or 2h 38m.
Updated On: 12/1/12 at 02:37 AM
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
The Other One
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/08
#18Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 9:58am
You had a problem with Redmayne's singing but not with Jackman's? I find that surprising. I thought Redmayne sounded terrific. I'd never heard him sing before.
He does overshadow Tveit a bit, but I think that's because they are somewhat similar (I think Tveit could have played Marius, too, and was surprised last year to read he was cast as Enjolras) and we see more of Marius in the piece. (In the Original Broadway production, Michael McGuire's darker, larger presence and booming voice dominated the smaller, breathier David Bryant) They are both quite good, though. I was grateful when the younger cast members, with better voices, entered the film. Redmayne deserves his Oscar talk.
Hugh is very impassioned throughout the film, but his voice is awfully nasal, shrill and vibrato-heavy at the top of his range, where much of the difficult score sits. When he repeatedly sings "one day mawhhh" in the climax of the song "One Day More", the results are not pleasant. I liked his performance, I just wish some of his live singing had been tweaked.
#19Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 10:04am
Re Movidude's comment: "I loved the nod to Enjolras on the rotating barricade that they staged at the end of the battle."
SPOILER--
True, Enjolras' final beats are beautifully set up in the film, and anyone who has the turntable reveal of his dying moments onstage seared into his memory will be very gratified with the way Tom Hooper has translated that climax onto film.
In answer to other posters, Aaron Tveit does everything right with the part, sings with passion and looks adorable, but he simply never catches fire onscreen, particularly when he's competing for attention with Eddie Redmayne, who simply wipes everyone else in his scenes off the screen. The camera just adores that Redmayne guy-- his is the performance you'll remember.
#20Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 10:04am
Definitely. She's the only actor who didn't get a character poster... Considering the size of her role on stage and that one song, she should've gotten a poster over Amanda Seyfried, but Amanda's Cosset had a lot more screen time and was a much bigger role. Samantha kind of shows up, walks/sings around in the background, sings her one song, and gone.
I bet if Taylor Swift was Eponine, the role would have been bigger because she's an international pop/country star.
... or they just went back to the original source. In the book, Eponine is practically a nonentity. She only exists to deliver letters, and Marius only utilizes her in order to find Cosette, but he never pays much attention to her. But in the musical they're buddies and her part was beefed up inexplicably. For example, it is Gavroche who delivers Marius' letter to Cosette, but they gave that task to Eponine. However, in the film, they give that job back to Gavroche and Eponine now delivers Cosette's letter to Marius instead, which is also taken from the book.
In the grand scheme of things, Eponine is not that important to the storyline, and it's no surprise that in some adaptations her character has been eliminated. The book's main characters are Fantine, Cosette, Marius, and Valjean -- four of its five volumes are named after them, in that order. Everyone else is supporting or peripheral.
I'm glad they put more focus on Cosette 'cause she's the central character in that she ties everyone's story together, and everything Marius, Fantine, and Valjean do is for her.
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
Updated On: 12/1/12 at 10:04 AM
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#21Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 10:31am
Trying to understand the logic here.
Moviedude, are you saying that the only reason Eponine might seem to have a less important role in the movie than she had on stage is that the act break in the show gives the false impression that her role is more extensive?
In other words, the only way to counter this problem would have been to give the movie - which, thankfully isn't particularly long - an act break, or to expand the role for the film? Would anyone have thought those would have been improvements to the movie? (that question might seem rhetorical, but I only half mean it that way).
Updated On: 12/1/12 at 10:31 AM
#22Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 10:47am
At least so far, I don't have a problem with Jackman's unusual, slightly braying vocal style, simply because it's one of those things one expects of Hugh Jackman. His somewhat peculiar voice has shown up at award shows, The Boy From Oz and elsewhere.
Colm Wilkinson undoubtedly had a peculiar voice too. It's actually one of the things I often miss about the old Les Mis- other than Drew Sarich and Daphne Rubin-Vega, there has been a movie to cast mostly legit traditional voices in the show for years now, especially the tours. Like it's an opera, or at least Phantom. When I see Les Mis casts performing as guests on talk shows or things like America's Got Talent, it's always heavily pushing the operatic side of the show at the expense of the gritty, pop-rock-theatre-chanson experimentalism at the heart of the early productions.
#23Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 11:05am
No, just that with the shuffling of a few numbers she is heavily involved for like 20 mintues (an estimate, don't hold me to the time) and then she fades to the background until her death. Moving on my own to before One More day works better for a movie's non 2 act structure, but condenses a role that feels larger on stage. I wonder if people who first see the show through the movie are less inclined to have her as a favorite character.
Does that make any sense?
broadway guy
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/5/11
#24Went to a screening of
Posted: 12/1/12 at 11:07am
"I'm glad they put more focus on Cosette 'cause she's the central character in that she ties everyone's story together, and everything Marius, Fantine, and Valjean do is for her."
SEE that COULD have worked but the problem here is they picked a mediocre singer for cosette and an amzing singer for eponine. Amanda's character ties the story together but her singing is a b!tch to listen too.In this case i would rather have cosette die at the barricade and eponine live ( only half joking).
I see cosette as more of a symbol than an actual character
