Anne Hathaway should be arrested for murder. Murdering the signature song "I Dreamed A Dream" in Les Miserables. Obviously Anne didn't pay attention in acting class. Lesson number one is you don't play the end at the beginning. There's a reason why the lyrics say "BUT the tigers come at night." It signals the actress that there is to be a change in the tone of the song. The song is titled I dreamed a dream, not I cried through a dream. And I love how when she's in the hospital and she sings "Cosette it's growing cold" and then coughs twice to make sure we understand how sick she really is.
Overall I was a bit disappointed with the movie. I thought it would be more epic than it was. I thought that none of the main actors rose to the quality of the material (Amanda Seyfried is excused because Cosette is a poorly written role that you can't do much with.)
I thought Samantha Barks was the most truthful of the actors and her only real problem was that she was poorly directed.
Hugh Jackman was ok. I believed his ValJean, but there wasn't enough energy behind his acting.
Russell Crowe acted like a piece of wood from the barricade. No passion at all.
Eddie Redmayne was ok, but miscast. Not dashing enough.
Sasha and Helena did the best they could, but once again I think they were victims of poor direction. I think Tom Hooper squeezed all the fun out of "Master of the House" with all that jumpy camera work.
It seems Hooper is great at little bits of business, like the Santa at the end of Master of the House, but he just doesn't know how to pull together an entire film. Also, the eye behind Jackman when he's singing the prayer was a bit too obvious.
And I wonder if the cast was paid by the number of tears they shed, because every character cries at some point. This was the weepiest Les Miserables I've ever seen.
What they did get right:
the ending when [spoiler alert] Valjean walks toward the priest. I could never figure out why Eponine was in that moment and it makes much more sense for him to walk to the priest, thereby closing the circle that the priest claimed him for God at the beginning.
Little Cosette was great and I love how she has the doll whisper in her ear on the line "Cosette I love you very much".
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I don't quite understand your argument. The beginning of Hathaway's I DREAMED A DREAM is very obviously her reflecting on when she was happy/her life was 'good', but then "It all went wrong". The subtext of the phrase "I dreamed a dream" is not an inspirational one. It's mostly hopeless, except perhaps some hope that "he'll come to [her]", although she knows it's a pipe dream.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
So, where Barks went wrong is a directorial issue. But since you didn't like Hathaway, it's HER shortcomings?
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
"The beginning of Hathaway's I DREAMED A DREAM is very obviously her reflecting on when she was happy/her life was 'good', but then "It all went wrong".
See I didn't get that. I don't think she sustained the reflection long enough. All the lyrics about "I was young and unafraid, dream made, used, wasted, no ransom to be paid..." should all be reflection.
Anne hits the emotional climax too early in the song and has no where to take it at the end. She's wringing tears through most of it. With the intimacy of film, I think she could have done more with the song.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I don't know why I'm indulging you, but did you go to the bathroom during "so different now, from what it seems..."? Her losing her breath and starting to choke on tears was one of the most genuine and moving things I've ever seen on a movie screen. I think the new placement of the song was enough of a set up, she just went off with it.
Well this thread is ridiculous. Your elementary understanding of acting as craft aside, Anne did a fantastic job with the song. Crying is only climax for actors who fake externals.
"Her losing her breath and starting to choke on tears was one of the most genuine and moving things I've ever seen on a movie screen."
And if "so different know" was the first time she did it, then it would be fine. But the whole thing is sung thin voiced and teary.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Anne was crying because she DREAMED A DREAM that she had a better life, her life is hell Nd she has gone through so much just for her child. If I were her, I'd be crying just like she did during that song.
Hathaway is an above the title name singing THE most popular song from the musical. She didn't deliver. There are several actresses that could have blown Hathaway's performance right off the screen.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
As Forbidden Broadway said: It's less miserable than other shows.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.