Les Miserables

The first shot of "Les Miserables" is an extreme long shot of a massive wooden ship. The camera tracks past the ship to reveal prisoners pulling on ropes to haul the ship back to the docks. Slowly, the camera pushes in on one prisoner, 24601, otherwise known as Jean Valjean. The shot effectively shows the system under which French citizens were forced to live by during the early 1800s after the first revolution. It shows Valjean as a man who served over a decade for stealing a loaf of bread. he is just one of thousands who probably committed such petty crimes while people like the innkeepers got away safely time after time. The shot also allows the audience to see the world these people inhabit, the great ships, stone walls, the inspector Javert standing over all, on the pouring rain, and the French tricolor flag discarded on the ground, broken. We feel the injustice of their world, we are given the cause for revolution, we are given the visual splendor and rottenness of the world these characters live in. But then, the camera pushes closer and closer on Valjean's face and the wonderful world (and film) the first shot promised disappears.

 Throughout the film, director Tom Hooper just shows the face of the character singing (rarely speaking) song after song, monologue after monologue. Hooper placed all his faith on his actors. This method could work, but it needs both good actors and great singers. The beginning of the film follows Fantine closely and she illustrates how well Hooper's method could work, especially when she sings "I Dreamed a Dream." Hathaway find the emotional black hole in which Fantine is trapped. The pain is only too visible in her face. It's heartbreaking. The rest of the film, however, never lives up to the expectations created at the start. The most obvious example is Javert (Russell Crowe) who, by far, has the weakest voice, but on the extended solos of Valjean, Hugh Jackman's voice sounds on the verge of breaking.

 The film tried to be groundbreaking and revolutionary but it feels small and weak. It could have worked nicely as a traditional musical with a stronger, pre-recorded soundtrack, big Hollywood sets, matte paintings etc. After the ship in the beginning, the CGI is terrible. Paris looks muddy, but not in the way early nineteenth century Paris should be. The only bits and pieces we get of Paris are mostly at night where it looks like a dark, indistinct labyrinth. The benefits of film is that it is not constricted to the small stage. Les Miserables did not take advantage of that. the Thenardiers, for example, represent, in the play, the widespread filth and corruption of society at the time, but in the film they seem more the exception than the rule. There is also a scene where young revolutionaries despair since the people did not rise to their aid. My only complaint is, what people? If I had gotten a sense that these characters inhabited a larger world, I would have cared more deeply about this moment, one of the most affecting in the play. The film tries to be faithful to the format of the play to such a degree that it discards the benefits of a cinematic adaptation. Les Miserables should feel epic, not constrained.

Painting the background, the one aspect of theatre that could have helped the film most. 

Verdict- 2.5/4
Les Miserables PG13 (2012) 2h 38min.


Random Thoughts
- I like the image of Javert always walking on brink of buildings, but always on top of his world. He set his moral code, his strict rules and expects everyone to live by them. Valjean forgave him but in doing so violated Javert's world view in which only one of them could live. He lost, so, according to him, he had to go. Reminded me of the final suicide in  "In Bruges."
- Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman are still great actors and gave excellent performances but their voices are too distracting.
- "Master of the House" was too grotesque for my taste. It should have been more enjoyable.
- screenshots from http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/lesmiserables/ and http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Wizard-of-Oz-Blu-ray/7703/#Overview