At last, Les Mis, the wildly successful stage show seen by over 60 million people comes to the big screen, ready to take the Oscars by storm.
Director Tom Hooper who won an Oscar two years ago for The King’s Speech, gives the musical some movie magic, creating an epic the way only cinema can do.
For the uninitiated, the show of Les Mis was adapted from Victor Hugo’s novel, published in 1862, following Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a man sentenced to 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.
Valjean escapes and is given a second chance at life by a priest, but is forever being hunted by police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). He becomes a successful businessman, and a father to an orphaned child, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried).
When the child grows up she falls in love with Marius (Eddie Redmayne) a student rebel. Valjean learns of their love and fights to protect Marius as he takes part in the violent student uprising.
To realise his vision, Tom Hooper has championed live action singing to camera, where the actors are led by a piano playing into their earpiece, instead of being pre-recorded. The intention was to make it more realistic, but the result is a mixed bag of ability, from excellent operatic outbursts by Hugh Jackman (truly in his element) to the low-key vocals of Russell Crowe (let’s hope they mastered the soundtrack).
However, stealing the show is Anne Hathaway as Fantine, singing the song Susan Boyle brought back to life, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ in breathy sobs through broken teeth which the Academy and others will call ‘raw’ and ‘real’ no doubt.
Twenty-two year old star of the West End Samantha Barks also triumphs in her first film role as Eponine, the role thousands pitted for, but she won, singing ‘On My Own’ with great veracity.
Les Mis is unlike any jazz hands waving musical you’ve seen before, in fact, you’d be right in guessing it’s a bit of a misery trip, and a very melodramatic one at that. But, you can’t help admire the grandiosity of what Hooper has created, filled with cannons, a ship and a giant elephant statue.
Although some will say the acting is hammy, or the film is too long (160 minutes), fans of the musical are unlikely to be disappointed by this adaptation. It’s a spectacular tribute to the very successful stage show. Despite its flaws, Les Mis delivers an emotional hit in epic proportions.
