"King's Speech" director to take on "Les Miserables"

[Sci]

DigificWriter wrote:

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^ Okay, 'adaptation' was the wrong word to use; I should've used 'iteration'.

Even the largest of stage musicals are by definition aimed at a smaller, more affluent, and better-educated audience than most films. This adaptation seems to be aiming for a wide, mainstream audience, so I wouldn't be surprised if other aspects were altered for clarity.

[Vanyel]

Sci wrote:

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Even the largest of stage musicals are by definition aimed at a smaller, more affluent, and better-educated audience than most films. This adaptation seems to be aiming for a wide, mainstream audience, so I wouldn't be surprised if other aspects were altered for clarity.

The lyrics to some of the less known songs have been changed or eliminated over the years. When I first saw the musical in London, it had Little People as a full song, then a later touring version back home in Texas, had the song eliminated about 5 years later leaving only the bit of Little People sung when Gavroche exposes Javert. Also The Finale has some minor line changes between Cosette and Vajean compared from the stage version and the 10th Anniversary concert. I've also noticed changes in One Day More, again minor changes but noticeable if you have been listening to the Original London Cast Recording.

[Samurai8472]

Hugh sang Happy Birthday to Amanda Seyfried and even did a lap dance

http://www.indiewire.com/article/wat...-dinner-video#

Amanda Seyfried got quite the birthday present at the Porter House last night, following a special screening of "Les Miserables," hosted by Universal Pictures, Working Title Films and Cameron Mackintosh. After taking to a mic in the center of the packed dining room and demanding that Seyfried make herself known to the crowd, her co-star Hugh Jackman teased, "I once gave Barbara Walters a lap dance and I promised her I would never do it again, but seeing as she is not here tonight..." -- and then proceeded to get down.

Video of Hugh singing Happy Birthday to Amanda:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/wat...c-dinner-video




Soundtrack listing. Can't wait to hear #5 fully!

[propita]

I saw the musical in London in 1987 (and Phantom 2 months after it opened in 1986). There have been changes in the lyrics over time, as I noticed in the 10th and 25th anniversary versions. Not a big deal to me. A reason was found to change things. And yes, Gavroche's "Little People" ha shad more changes. Maybe it was determined that it slowed the pace too much right then, and that outweighed the need for character background.

As for performances, anyone watching the anniversary DVDs will see differences in style. Each performer gets to, and needs to, put himself into the role to make it his own. I don't have a problem with Crowe's performance; he's an actor known for giving his all. This is his, and the director's, version. I personally enjoy different interpretations. And Javert's supposed to be rigid, especially at the beginning--only someone that stiff will become obsessed with Valjean and then have the fall he has when his rigid rules are upended.

I've read that, since the actors didn't have to sing to each the last row, and were singing on set, they got to put more emotion in.

I am SO looking forward to this, but Hubby is working Christmas Day, so we'll have to wait.

[Nociod]

I saw the musical in London last January, and I'm really excited for the movie!

IMDB tells me it's not going to be released here in Norway until the 18th of January. . . , I wish I could see it for Christmas too

[Vanyel]

A few new featurettes:

The new song Suddenly:


Costume Design:


Hair and Make up:

(Has Master of the House/Beggars at the Feast)

Production Design:

(Lovey Ladies and Building the Barricades and Finale)

[Vanyel]

I think I might be getting too into this.

[propita]

Nonsense!

I am SO looking forward to this. We will see it asap after the 25th (Hubby's working) cause I want to up the first week's take.

[Vanyel]

Samurai8472 wrote:

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Soundtrack listing. Can't wait to hear #5 fully!

When did Castle on a Cloud get a Question Mark?

[Mark_Nguyen]

They're really going full-bore on the TV promos. However, I can't stand it when they drill how many awards this movie has already been nominated for... And it isn't even out in theatres yet. Personally it guts the credibility of those organizations that are doing the nominating, telling us it's awesome without giving us the option to find out for ourselves.

Still can't wait, though. Loved this musical, dying for the holidays to start so I can have time to see this!

Mark

[intrinsical]

Up till last month, the movie I was excited to watch was The Hobbit. Now, its this one. I've always been a sucker for musicals and that short clip of Anne Hathaway singing I Dreamed A Dream brought tears to my eyes.

[Unicron]

Have you seen the alternate movie poster?

[Vanyel]

Rdio seems to have the album up to listen to. I haven't signed up for the site yet, anyone here have an account?

[CaptainCanada]

My review:

In a way, reading all the negative reviews of Crowe's singing helped, because he was nowhere near as bad as one might have expected based on what some people were saying. I'd rate his contributions as ranging from adequate to good, depending on the song; he's no Philip Quast, but he serves well enough, and in a few places (the arrest of Fantine and "The Confrontation") I thought he was really standout; the latter number is really well-staged.

Jackman, Hathaway, Barks and Redmayne were all terrific. I thought Amanda Seyfried was good too, though Cosette is a pretty thankless role in a lot of ways (her reaction shots at the end are wrenching).

Les Miserables as a musical is a challenge to film in some ways, because it's full of long, angsty solos that aren't especially cinematic. Hooper eschews what I suspect would have been most directors' instincts, to incorporate montage elements into them, in favour of continuous extreme close-up, which has proven controversial, but I think really works (in a way it seems like can't win, either he's being called too conventional or too unconventional).

There's one bit that was in the script that I'm a little disappointed didn't really come across in the movie, though perhaps it would have been difficult to convey onscreen. The script at the reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" playing during a flashforward to the 1848 revolution that toppled the July Monarchy (which the revolt depicted in the movie failed to do).

Putting the Bishop in at the end of "Valjean's Death" was a wonderful decision.

[DigificWriter]

I saw the movie with my family today and absolutely loved it. This might just be the best screen-to-stage adaptation I've seen ever. The cast was superb, and although some might complain about Russell Crowe's singing voice being weaker than is traditonal for the character, I personally liked that he and the others in the cast adapted the songs to fit their own abilities rather than attempting to sing the songs as they are typically performed on the stage.

Although, as I noted, the entire cast is superb, my favorite individual performances were delivered by Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Samantha Barks as Eponine, Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche, Sacha Baron Cohen as Monsieur Thenardier, and Helena Bonham Carter as Mdme Thenardier. I don't know whose idea it was for Cohen to portray Thenardier with an accent, but it adds a nice new layer to the character and makes him stand out even more than he already does.

Anyone who's familiar with the stage musical will immediately notice that there have been changes made to both the composition and order of many, if not all, of the songs. This might catch some people off guard, but absolutely works and doesn't feel superflous or unnecessary.

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

There is one major change to the story as presented in the stage musical. The circumstances of Eponine's death are altered so that she dies protecting Marius during the early stages of the battle between the soldiers and the Friends of the ABC, meaning that Marius has to enlist Gavroche in delivering his letter to Cosette.

*** END SPOILERS ***

Although this caught me a bit off guard, I actually think it works because it enhances Eponine's character and strengthens her unrequited love for Marius. It also lends more power and emotional oomph to A Little Fall of Rain. Speaking of, I love that song as it is, but the way the sequence is staged in the movie, coming as it does on the heels of the altered circumstances I mentioned above, only enhances the pathos and emotion that the song is already supercharged with, which really lets the actors involved shine. It also allows for this one moment where Marius actually seems to realize just how Eponine feels about him, which is not something I'd noticed in the scene as it is in the stage version.

I haven't really mentioned Hugh Jackman, but Valjean is the role he was born to play. There was already ample evidence of the man's talent, but it all comes together here, particularly in his rendition of Valjean's Soliloquy (Who am I) and his first-time performance of the brand-new song Suddenly (which really should be added to future stage productions). He also plays marvelously off of Russell Crowe, SBC, and HBC.

I also wanted to mention something about the Master of the House sequence. I've always liked that song, and both SBC and HBC played the sequence perfectly. Cohen was a bit blurry with his words due to the fact that he sang the entire thing with an accent, as I mentioned above, but it worked to the scene's advantage, at least IMO.

Lovely Ladies was another excellently realized sequence, with Anne Hathaway perfectly evoking Fantine's desperation and despair. I was particularly struck as never before by the part where she sells herself for the first time.

Speaking of Anne, she also did something that I've never seen done before, which was to inject real anger and venom into the lyrics "He took my childhood in his stride, but he was gone when autumn came" from I Dreamed a Dream.

I'd highly recommend the film to anyone who's familiar with the story and the musical, as well as to anyone who might not be familiar with the story or musical but likes musical theater and movie musicals in general, giving it an enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5.