Review: Les Misérables

If I had to pick a favourite part of the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, it would probably be the singing. The singing was awesome.

People love Les Misérables (the musical). It’s grand, emotional, and full of music so memorable that the original composer (Claude-Michel Schönberg) thought that they should appear in the play five times each, although that’s a highly unrealistic estimate. But does the world-famous, heart-wrenching musical translate well to film? Yeah, it does, OK?

But not everyone loved it. David Denby of The New Yorker was particularly scathing in his review – but then again, he mostly rattles on about how it doesn’t compare to the musicals of a glittery, bygone era, comments that can easily be dismissed since this film wasn’t made in 1953. So, take note, Les Misérables isn’t Singin’ in the Rain. In fact, it goes beyond just being a “filmed musical” and its director (Tom Hooper of The King’s Speech,) makes a concerted effort to ground the singing and the choreographed movement into some kind of reality. 

This is why the film’s other big criticism seems strange to me: people are up-in-arms because Russell Crowe, who plays steely Javert, can’t sing. Okay, his voice isn’t perfect, but I’m not sure that it matters. Tom Hooper needed actors who could act for the camera, not the musical stage, and Crowe peforms. Besides, if you really need to see a musically perfect version of the Les Mis, then they did make two of them as anniversary DVDs (one of them even has a Jonas brother in it).

In the lead role of Jean Valjean, Hugh Jackman is moving; Hooper’s decision to use close-ups during solos is initially jarring, but it works well. It captivated me when Valjean sang a prayer to God because with the close-up I could clearly see Jackman quiver his lip and flex his neck with emotion.

Moving through the cast, I have to take back all the terrible things I said about Anne Hathaway before seeing Les Misérables. She is wonderful in the role of Fantine, and gives one of the best weeping performances I’ve ever seen, once again partly due to Hooper’s cinematography.

The rest of the cast is fine. There are, admittedly, few excellent performances, with the exception of the dreamy Eddie Redmayne as Marius, and the young Daniel Huttlestone in the role of Gavroche.

Yes, Les Misérables is far from perfect. Little changes, like removing introductory pieces of music, make it seemed rushed at times, and not every scene is even directed all that well. Javert’s suicide, in particular, isn’t nearly as moving as its counterpart in the 1998 film adaptation. But, many of the musical’s timeless qualities are sustained: Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter preserve the disgusting entertainment of the Thénardiers, and it isn’t any less tragic in the film when Éponine (Samantha Barks) dies. Really, perfection would have been too much to ask for from Tom Hooper, considering how beloved Les Misérables is as a musical. But even then, the epic emotion is there, if you can get past some of the finer faults. And musicals are meant to be enjoyed, not picked apart for every off-sung note. That is, unless they’re about Spiderman.