I remember in 2012 when Les Misérables hit theaters. My wife and I went to a screening of it, and I was simply blown away by the experience. I had no history with the story, the novel by Victor Hugo, nor the Broadway play on which this film was based. I had not seen any of the myriad of adaptations that existed at the time and knew next to nothing about what I was getting into. I know, I was living under a rock.
A few days later, I saw a review by Leonard Maltin, where he really seemed unimpressed with the film and kept referring to the stage play as being far superior. Living in rural Idaho, I had no access to the stage play, and the concept of watching someone’s cellphone recording on YouTube was not yet on my mind. All I knew at the time was that I liked what I saw, and the film was immediately on the must-own list when it inevitably hit home video. I also picked up a paperback of the original novel and tried to read it, unsuccessfully. That massive tome ended up being more than I could deal with, and it wouldn’t be until about a year ago before I would finally put my nose to the grindstone and read it all the way through.
Last year, Les Misérables, the play, went on tour, and I got an opportunity to see it performed live. That experience changed my perception of what can be accomplished on the stage and gave me a better appreciation for this story and this musical. It has, however, not dampened my enthusiasm for the 2012 film adaptation, flaws and all. There is something to this film that just works for me, on a different level than the play. I find myself swept away in the drama, the romance, and the self-sacrifices many of the characters go through in the course of the plot. This is a film about right and wrong, and that line isn’t necessarily etched in stone but may be mired in shades of grey. One character in particular cannot see the world that way, and his fate will be determined because of it. Right and wrong, justice and mercy, the world is not always as neat and tidy as such basic concepts, and we see that play out here in a way that elevates Les Misérables into one of the greatest stories of all time.
The musical opens in 1815. French prisoner Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is finishing a nineteen-year sentence for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his dying nephew. The conditions of his release include a requirement to announce his paroled status everywhere he goes, which prevents him from obtaining work. He is eventually taken in by the kindly Bishop of Digne, who feeds him and gives him shelter. In the night, though, Jean Valjean steals some silver and flees into the night. When he is captured and brought before the Bishop for identification, the Bishop says he gave the silver to Jean and offers him two silver candlesticks as well. The condition for this gift is that he must use these items to better himself and live an honest and good life.
Flash forward a few years, and Jean Valjean has turned that life around. He has become the proprietor of a small business as well as the mayor of Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais, under an assumed name. Because he ducked probation, he is technically an outlaw again, and Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) is determined to find him. The inspector arrives at Valjean’s place of business but fails to recognize the cleaned-up felon. However, his arrival distracts Valjean enough that he fails to intervene when a young woman, Fantine (Anne Hathaway), is dismissed for having an illegitimate daughter. Without work, Fantine is quickly forced into selling her hair, her teeth, and finally her body just to make money to send for the care of her daughter. When Valjean finds her, she is ravaged with disease and dying, delirious and calling for her daughter. Jean Valjean, realizing that this is his fault, promises to find the daughter and see to it that she is taken care of. However, word gets to him that a man has been captured and identified as Jean Valjean and will soon be sent back to prison. The real Jean Valjean has a decision to make: let the man go to prison in his place or come forward and spare an unjust punishment.
He comes forward, sparing the man, but condemning himself to a lifetime of being doggedly pursued by Javert, who cannot see mercy but only the letter of the law. His pursuit will go on for years as Jean Valjean first rescues Fantine’s daughter, Cossett, then raises her through the years leading up to and encompassing an uprising in Paris that turns violent. Throughout the rising tensions between the citizens and the royalty, Cossett (Amanda Seyfried) meets and falls in love with a young man, Marius (Eddie Redmayne), who is involved in the protests. Violence breaks out, people are killed, and Jean Valjean will come face to face with Javert a handful of times, each time just barely escaping an unjust fate.
Director Tom Hooper has a grand-scaled vision for this story, but he lacks the skill to fully do it justice. He utilizes a lot of close-ups while failing to make better use of mid and establishing shots. This film was made in a relatively short amount of time, and one of the biggest casualties is the coverage. When the camera only cuts in for the close-up as needed, it allows us in the audience to focus in on important details during those moments. By staying so close in on the actors most of the time, we lose that sense that there is something we should be focusing on in the moment, and the effect is lost.
On top of that, Hooper chose to film this movie with live singing rather than synced up to prerecorded music. This has the effect of forcing the actors to try and act and sing simultaneously rather than focus on one at a time. Consequently, the singing is less professional-sounding but is filled with more raw emotion. There are pros and cons to both methods, and I would argue that it works well in this picture. In contrast, the same method didn’t work nearly as well when Hooper tried to do the same thing for his film adaptation of Cats. Some actors handle the double duty well—Anne Hathaway is particularly good at it—, and others, such as Russell Crowe, are out of their element. The live singing also has the effect of requiring the orchestra to adapt the scoring to the individual performances. This can make the orchestration at times be inconsistent. It was not distracting for me, but opera critics may take offense to the final result.
This is the first, and so far only, film adaptation of the musical. One of the reasons behind this is the sheer difficulty of translating the imagery and pacing of the play to the silver screen. The stage, by its very nature, keeps the audience at a distance. It matters not if you are in the front row or all the way in the back, there is a separation between the stage and the audience. But in the movies, the camera can take you in for an up-close look at anything it wants to, which changes the entire dynamic of the experience. The pacing feels different, too. This is not the same as being padded like what we saw this last year with Wicked, Part One. Les Misérables, the film, is longer than the play but not by a significant amount. Yet it feels bloated at times because what works on the stage doesn’t always work on the screen. But you run the risk of alienating fans of the play if you leave out moments. Master of the House is a rousing and vulgar moment on stage that is a highlight of the show. It doesn’t work in the film despite the best efforts of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.
When I finally got the opportunity to see Les Misérables live, I was curious as to how the revolution and the barricade scenes could be portrayed on such a small stage. This is a sequence that is bold and grand on the screen and feels epic in scope even as it is intimate. Surprisingly, the way it is handled on stage is mesmerizing and draws you in far better than anything Tom Hooper accomplishes on screen. This is all to do with the way Hooper handles the filming and not by any fault of the performers. Eddie Redmayne is impressive as Marius, delivering a musical performance far greater than I would have given him credit for. A love triangle develops between him, Cosette, and Éponine (Samantha Barks), a young woman who loves Marius. She is played up with just enough emotion to make you hurt vicariously for her. All of that, and more, comes to a head when the guns start firing and people start dying.
Javert, throughout all of the story, remains fixated on the letter of the law; that is his fatal flaw. Had he been hypocritical, he would be an insufferable character such as Judge Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But he judges himself just as harshly as he does everyone else. This creates a crisis of conscience in him when he is forced to confront the possibility that his mindset may be incorrect. When that happens, he cannot rectify what his heart is saying compared to what his mind is telling him. What happens when an unstoppable object runs into an immovable object? Javert cannot process both at the same time, and it ultimately destroys him.
Les Misérables is a tough one to judge. Had I never seen the stage play, I would probably rate this one higher than I currently do. But Leonard Maltin’s review got me interested in making the comparison, and now that I have, I can see the flaws in adapting this to the screen. A happy medium would be a professionally filmed version of the play. This has been done with many of the musical plays, my personal favorite being Hamilton. There are, of course, professional releases of the play available out there for those who would like to see this story in the best possible form. As it stands, Hooper’s movie is a good film that struggles to be great because making this a film was always going to be a struggle. It’s far from being a failure, but there was never a time when I was watching it for this review where I wasn’t thinking I would rather be seeing this live. Because of that, I have to accept that it just doesn’t work for me as well as it did before I knew what this production could be instead.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, and Cameron Mackintosh
Best Actor: Hugh Jackman
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (won)
Best Costume Design: Paco Delgado
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell (won)
Best Original Song: “Suddenly” by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer, and Alain Boublil
Best Production Design: Eve Stewart and Anna Lynch-Robinson
Best Sound Mixing: Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, and Simon Hayes
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Release Date: December 25, 2012
Running Time: 158 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen
Directed By: Tom Hooper
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