The Bookshelf: #LesMisweek: The 2012 remake

This wonderful guest post was written for me by my best friend and discuss-er of film and TV, Tash Moore. Her reviews are brilliant and I definitely recommend that you go over to her blog; http://tellyinmybelly.blogspot.co.uk/ and say hi :)A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be able to go and see Les Miserables in the Queens Theatre London with Rachael, the woman behind this fabulous blog and my wonderful friend. She then asked if I’d review the 2012 remake of the musical for her loyal audience and I mean how could I refuse?

Firstly, I have a confession to make, when I first heard of Les Miserables I thought it was actually about orphaned children laboring in a workhouse who one night decided to escape across the ocean to freedom whilst singing and dancing about their troubles and hopes for the future – yeah in hindsight I didn't really think it through and I was slightly obsessed with Oliver Twist at that time which may have had some bearing on my messed up ideas. However, I can now assure you all that I am fully educated in the plot of Les Miserables, so let’s get on with this shall we?

In 2011, after securing the film rights from William Nicholson, director Tom Hooper finally teamed together with producer Cameron Mackintosh and Working Title Films to begin production of Les Miserables in June the same year. Convict, turned Mayor, turned convict again Jean Valjean was to be played by Hugh Jackman which was then followed by confirmation that Russell Crowe would portray troubled detective Javert. Afterwards it was confirmed that Anne Hathaway would play the delicate Fantine, dream boyfriend Marius would be Eddie Redmayne and the queen of unrequited love Eponine would be played by Samantha Barks. Now I know a lot of people were initially skeptical of this whole remake because traditionally when Hollywood takes a classic and tries to make it more relevant they tend to end up butchering it, but this really wasn’t the case with Les Miserables. The cast were so shiny and beautiful it was almost sickening but after the first number, which I have to admit did really go on for a hell of a long time and if you’re not a committed musical fan I can see how it would put you off, I sort of forgot they were young and unblemished, and I just started to really feel the story of a man who turned from hating to loving when Cossette (Amanda Seyfried) was in his keeping – yeah, I went there people.

I really actually admired the production team and Tom Hooper for taking on such a monumental project. Not only did they have the expectations of older generations who have read the books and watched the earlier film, but they also had to make a good impression on the younger generation, for many their first experience of this classic would be watching this film, me included. Yet despite the pressure I think they pulled it off brilliantly, and their brilliance has be acknowledged and rewarded by the multitudes of awards the film and its cast and production team have received. It’s also really amazing to think that the cast sung live on set during filming rather than the singing being pre-recorded and added in during post-production.

Now I know this review may be slightly biased because I’m a huge Les Miserables fan, so much so I have it stored on my phone for quick access, and so I’ll be honest with you here people, one of the things that put me off watching Les Miserables in the first place was the complex language which is very religion orientated. I can completely understand how it can be difficult to keep up with what the hell is going on which is why for the majority of the time I actually watched with the subtitles on, and this did honestly reduce my enjoyment considerably the first time I saw it.

Like I said earlier, if you aren't a fan of the musical then this really isn't a film you’re going to particularly enjoy, and even though there’s some catchy numbers that everyone can enjoy such as Master of The House and One Day More, for the most part it is that classic ‘talk-singing’ that is an either love it or hate it thing. However, if I’m being a 100% honest with myself I did actually prefer certain aspects of the 2012 film to the west end stage production, mainly because I felt more emotionally engrossed by the acting but that may have just been because it’s more difficult to pretend to be majorly upset in real time then it is when you can spend hours shooting one scene. I mean don’t get me wrong I was weeping when I watched it in the West End, especially the part where Marius returns to the barricades after losing all his friends and is so emotionally distraught it’s almost impossible not to leap out of your seat and run on stage to comfort him, but I guess I’m just a sucker for a film.

Regardless of whether you think it’s your scene, I really recommend that everyone experience Les Miserables in one way or another. Whether that be through reading the book, watching the film or going to see it being expertly portrayed by fabulous talents in the west end.