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| Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 09:17 am EST 02/06/22 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| The week of Jackman's B'way opening seemed a good time to take another look at Les Miserables. For inexplicable reasons -- I was an admirer of the show, having seen it with all the originals at the RSC/Barbican before it became a global phenom -- I haven't revisited the film a second time since my Christmas 2014 viewing. My biggest takeaway is how good Jackman is. It's not news exactly, but the performance isn't discussed much, and I was grabbed from the prologue, when the lean, head-shaved Valjean is so immediately accessible. I was impressed with his relative understatement, no matter how bombastic the famous musical swells may be. The live singing gives him a performance gravitas that the camera records. But he doesn't push when he doesn't have to, which I hadn't recalled. Was he under-appreciated? The Oscar nomination was fully earned. I will cause outrage, but I remain curiously unmoved by Hathaway, as I was on the first viewing. In what we later learned was her 4th take out of 20+ for "I Dreamed a Dream," she certainly leaves it all on the soundstage floor. Perhaps she might've withheld about 20%. I have no critique of her work, she's an actor trusting her director, just Hooper's choice. I suspect this take, so agonizing from the start, impressed everyone on the production. But -- this is heresy, I know -- it's still a song, and I would've been happier to hear more of it. The film's reliance on closeups has been discussed, and Hathaway both benefits and loses something from the decision. Not much else to say, Bonham Carter is terrific, a standout for me, the young men all fine, Tveit intense and chilly, as befits the character. The movie is true to the stage show but still feels exhausting at times, chugging onward as that relentless score presses us into the next dark chapter, the camera furtively exploring the grisly era, the CGI unfortunately standing out more than I recalled. Anyway, Jackman's next big week arrives, years in the making. If -- just my opinion -- Jean Valjean seems a slightly better fit than Hill, there's no denying his powerhouse presence in musical theater. It may be event casting, but despite cynics sometimes grousing otherwise, he's selling tickets for a reason. |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: finally 09:51 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Jackman scream-singing "Bring Him Home" overshadowed anything else good he did in the film. Has he never heard of a head voice? It's the one thing he had to pull off for it to be a great overall performance, and he basically shit the bed. That song alone could have put him over the top if he'd nailed it, even if it had been a version that's different from the stage one. It needs subtlety and nuance. Do you scream a prayer? How were the people around him really able to sleep with all that hollering? Not to mention that he was audibly and visibly struggling with the high notes in the key it was using. Terrible song performance and entirely wrong for the film. He was fine throughout the rest of the movie so I struggle to explain how he allowed that particular performance to be committed to film. Russell Crowe was in another movie entirely and essentially ruined what could have be a good, if not great, film. The balance of the entire picture revolves around that character, and he was so awfully anachronistic with the singing part that he threw the whole thing off. I really wanted to like him as he is a good actor, but this was so wrong-headed in so many ways. The director Hooper is really the one to blame in both cases. It was his responsibility to shepherd the project through without alienating the millions of people in the world who have seen a stage version. He also had to put the best light on his actors. That would have involved not casting Crowe from the outset and making sure that Jackman's famous ballad didn't sound terrible. |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: sf 03:50 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| "I will cause outrage, but I remain curiously unmoved by Hathaway" No outrage here. Other people have moved me far more with that song without all the sobbing and gulping. (The definitive performance, for me, is Louise Pitre on the Paris cast recording.) |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 05:49 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - sf 03:50 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Anne Hathaway has a beautiful voice, as anyone who saw her live in "Carnival!" can attest. Since the director had the cast sing live (very rare in musicals which usually pre-record everything), he most likely had her sing through multiple takes until her voice was very tired. One of those very tired and raw takes is most likely one he chose for the film to emphasize her character's desperation. I'd rather have heard her on one where she was in better voice, but she's probably happy how things turned out winning the Oscar. On stage, except for the apologists who want to hear badly sung Sally Bowles and complain that Liza sings too good to be undiscovered, I'd still rather hear a well-sung Fantine like Patti LuPone's who still vocally gets across how dire her situation is without having to sound like her vocal cords are shredding as she sings. | |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 07:29 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - PlayWiz 05:49 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| he most likely had her sing through multiple takes until her voice was very tired. I hope not. That is mistreatment of an actor for sure. |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:55 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Chromolume 07:29 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Actually, he did just that, with her permission. But used an early one. "We did it upwards of 20 times, but it was the fourth take that Tom [Hooper, the director] came up to me and said, 'You know, I have it. That was the one. I don't imagine we're going to do better than that,'" the 30-year-old actress recalled during a recent interview with Yahoo! Movies (video below). "And I, of course, am like, 'No no no no, we gotta go, we gotta go,' and 'I can do it again...' And I never broke through in the same way again," Hathaway said, adding with a giggle, "So, at the end of eight hours of singing the song we realized we could have finished after the first 20 minutes." Per my comments below, I'd like to see takes 1-3. |
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| Link | Anne Hathaway describes filming ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ in one take for ‘Les Misérables’ |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 04:05 am EST 02/09/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:03 am EST 02/09/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 07:55 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Ha. What a deeply excessive waste of money and time, not to mention potential to cause harm to her vocal cords. Especially for a movie that is notably limited in scope due to trying to achieve it on a limited budget. To spend 8 hours on 1 scene when the direction felt confident she nailed it in the first 20 min... even give her another hour, maybe two hours. But any more than that, other than coming back to it another day, is foolhardy (and I say this as a director and an actor). (and i don't mean 2 hours total, I mean after the take where she nailed and, and after several more where he felt sure it wasn't going to be better than what was already done earlier -- if she didn't nail it, fine, do 5 hours... though after that, I mean, really, her instrument could have been ruptured doing any song for 8 hours let alone this one). |
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| it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 03:50 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| I'm sorry, it's just true. If you cannot sing "Bring Him Home" as written you have no business doing this role in a top top tier production, let alone in the film. I think he was excellent in the role over all, as I recall (i only saw it the one time in theaters). The only big casting issue for me was Russell Crowe and it was an enormous and ship-sinking issue in all his many scenes and songs. I am sure many of the roles could have had even better casting. I have been curious to watch it again just to have a fresh assessment ... I do think it ranks as one of the better musical film adaptations, but not one of the best. (the best, for me, include West Side Story, Little Shop, The Sound of Music, Oliver, Cabaret, Music Man, Hedwig, Rocky Horror, Fiddler, Hello Dolly, Chicago, Funny Girl, My Fair Lady, The King & I, Damn Yankees perhaps, maybe Pajama Game -- not great musicals overall but excellent films of them). I don't think it's as good as these, but it's way better than Nine, for example. Maybe on the level of Hairspray which I'd give a B+ probably. Probably better as film adaptation goes than Into the Woods or Sweeney Todd, just because I think there are key mistakes in what was cut or changed in those... but I'd have to watch Les Miz again to be sure if I stand by that. |
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| re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 07:34 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chazwaza 03:50 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| I hope you're not trying to make the silly "original key" argument. Because that's what it is - silly. | |
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| re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Posted by: jo 08:34 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| In reply to: re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chromolume 07:34 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Colm Wilkinson was interviewed by Wall Street Journal on his professional relationship with Hugh Jackman when they were doing the film adaptation. "Colm was asked byWSJournal if HughJackman asked for advice. CW: The one thing I said, was "find the song yourself, do it your way. " That's the one conversation we had. "You have to do this character, this music, your way. "I told him, "don't copy me, find your own way"& he found that." |
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| re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:08 am EST 02/07/22 | |
| In reply to: re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chromolume 07:34 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| I don't think it's silly. And I don't think Jackman's voice could handle it -- or a lot of the Val Jean score if I recall correctly. The song is notably more effective in the key it is written in than the one Jackman did it in. And even in the key he did it in, it was still unpleasant and strained. We aren't talking about him getting through a character number. This is a stunning vocal and musical moment in the show and should be. But again, I'd forgive his vocal limitations a hundred times for them to have cast a Javert who could sing the role (and act it at the same time). |
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| re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 04:04 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| In reply to: re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chazwaza 06:08 am EST 02/07/22 | |
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| You did, I assume, see the post that explained that Valjean was originally written in baritone range, until they cast Colm Wilkinson and moved the role up. Had we been used to hearing "Bring Him Home" in a lower key, no doubt - no doubt at all - you'd be defending that key us "notably more effective." A good portion of musical theatre songs are transposed after the fact, to fit the performer. And changes get made along the way - for replacements, for understudies, and for tours. And beyond. Even a passing glance at bits of Sondheim's manuscripts will show that he often penned his songs in different keys than where they ended up in the show. Similar to the Valjean situation, Fosca was to be a soprano before they cast Donna Murphy, then the keys all came down. And even in opera, transpositions happen. It's silly to think otherwise. I'm sorry, but I'm not. |
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| re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 05:32 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:15 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| In reply to: re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chromolume 04:04 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
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| Even in his own comfortable range, assuming it is set there, Jackman still did not do a great job with this song. Making it comfortable for him should have made it possible for the song to sound beautiful, and it didn't, as I recall, whether he was hitting or trying to hit the Colm-notes or not (obviously not). Maybe I'll be more forgiving with a new viewing of it. Also, it really doesn't matter to me in the least what the song might have been as originally thought of before the cast was involved. They didn't make this movie thinking it had no fans, let alone 20+ years of being one of the most successful, performed, and recorded musicals of all time, let alone of those particular 20 years before the movie was made. It's not my, or other fans of the musical's fault that we have heard it in the Colm key (and with his level of vocal ability, or similar with most notable Val Jeans over the years) for 2 decades. That is the song now, I'm sorry... but I'm not. They knew they'd have a massive audience base buying tickets because of their familiarity with the musical -- they counted on that when greenliting the movie-- with that pre-made audience base comes the pre-made impressions of the score on their ears, hearts and minds. I'm sorry for Hugh that so many much better and more rangey singers tackled and recorded the role, on audio and filmed concerts, before him... but they did. I also don't care what you think is silly. I think it's silly that such a gorgeous song wasn't gorgeous in the one major film of the musical likely to ever exist. It doesn't matter what/why/how that came to be, that was the result. If you and Tom Hooper liked it that way, good for you. |
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| re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 07:25 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 07:24 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| In reply to: re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chazwaza 05:15 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
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| So I guess I'd ask - why this particular song - when movie musicals have been transposing iconic songs for decades? I mean, even the new WSS film has transpositions. And yet I don't hear you complaining. |
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| re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 07:57 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 07:41 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| In reply to: re: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chromolume 07:24 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
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| Start a thread about each of them, if I happen to see it and have an opinion, I'll post and you'll hear. I didnt' start this thread. But also, it stood out to me as a change/sacrifice that impacted the song and perhaps the presentation of the musical as a film negatively. Perhaps most of the other transposing you're referring to didn't come off that way to me. Am I not allowed to dislike changing one thing if I don't dislike all changes made to anything? The massive cuts and changes made for the film of Cabaret made for a brilliant film and I support them based on the end result (it's not quite a film of the stage musical Cabaret, but still). I do not support the massive cuts and/or changes made for Sweeney Todd, or Forum, or Nine, for example. Sometimes changes are good sometimes bad, sometimes neither. Somethings they are necessary to support an actor whose casting is otherwise pretty good and without whom the movie may not have been made.. that doesn't mean, if the reasons were noble and reasonable, that the result was good. |
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| I thought all along he would have been better as Javert than Valjean. | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 05:21 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: it's an opera, and Jackman isn't the right fit vocally - Chazwaza 03:50 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Might have even won the supporting actor Oscar. I don't like Hooper's approach to the film and think the live singing backfires more often than not. |
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| This guy REALLY didn't like it! | |
| Posted by: Teacher64 03:12 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| This YouTube video looks at three aspects of the LES MIZ film, those being 3. Russell Crowe 2. Ann Hathaway 1. Hugh Jackman | |
| Link | Why LES MIZ (film) is worse than you think |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: jo 02:36 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Hugh has said that his portrayal of Jean Valjean was his best-liked acting effort. His Valjean Soliloquy has been said by many as what could have been his Oscar moment had he won the award over DDLewis's Lincoln acting. Russell Crowe once tweeted that he voted for Hugh as Best Actor in Les Miserables because of the character arc and the degree of difficulty in delivering the performance. I am looking forward to Hugh's upcoming film ( filmed while awaiting developments on The Music Man during the pandemic). It is called THE SON, which is part of the same drama trilogy by celebrated French playwright Florian Zeller. The trilogy included "The Father" for which Zeller won an Oscar for adapted screenplay & Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal. Hugh is playing the central character in the story, with Laura Dern & Vanessa Kirby and Hopkins also in the cast. Just like The Father, It was also directed by Zeller. |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: mikem 02:03 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Delvino, I haven't seen the movie since it first came out. I don't remember the details of Hathaway's performance. Are you saying she was so overwrought that the melody of the song was lost? Hathaway is certainly a capable singer, and I don't remember her taking too many liberties with the melody, although I saw the film a long time ago. Or are you saying that she's starting at 11, and therefore there is nowhere for the song to go? | |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: Unhookthestars 02:17 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - mikem 02:03 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| My memory of Hathaway’s performance — which I’ve only seen twice (in a movie theater and on streaming) 8 years ago —is that she essentially sobbed her way through the song, so much so that the melody and aria-like quality of “I Dreamed a Dream” was totally lost. I don’t blame her for that performance. As you said, she is perfectly capable of interpreting this song with the right mix of vulnerability, rawness, AND musicality. But Hooper clearly left THAT take on the cutting-room floor. | |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 07:49 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:41 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Unhookthestars 02:17 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| It's decidedly late in the game to blame Hathaway -- which as you say, I didn't do -- but it's worth noting what several here point out: the song works just fine when the emotion is used in collaboration with one of the show's 3 signature melodies, not to defeat it. I saw the show early at the Barbican before it was anything close to event theater. The tickets were purchased for me by someone living in London, and full disclosure: I was only intrigued because of LuPone appearing with the RSC. But it was of course a knockout night, and one thing I remember is the way LuPone employed that instrument of hers in service of the song's pathos. If anything, the moment is Fantine's last stand against a cruel universe, a declaration of the tradeoffs she's had to make, realizing -- only at the end -- what they cost her. But Hathaway starts the number with her epiphanies realized, overwhelmed. To me, that's contrary to what musical theater offers: a chance for characters to sing what they can't say. Melody helps shape the incremental revelations; it's the means to an end, not an obstacle. Hooper seems to have less respect for that, or simply is more enthralled with presenting this woman's degradation than illustrating the fight still in her. As a result, her subsequent deathbed scene almost feels redundant, so emotionally redolent of the already-expressed defeat. Again, it's a director's medium, film, I don't hold the gifted singing actor responsible. |
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| in Ruthie Henshall's performance of the song | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:13 pm EST 02/09/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 07:41 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| (which is my favorite), there's more effective communication of emotion, heartbreak and desperation in her "sooo different than this hell I'm living" and her soaring sensitive vocal than in all of Hathaway's messier "acting-driven" performance of it. I don't think Hathaway was not good, but I do agree with you. |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Last Edit: Unhookthestars 09:22 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| Posted by: Unhookthestars 09:14 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 07:41 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Delvino - I wasn’t lucky enough to see Lupone, but I couldn’t have said it any better. You’re right that where Hathaway started the song in the take chosen for the film left her with no emotional arc to her story. She has the skills to take us along on Fantine’s internal journey and break our hearts, but alas, that’s not what we got. | |
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| Fully Agree | |
| Last Edit: mamaleh 12:03 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| Posted by: mamaleh 12:02 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| I fully agree with your take on LES MIZ. AMPAS doesn't nominate mediocre performances, not with so many outstanding ones to consider each year. I have long thought Hugh Jackman's stellar Valjean was unduly nitpicked by armchair social media "critics." Hooper didn't feel it necessary to lower the key for "Bring Him Home"; so be it. That was his decision. Those who criticize HJ's singing, especially in that song, seem to prefer the "park and bark" stance that works much better on stage. The camera is an intimate thing; so should be the performances. | |
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| re: Fully Agree | |
| Last Edit: jo 07:00 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| Posted by: jo 06:57 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Fully Agree - mamaleh 12:02 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| The AMPAS did nominate the movie for a Best Picture Oscar. Presumably, it passed the cinematic objectives and focus for films. Anne and the Sound Design won Oscars. Hugh was nominated for an Oscar. Apart from the Valjean Soliloquy, the other musical number which was, hands down, so much better than the stage musical was The Confrontation. Also interesting to note that in the original stage musical (staged in Paris in 1980, compared to the English Mackintosh adaptation five years later, the role of Valjean was written for and actually performed by a baritone ( which probably made more sense when portraying a longtime hardened convict with peasant roots). It was only when Colm Wilkinson was chosen for the role of Valjean (despite his golden tenor voice) because Nunn thought he had the right persona for the role that the vocal range was transposed to suit him. Bring Him Home was written with him in mind. Details on the original English staging are found in Edward Behr's book on the stage project. For the film casting, the audition group included Hooper, Mackintosh, Boublil, Schonberg. Eric Fellner for Working Title ( the subsidiary of Universal Studios), and casting director Nina Gold. It was about a 4-hour audition for Jackman as he was supposed to have been asked to sing the full score and to discuss the role of Valjean. According to Nina Gold, it was when they heard Jackman that she felt they had finally found their Valjean. During filming, Boublil &Schonberg, Mackintosh & his music director ( who supervised the music) were present all throughout filming. I knew about all these because there was a very active IMDB group which was monitoring filming regularly. The Sound Designer ( who won an Oscar) Simon Hayes even joined the group for a while. Some cast members were very active on social media, notably Russell Crowe ( very funny), Samantha Barks and the Barricade Boys ( who were all cast from West End productions of Les Mis) shared the details of daily filming, including how many takes would be needed for each key song. Notably, Hooper also put Do You Hear the People Sing as the thematic music for the film adaptation ( which was its original place in the Paris original score), in contrast to the emphasis on One Day More in Nunn's staging. Another key change was the presence of the Bishop in the finale ( Valjean's dying scene) as against the presence of Eponine ( which did not make too much sense) in the Nunn musical staging. Bring Him Home ( which was Valjean's plea for Marius safety) became Bring Me Home in the movie's dying scene. |
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| re: Fully Agree | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 11:03 am EST 02/09/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 10:47 am EST 02/09/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Fully Agree - jo 06:57 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| I don't buy for a single moment that Hooper and the studio, producers, and casting director didn't have Hugh Jackman FIRMLY in mind as Valjean before his audition. This is an international movie star with legit stage musical credits who had showcased his singing voice on talk shows, in a Tony winning performance as the huge lead in the musical Boy From Oz, and in the film revival of Oklahoma singing some of Broadway's most famous songs ever and making people melt... he was surely at the top of their list (assuming financing wasn't tied to hiring a star like him in the first place). There is almost no one else out there who checks both boxes of being an actual box office draw as a movie star AND having a voice at the level to handle a musical role like this (whether it was specifically well suited to every part of this score or not). Sure they might have found a movie star with a sensational voice the world or the music world or the musical theater world didn't know about yet (unlikely and rare to be that famous and sing that well and never have used your singing anywhere, but hey, it's possible), and they may surely have considered how to go forward with the movie without a name actor in the lead role... but for a huge musical with a smaller budget than they may have wanted to execute this film, international sales and the box office pull of the main cast was surely an enormously key factor on their minds. I would really think it was Hugh's role to lose. I have to assume this was a big big reason Russell Crowe got Javert. | |
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| Valjean's journey & Bring Him Home | |
| Posted by: jo 11:53 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Fully Agree - jo 06:57 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Many stage musical fans focus on Bring Him Home as Valjean's most memorable song. And since original Valjean Colm Wilkinson sang it beautifully as a prayer for Marius's deliverance, it became the song people associated with the character in the context of the stage musical. But if one were to relate it to the classic novel by Victor Hugo, Valjean's two key epiphanies were in the first part -- the first one was the grace of redemption through the kind Bishop and the second one was his discovery of love thru the child Cosette. In the film adaptation, the epiphany of redemption was dramatically presented in "Valjean's Soliloquy" ( such intense acting from Jackman of Valjean's realization of what happened to him) and the path to the life with Cosette was first internalized by Valjean in "Suddenly". Notably missing in the stage musical was the intervening period when Valjean escaped with his new ward to the convent ( which explains how they spent those many years and why Cosette was gently reared). Re his relationship with Marius, in the novel, Valjean nurtured strong feelings of jealousy when Marius started expressing feelings for Cosette( Marius actually saw her from when Cosette was still a young teenager). Valjean was still feeling jealous that Marius might take away his daughter when the time comes. In the film adaptation, there was a hint of such jealousy when Valjean received the note from Marius to Cosette delivered by Gavroche. But Valjean decided to go to the barricade to see if the man was worthy of his daughter, while at the same time wondering if there was a great risk to Marius's life that would mean a devastating loss for her . Presumably, when Jackman interpreted BRING HIM HOME, it was initially with mixed feelings about Marius...but then as he thought about the consequences of his loss to his daughter , he realized that Cosette's happiness is the most important thing to him. Hence, he began to pray to God that Marius be spared. That is the context in which I appreciated Hugh Jackman's delivery of Bring Him Home. But it does not end there -- in the finale scene, as he lay dying, Valjean asks God for His mercy and prays to "Bring ME Home" (which I thought was such a beautiful touch - a man realizing his earthly mortality). That was the moment when Valjean makes the song truly his own! I thought Hooper gave film audiences a more fully-realized portrait of the man Jean Valjean! He has always said that his cinematic vision was to focus on the drama, with singing as the means of expressing the language but, foremost, complementing the acting choices. |
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| re: Valjean's journey & Bring Him Home | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 11:07 am EST 02/09/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 10:59 am EST 02/09/22 | |
| In reply to: Valjean's journey & Bring Him Home - jo 11:53 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| For what it's worth I always felt Bring Him Home was as much a prayer for Marius as for Valjean himself, and that he was thinking of his own earthly mortality during it (and singing of it). And directors love to hide behind "focused on the drama" or "the acting", or in revivals "on the text" (to excuse having a disappointing/"spare" set, in that case) ... to that I say f*ck off, it's a musical, find a cast and a way of directing it that *utilizes* the score as a *musical* text and way of expressing things. In a musical characters sing to express emotion and both inner-thought and outer-thought. It's so disrespectful and misguided and insulting to the form of the musical when a director decides that you don't need good singers because they're prioritizing the acting. In a musical you need to do both, that's the design, the character's text and the acting need to be done IN their singing and in conjunction/harmony with the music. Not always, not for all songs and all characters, but for Valjean, yes. For Javert, yes. For Fantine, yes. For Les Miserables, yes. This isn't a Sondheim show. This is an epic musical with big songs and big singing and we have had it treated this way for decades in London, Broadway, touring, and around the world, in as many (or more?) cast recordings as any other musical has ever had, including two major filmed staged concerts. You cannot write a score like this, condition the world to hear it at certain levels for 20 years, and then when the film finally comes, say "well we want to focus on the acting this time, the singing will be secondary, and if it sounds bad that just means it's real." |
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| re: Fully Agree | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 12:27 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Fully Agree - mamaleh 12:02 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Hooper didn't feel it necessary to lower the key for "Bring Him Home"; so be it. It's not his job to do that, nor his call. |
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| re: Fully Agree | |
| Posted by: Unhookthestars 01:48 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Fully Agree - Chromolume 12:27 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Andrew Garfield as Valjean. Hmmm… He’s already had a lot of practice playing saintly men and looked like a young Valjean as a Jesuit priest in Scorsese’s “Silence.” Andrew has said he would like to take a crack at “Sunday in the Park with George” one day. I’d actually really like to see this happen. |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: lonlad 10:31 am EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| The only problem with Jackman in LES MIS was how shockingly badly he sang the score: never a great singer at the best of times, his vocal prowess has thinned with time and he now gets by on energy and charm, which of course he has in abundance. But as Jean Valjean, he was aquaver pretty much throughout, poor lamb. Ah well. The best singing performance for me in the film was Redmayne's but it's not a film I expect ever to revisit, until of course they remake it in due course with Andrew Garfield LOL and then I am SO there ! | |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: dczoo 07:06 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - lonlad 10:31 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Absolutely agree. I saw the movie only once in theaters and liked it. What I remember about it most, though, was how surprised I was by Jackman's annoying vibrato. Also, when Tveit entered the picture, I remember thinking, "Finally, perfect casting." Yes, please, Garfield in a LES MIS remake, and in "Sunday," and "Company." |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: Unhookthestars 08:56 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - dczoo 07:06 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Garfield in “Company” — OMG. You are making me drool. 😂 | |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: jo 07:42 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - dczoo 07:06 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| Tveit was good in the movie but he was not perfect casting. If you have read the full edition of Victor Hugo's novel, Enjolras was considered as someone who was liked the sun god Apollo of Greek (or Roman?) mythology. His golden looks and his charisma drew the students to his idealism and his magnetism as the student leader for the ABC Society. No offense meant, but that was not very apparent in Tveit's personality as leader of the group. |
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| re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Posted by: jo 08:03 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing - jo 07:42 pm EST 02/06/22 | |
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| I meant "likened to the sun God Apollo..." | |
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