Les Miserables

[ASUADPi]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

Is this the movie version of a play (opera?) that was filmed very poorly? There IS one of those in movie theatres this holiday season but I can't recall which movie-from-a-play is the 'bad' one.

I'm not sure what you mean by "bad one".

This movie version is based off the musical. The musical is based off the book. The book, Les Miserables, has been turned into movies before, but this is the first time the musical has been turned into a movie.

I'm not too happy that Itunes just released the "highlights". I'm not going to buy it because I'm sure in a couple weeks time the entire soundtrack will be released. The highlight is missing the following "main" songs (and plus a lot of minor ones, as the musical is strictly singing, but I've heard the movie won't be, much like the Rent movie was)...

1. Lovely Ladies (seriously one of my favorite songs, I've always said if I could be in Les Miz, I'd want to be one of the "whores")
2. Who Am I
3. Fantine's Death/Come With Me
4. The Bargain/The Thenardier Waltz of Treachery
5. Do You Hear the People Sing (why this isn't on it, who knows)
6. The Attack on Rue Plumet
7. Little People (go Gavroche)
8. A Little Fall of Rain
9. Dog Eats Dog
10. Turning

There is a new song called "Suddenly". I'm sure this was written so that it could be nominated for an Academy Award, as the rest of the songs cannot be.

The movie also can't be nominated for Best Original Screenplay, but it couldn't be in the first place as it is a movie based off a musical that is based off a book, hence it would need to be an Adapted Screenplay.

I'm sure it will garner some Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

[CutiePie2000]

Am I the only person on these boards who remembers this version from 1998? I don't think it was a "musical" version, but with actors like Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush and Claire Danes, it's not exactly a crap lineup.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

Am I the only person on these boards who remembers this version from 1998? I don't think it was a "musical" version, but with actors like Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush and Claire Danes, it's not exactly a crap lineup.

I found this one to be somewhat equal to the new version, obviously minus singing, which besides a few people (ANNE HATHAWAY - OMG!!!!) doesn't add much to the overall performance.


The new version:
Anne Hathaway wins this movie x50.

I will forever love Colm Wilkinson...great that he made an appearance.

Sacha Baron-Cohen and HBC actually made great Thénardiers.

Gavoroche was adorable and young Cosette was good.

To me, Eddie didn't have the right look for Marius, but I've mostly not been a fan of Marius' casting in any production I've seen.

I like that you could understand almost every word.

I liked that they added another level of humanity to Javert.

I didn't care for a lot of the straight-to-camera cinematography.

The rest of the people, I felt their performance was good, but their singing didn't add anything more than just speaking their lines would have (like I mentioned above). Russell Crowe had a few moments of musical brilliance, but he lacked the depth of someone like Phillip Quest.

[AlphaFrog]

I'm having trouble locating anything about this, but it seemed like many songs were in a higher key than the original (which is odd, because movies usually get transposed down). I suppose it could be that the tessitura of those cast aren't what we're used to hearing - rumor is that Amanda S. is a classically trained mezzo, but we're obviously used to hearing a soprano sing Cosette. It makes a difference to the ears.

[tea&krumpets]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

To me, Eddie didn't have the right look for Marius, but I've mostly not been a fan of Marius' casting in any production I've seen.

Eddie may not have been the right choice for Marius, but dear god, is he gorgeous...

[SWTXBelle]

I wasn't sure about him at first, but he grew on me as Marius.

I had reservations going in, but felt it was a success.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

Is this the movie version of a play (opera?) . . . .

FWIW (and not touching the alto-contralto controversy ), Les Mis would be classified as a sung-through (or through-sung, or through-composed) musical. The lines between a sung-through musical and an opera can be blurry --- really blurry -- but the best explanation I ever heard is that in an opera, everything, including the story, serves the music, while in a musical (including a sung-through musical) everything, including the music, ultimately serves the story. So, for example, in a musical, the director will have the final say, while in an opera, the conductor will have the final say.

Somewhat arbitrary, but the best way I have come across to describe the difference.

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

The highlight is missing the following "main" songs (and plus a lot of minor ones, as the musical is strictly singing, but I've heard the movie won't be, much like the Rent movie was)...

Ugh! I hated that about the movie of Rent.

Haven't seen the movie of Les Mis yet, but I hope I can before too long. It's not my favorite musical by a long shot -- I like it okay, but I never really got all the hype about it -- but I'm always happy when a movie musical comes out.