Review LIII
Les Misérables (2012)
Victor Hugo is a famous Romantic writer from France. He was born in 1802 and died in 1885, and in the span of his life, he wrote poems, novels, and plays, and he was also an activist when it came to fighting for political justice. He's well known for having written the novel, Les Misérables, but I really wonder how many people who have watched the musical broadway adaptation actually read the novel. Quite a few probably, but anyway, I just thought I'd give Victor Hugo a nod for being able to have provided Tom Hooper with the potential to make his remake of the musical, Les Misérables, win an Oscar. That sentence is way too long, but I don't care enough to go back and fix it! On to the review!
Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackson), after having been imprisoned for nineteen years for stealing bread and trying to escape in 19th century France, is finally being released on parole. However, Javert (Russell Crowe), a police inspector, reminds Valjean that he will never forget what the crimes the poor man committed, and that if he ever broke the law again, he'd be there. Valjean is turned away where ever he goes, but gets treated kindly from a priest, even after he steals silver dishware from the Church. He decides to find a better life for himself and breaks his parole. He becomes the owner of a factory, under a different name, and, unknowingly, one of his workers, Fantine (Anne Hathaway), is fired. She falls into a life of prostitution, but Valjean finds her in time to promise her he will take care of her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen as young Cosette and Amanda Seyfried when older), before she dies. However, Javert is still on the case of the missing Valjean, and a cat-and-mouse game ensues while France tries to abandon a monarchical government once and for all.
I was actually pretty disappointed with this film, but I think the horrible video quality, as well as sound quality, really bothered me to the point that it made the film a bit boring at times. Still, I'll give my first impressions anyway... I thought the plot itself was interesting, but just that the whole thing wasn't that great. Alright, I'm going to bet I wasn't in the mood because I'm trying to think of something to nitpick about, and I can't even think of anything. I guess I can complain that the plot was a bit far-fetched - like how Valjean goes out of his way to help this one former worker of his. Not even just bring her to the hospital, but actually look after her daughter. Still, this makes sense to an extent. Valjean was imprisoned for years because he stole bread for his sister's son (if I recall correctly), and he felt he had sinned because he stole the silverware from the Church. However, he's forgiven in the eyes of God, and so he wishes to repent by acting out kindly to others. The part, though, that still bewilders me is when Cosette and Marius (Eddie Redmayne) fall in love just by looking at each other. While I have seen this in an opera before (they at least talked, though), it still blows my mind. They don't talk at all - they just look at each other, and suddenly they want to spend their lives together. At least make them talk or something! Otherwise, I can't really complain about the plot. It just felt like there could have been more scenes to justify everything, but I guess going for a three hour movie was not in their best interests.
As I said, I didn't find the songs that exceptional. I enjoyed some, but I should blame the bad sound quality on this one (evil torrents). I thought, though, the singing was really good at times. Every actor sang their own part, and I am quite impressed. Not only did they sing well, but they acted their parts well. While I thought Russell Crowe's character should have maybe been a bit more angry with Valjen, Hugh Jackson's character, at times, it was passable. Otherwise, the rest were quite good.
I think the version I saw, with its horrible video and audio quality, plus not being in the mood, both turned me off from the film a bit. I'd rather not give a rating, but should I ever watch the film again in the near future, I will possibly edit this and give the rating I thought it deserved. One thing is for certain - I really do love the poster for this film!
No comments:
Post a Comment