Le Miserable

 

For my next film review I would like to review a film that we did not watch in our class, which is Tom Hooper’s Le Miserable. I am sort of biased because I loved the play based off of Victor Hugo’s book even before the film was a possibility. Musicals are the one category that we did not really touch on this semester, which is sad for me, as it is a favorite film genre of mine. This film is set among the poor in nineteenth century France and ends with the anti-monarchist Paris uprising of 1832. Les Misérables tells the story of Valjean played by Hugh Jackman, a decent man who was imprisoned for stealing bread to feed his family. Once released, he is pursued by officer Javert played by Russell Crowe for breaking parole, but becomes a mayor and factory owner. He comes across his employee Fantine played by Anne Hathaway whose grownup daughter Cosette played by Amanda Seyfried falls in love with revolutionary Marius played by Eddie Redmayne just as Paris erupts in violence. There are many things that could be said of the film elements of Le Mis but I would say number one is Tom Hooper’s use of the close-up. Particularly in arguably the films best scene when Hathaway is singing I Dreamed a Dream. Also this film uses a combination of fast cutting, baroque time period costumes, as well as various wide-angle lenses shots, which help to create a sense of exaggerated realism. I would say Hooper’s biggest achievement that helped make this film successful was Hooper's decision to record the actors singing on set, rather than have them lip-sync. Actors were able to live in the moment creating a raw emotional impact which is simply breathtaking.