Almost a month
after showing everywhere else in the world and having to deal with Agimat and
Enteng Kabisote, Les Miserables is finally showing here in The Philippines.
More than the also currently showing Life of Pi or maybe even The Hobbit, Les
Mis was THE holiday film that most Filipinos really couldn’t wait to see.
Having to hear and read all the reviews online about the film while having to
endure through the annual farce that is the Metro Manila Film Festival just
made the wait that much harder. So when it finally did open yesterday,
anticipation was at a fever pitch.
Opening night tickets were going fast and some groups even bought out an
entire cinema for a block screening. Giulz and I were fortunate enough to get
tickets yesterday and finally see what the buzz was all about.
Do I even need
to provide a background on the film? I think most people have already read the
novel, or took it up in High School; or have some sort of idea of what to
expect based on the musical from which the film is based. While I am familiar
with the central plot of the story, I have not seen the musical in any of its
forms. This actually worked for me because as I watched the movie, I did not
feel the need to compare the actors to their Broadway or West End counterparts.
I will not be able to make any comments about the film in comparison to the musical
and if I either enjoyed it or hated it, it would be based on the film’s own
merits. Unfortunately though, I left the theater somewhat disappointed with the
film.
Before I explain
why, let’s start with the good parts. Being a musical, one of the first things
that need to be observed in Les Miserables is the music; and since I couldn’t
compare it to the play, I found the singing to be excellent as a whole. Every
one of the actor’s held their own musically and while not all the performances
sent shivers down my spine, there wasn’t really any one actor who sang
terribly. Some of the musical numbers though, did not have that lasting impact
that just leaves you in awe. This though does not mean that the actors sang
poorly but I think has more to do with the directing and editing of the movie
which I will get to later. Overall though, there was great singing from just
about the entire cast.
The acting
though is a different story because there were some really amazing, as well as
some incredibly lackluster performances in this movie. Anne Hathaway was
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Not since Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of The Lambs has
an actor brought so much to a movie in such little screen time. In the short
while that she was on screen, Hathaway takes us on an emotional rollercoaster
ride as Fantine, bringing us along with her as she slowly descends into
absolute despair. Hugh Jackman was another bright spot in the film. While not
as constantly brilliant as Hathaway’s performance, Jackman does a credible job
as Jean Valjean. Through his acting and singing we are able to see just how
much hurt and pain Valjean bears, while all the while always trying to do what
is right and just. Jackman’s prowess is most seen in Valjean’s dying moments. I
could not only see the exhaustion in his eyes, but I could feel the toll that
his life has taken on him and was almost moved to tears with that scene. Sacha
Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Amanda Seyfried and Samantha Barks were all
excellent in supporting rolls. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of
Russell Crowe.
I never really
liked Crowe as an actor and this film further proves to me just how overrated
he is. His performance as the supposedly ruthless and menacing Javert was
unbelievably lame and dull. There was no intimidating presence or impact in
anything that Crowe did. You couldn’t believe that he was obsessed with
Valjean, nor could you feel just how conflicted he was just before he died. It
was a dry, uninspired performance that reduced Javert to a mere bit player in
the movie. The other irritatingly awful performance belongs to Eddie Redmayne.
His portrayal of Marius reminded me of Kristen Stewart because throughout the
whole movie, he had but one expression on his face. I couldn’t feel his love
for Cosette, and I couldn’t feel his rage towards the government. His
performance made Marius look like a half-hearted everything. It was as if he
didn’t really want to be with Cosette or anywhere near the Parisian rebels.
This can also be said about Enjolras and almost the entire rebellion group. Did
these people really hate the government? The tension I felt when they started
to sing “Do You Hear The People Sing?” was next to none. This though cannot be
blamed entirely on bad acting. For me, the biggest flaw of the film lies in the
directing.
I said earlier
that there were only two or three scenes that sent shivers down my spine- “I
Dreamed A Dream”, “On My Own”, and “Valjean’s Death”. In all these scenes, not only was there fine
acting and singing, but the director allowed us to truly take it all in; this
is especially true in the first two performances where the director uses a
single unmoving close-up shot of Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks. Tom Hooper
allowed us to absorb every single emotion that these characters were feeling
and unfortunately, this was not done in the other parts of the movie. With the
way the scenes were shot and cut together, it was as if the director was just
jumping from one musical scene to the next without giving ample time for the
audience to be engrossed in what is happening. And it’s not just about the
length of the scenes that led to this. Take the funeral of Lamarque as an
example, the rebels start to sing “Do You Hear The People Sing” and begin their
move against the Republic. You would expect an increasing tension as they begin
to sing and to actually feel the anger of the rebels as they begin their
attack. I felt nothing of the sort though. This lack of character depth and
messy directing can also be seen in Javert as well as the comical performance
of the Thenardiers. The inherent evil in the Thenardiers was sorely lacking and
I believe it has nothing to do with the actors. The Thenardiers were made to
look like simple, bumbling, petty thieves and lacked the menacing evil that
drove Fantine to such despair that she feared for her daughter.
I think the
comment of Variety magazine critic Justin Chang sums up exactly what I feel
about the film. While he praised the performances of Jackman, Hathaway,
Seyfried and Barks, he said that the film's editing "seems reluctant to slow down and let the viewer
simply take in the performances." This is very unfortunate because if it
were shot and edited better, and with amazing performances from such a stellar cast, Les Miserables could
have been one of the best films of all-time and perhaps a shoe-in for best
picture in March. For now though I feel that it was weighed but truly left
wanting.
6.5/10
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